The best hikes from bus stations in Area Naturale Protetta Di Interesse Locale Le Balze

As a plant expert and botany enthusiast, Ferdinando Panciatichi Ximenes d’Aragona designed the large green area surrounding Sammezzano Castle, approximately 65 hectares, which constitutes the current Historic Park. Around the ancient "ragnaia" (woodland) formed by a high forest of holm oaks, Ferdinando decided to place numerous rare and exotic plants. Their purpose was to serve the dual purpose of beautifying the exterior and gradually introducing visitors and guests to the wonders of the "Moorish" style of the Villa-Castle of Sammezzano. Among the exotic species introduced by Ferdinando, the most well-known are undoubtedly the majestic sequoias (Sequoia sempervirens and Sequoia gigantea), which, as demonstrated by the remarkable size they reached in just 150 years, certainly found the geological, soil, and climatic conditions favorable to their growth. Among these, the so-called "twin sequoia" stands out, as its trunk forks into two enormous vertical branches a few meters from the base. It is almost 54 meters tall and, with a circumference of 837 centimeters, the tallest sequoia in Italy. It is not only one of Italy's monumental trees, but also one of the select group of "150 trees of exceptional environmental or monumental value."

Nice fast trail with some rock gardens 👍👍

very particular, the vegetation is expanding inside this fascinating abandoned house

This building is part of the Villa di Sammezzano. It has a clear oriental style like the rest of the buildings in the park. I believe this was the accommodation for the Sella Villa staff

In the forest with the largest number of sequoias in Italy, these two fascinating specimens grew side by side. An information sign indicates that their circumference exceeds 8 metres, but at least 5/6 people are needed to hug them

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.