Lunigiana

Lunigiana is an historical territory of Italy, which today falls within the provinces of La Spezia and Massa Carrara. Its borders derive from the ancient Roman settlement, later the Medieval diocese of Luni, which no longer exists.

Lunigiana covers an area from the Apennines to the Magra river, belonging in part to Tuscany and in part to Liguria. It takes its name from Luni, a Roman town, perhaps pre-dated by an Etruscan settlement, which became the principal urban center on the northern Tuscan coast. Some contend that the name Luni refers to the moon, a celestial body whose beauty is made all the more attractive when framed by the white-peaked Apuan Alps and high Apennine mountains. Others maintain, though little or no evidence exists, that the region was populated by those who worshiped the moon.

Lunigiana owes its name to the town of Luni founded by the Romans in the 177 B.C. near the mouth of the river Magra. Today it identifies itself with the valley of the mentioned river and its affluents, while its historical border is more wide. Lunigiana is situated between Tuscany and Liguria, whose peculiar features it reproposes especially in the landscape , in the cultures, in the architecture and in the friendliness of its people. A small and homogeneous region, rich in history, lights, colours, prestigious images ,with green sceneries ending with the Apuan peaks and the wide meadow of the Appennino Everywhere is possible to find the signs of the Italian and European history: from the prehistory to the Middle Age , to the Modern Age.

As if to unite history and myth, the symbol of contemporary Lunigiana is a crescent moon held in the claw of a bear. The earliest inhabitants of this region may have been the Apuani (from which is derived the name of the Apuan mountain chain), an ancient Ligurian people, as well as Etruscans who may have inhabited towns along the coast and even the hamlets near in-land trade routes. Curiously, while evidence of both Roman and later Medieval settlements are ample, the wondrously appealing stele, late pre-historic and Bronze Age stone statues which have been found in large numbers in this part of Tuscany, remain the symbol of this ancient land. They are the first expression of the art and, perhaps, of the religious beliefs of the peoples that inhabited northern Tuscany from the Bronze Age to start of the Roman Empire.

The history of Lunigiana is one of passion; of intense creativity but also ferocious battles. The nearby Gulf of Poets saw the Romantic poets Shelley and Byron set the artistic world on fire and follow in the Renaissance footsteps of Dante and Michelangelo.

Over 100 castles dot the Lunigiana landscape, which is really three valleys cut by rivers. There are abundant hiking trails in the woods and along the ridge tops. Pristine medieval villages are tucked into hillsides. It's a wonderful and compact place to visit--and the Cinque Terre are only 45 minutes away to the west.