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From Mugello to San Godenzo along the hills of the Falterona, Tuscany

From Borgo San Lorenzo we join the state road S.S. 551 Traversa del Mugello and travel towards Vicchio after passing the town of Vespignano where we can see a small mediaeval building traditionally said to be Giotto’s birthplace. Near the house we can find a tower and remains of the walls of the castle of Vespignano, and the Chiesa di S. Martino which dates back to the thirteenth century but which was restored last century.

When we reach the main square of Vicchio, we find the Pieve di S. Giovanni Battista which was rebuilt in 1830 and where a panel with the Madonna col Bambino tra S. Giovanni Battista e S. Sebastiano attributed to Fra’ Bartolomeo is kept. Close by we can find the Museo Beato Angelico di Arte Sacra (currently being rebuilt).

In the nearby locality of Barbiana, surrounded by the green hills of Monte Giovi, we find the church where Don Milani was parish priest, and had the school from which his unforgettable message of education spread. Don Milani is buried in the Barbiana cemetery.
Centro Don Milani c/o Biblioteca Comunale di Vicchio telephone: 055/84.48.251

Continuing along the State Road S.S.551 from Vicchio, we travel through the so-called "crags", steep marl slopes with sparse vegetation, below which the River Sieve flows in a deep gully, and enter Dicomano. On a knoll overlooking the town is the Pieve di S. Maria which has kept its original Romanesque structure relatively intact. The priory stands on the site of an ancient castle and the solid bell-tower is probably part of the original building. Inside the church we can find paintings of the Florentine school from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. (Santi di Tito, the Bronzino school, Francesco Curradi, Giorgio Vasari, and the Ghirlandaio school) a bas-relief and a Robbian tondo. Open only with previous booking telephone: 055/83.80.50

After leaving the village and joining the via Forlivese to San Godenzo we come to the Oratorio di S. Onofrio, one of the most surprising examples of Italian Neo-classicism. The Oratory was commissioned to be built in 1796 by the Delle Pozze family and designed by Giuseppe del Rosso, with a front portico of four sandstone columns supporting an elegant triangular pediment. The interior is a harmonious and precious compendium of architectural elements, based on sixteen columns with Corinthian capitals supporting a lowered dome. On the main altar in a sunburst frame, covered by a drape is a painting of the Madonna dell’Ospedale attributed to Andrea del Castagno. In the left altar is a canvas of the Immacolata Concezione tra Santi by Lippi. On the side walls we can also see some fine bas-reliefs.

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