Under the Tuscany's sky - part 1 -

I could not write under the Tuscany's sun, because the Sun didn't grace us with its presence, on this day. Nevertheless, despite the weather conditions, there is a magic that those little towns on the Tuscan's Apennines can do.
The magic is to transform every day into something charming, and whether grey or sunny you will surely fall in love with them.
I have met a couple of old friends in Florence, and the first thought was 'what to do today?'
We all have been visited Florence hundreds of times, so we decided to go discovering the surroundings and check the beauties hidden in those places less known to the tourists.
The place I am going to bring you today is Fiesole.
This little town of 14150 inhabitants, like the rest of the Italian cities, has a long history and it was probably founded in the 9th -8th century as an important Etruscan city, and the remains of the ancient walls testify it.
In 283 BC it was conquered by the Romans and integrated into their territories.
It is also one of the wealthiest centres of Tuscany, and since the 14th century it was considered a getaway for the upper class of Florence.
The chance to visit those remains was my main target, and we’ve spent most of the time walking around the archeological site, and this is the place where first I would like to bring you in this virtual tour.

The Roman theatre:

The Termae:

The temple:

Despite the site might seem small, there are many details that deserve to be observed and the location is an oasis of peace.
Fiesole has attracted many international artists who chose it as one of their residences, just to cite a few, Bernard Berenson, Alexandre Dumas, Paul Klee, Marcel Proust, Frank Lloyd Wright, Hermann Hesse.
There are many beautiful and interesting places that deserve being described, and for this reason, I will not rush everything on one single blog. Just because I want you to have the time to enjoy the beauties of this place, at their fullest, I am concentrating today on the archaeological sites, and next week I will talk a bit more about another famous place; the church of St. Francis and the rest of this charming town.

Stay tuned!!

An old railway to time travel

The old saying that you will never get to know your hometown could never be more pertinent. I discovered something that, much probably I had heard about when I was a kid, but never really paid attention to it.
I am talking about the abandoned railway that, once upon a time, connected the town of Spoleto with Norcia in the region of Umbria in Italy.
According to the history, the railway was built in 1926 following an initial project of 1906, which was slowed down by the war. At those times it was considered a jewel of the railway engineering, crossing the Apennines and the complex of the Sibillini mountains.
Unfortunately, the second world war caused irreversible damages to the structure of the railway, and despite all the attempt to keep it running, it was definitely closed in 1968.
Nevertheless, the railway, which is long about 50km, can be still walked through or traveled by bike, and it was a pleasure for me in this wonderful and warm spring weather to have a walk on the first part of it.
Starting from the town of Spoleto, the railway has a constant slope of about 5% and reaches a maximum altitude of 625 m.
The quiet and the peace of the place, now surrounded by the National Park is almost amazing, and the walk through the old tunnels through the reliefs brings me the memories of the old times. Although this wouldn’t be considered safe to run with a train, the structure itself is perfectly preserved and allows a great view of the panorama.
Here are some pictures I have taken during my trekking (keep in mind where I was walking, for the whole distance there were the tracks of the train, so imagine how spectacular was to cross this beautiful landscape by train!):

I have only walked it for the first 8 km because I knew that whatever distance I was going to walk, I had to double it to return to the actual railway station from where I have started my quest.
I promised myself that I will come once again walking along this old railway but starting from the other end, hoping to reach the main bridge.
And here some other pictures of this stunning place:

Hoping you liked the post and enjoyed this virtual tour on the abandoned railway so close to my hometown.
Have all a great weekend and a Happy Easter.