The best hikes from bus stations in Riserva Naturale Della Valle Dell'Inferno E Bandella

In Setteponti, shortly after Poggio Bagnoli coming from Arezzo, there is a fork on the left and immediately a dirt road, but in excellent condition. Climb of just under 3 km, gentle with only a few steeper points. At the top, views of both sides, Valdambra and Valdarno.

In Loro there is the oldest water mill in Tuscany still in operation. It was built around the year one thousand on the edge of a ravine on the Ciuffenna torrent. In ancient times its banks were home to several water mills which were then drastically abandoned over the years. After the war there were still six of them, then with the gradual depopulation of the countryside only this last example remained. The oldest mill in Tuscany can be reached by going down Via del Mulino which leads directly to the entrance. The interior is a small museum made up of 3 stone millstones activated by means of a ritrecine, i.e. a central shaft at the end of which are the blades that allow its movement by exploiting the impetuous flow of water. Inside the mill the three millstones each had a different function: one was used for wheat, one for corn and the other for chestnuts, but in recent years only chestnuts have been ground. The sifter that allows the sifting of flour from various derivatives such as bran, tritello and farinaccio is on display. Inside there is also a small window that offers suggestive views of the stream, I advise you not to miss this view.

The Romanesque architects did not remain insensitive to one of the most beautiful furnishings of the Lombard church, so much so that they decided to conserve it and insert it in the new parish church: it is the stone pulpit that was placed against the balustrade that delimited the presbytery area, on the right side called in cornu epistulae of the main nave; in fact we can see that the rear part now rests on stone blocks used as recycled material, sculpted in bas-relief with spiral motifs, rosettes and a very eroded animal figure and perhaps forming part of the external decoration of the parish church. The presbytery area of the Lombard church was separated from that of the faithful by three steps, also present in the right nave, and by a stone balustrade probably with smooth panels separated by pilasters, as in other Italian examples: the pulpit leaned against this balustrade to the rear part, while the other rested on the base which is still preserved; the various parts will then be separated and reassembled for the Romanesque parish church, it is not certain whether in the original arrangement of the mirrors. Stylistically the pulpit was initially interpreted as the work of a primitive, "barbarian" Romanesque, until in 1987 Mario Bucci was the first to understand its belonging to the Lombard culture while not completely abandoning a place in the barbaric environment: in reality the so-called "barbarian" art, which generally includes that of the invaders who arrived in Italy, was once considered an expression of artistic and cultural decadence; today, however, it is recognized that the "barbarians" were responsible for the invention of new aesthetic techniques and canons, which deliberately deviate from the classical ideal of beauty and its proportions to draw on a language where the fantastic and the symbolic join the imagination and color in an original vision of the world.

The Parish Church of San Giovanni Battista, also known as the church of Querceto, dates back to the 13th century.

Precious view over the center of the village of Loro Ciuffenna.

The Parish Church of San Pietro a Gropina is a beautiful example of Romanesque architecture in Tuscany. Consecrated in the 8th century, the place reached greater splendor thanks to the dukedom of Matilde of Canossa.

Loro Ciuffenna is located between the Arno river (towards Arezzo) and the hills. All around there are the "Balze", or natural formations of clay and sand up to a hundred meters high. The stone houses built on the gorge of the Ciuffenna river, as well as the cobblestones or streets, recall the medieval origins of the village.

Beautiful and very good gelato at the bridge!