It is believed that the name Lunigiana came from the Roman settlement at Luni. However, Luni is now outside of the boundaries of Tuscany and the Lunigiana. This fact goes a way toward describing why the Lunigiana is so unique among regions in Tuscany: Lunigiana is a boundary region, nestled between mountains forming its borders with Liguria to the west, and Emilia to the east. The inhabitants of the small towns of Lunigiana speak a dialect that mingles Tuscan, Ligurian and Emilian dialects, and is nearly incomprehensible to residents of all three, so protected and isolated has the Lunigiana been.

The people of these mountain villages and towns have a reputation for strength and toughness. Their landscape is hilly and forested, and strangely dominated by the maternal idols carved of stone and called Stelae. Most of these statues with stone carvings have been found in remote and rural sites, and much of their meaning is lost to antiquity. It is thought that the stelae may have been a sort of spiritual navigation tool for shepherds, guiding their way and keeping them safe with mystical signs and figures.

In Pontremoli, a major town of the Lunigiana, the Piagnaro Museum in the Castello Piagnaro holds an important collection of Lunigiana Stelae. For information, call 0187 831439

The museum is closed on Mondays and at midday.

Another reason to visit the Lunigiana is the more that 100 ancient castles that decorate the landscape. As I said, the Lunigiana is heavily forested and hilly, with quaint mediaeval villages tucked among its ridges and valleys. This is a truly beautiful place for a visit. The views, too numerous to even count, are spectacular, and hiking and photographing are perfect pastimes in the area.

Here is a list of scenic towns in the Lunigiana, along with some of their special events, for those of you who are interested in paying a visit to this unique and beautiful region.

Bagnone - This is a very pretty village in the center of Lunigiana. The town rises to a round towered fortress at its very top; these round towers are typical of the area, and make for some lovely scenery. Bagnone became a part of the Republic of Florence in 1471, and this led to the rise, during the Renaissance, of several wealthy families. Their past is indicated in Bagnone by some fine palaces, important churches, and beautiful squares.

There is a very interesting hike from the lower to the upper town via a bridge leading up to the castello. The lower village boasts also some excellent places to eat.

Bagnone hosts a great Christmas market, the Mostra Mercato di Natale, during the second week of December.

Fivizzano - The presence of the Republic of Florence is also important to the history of Fivizzano, which was dominated by the Republic for over 400 years. Fivizzano was the very center of the Italian Resistance in Lunigiana during W.W.II, and the Nazis and Fascists visited their wrath upon the town in the form of repeated reprisals.

Despite a devastating earthquake in the 1920s, and the scares of W.W.II, Fivizzano remains an interesting town and one worth visiting. Nearby the Castello Verucola can be seen.

Fivizzano hosts a great fair celebrating San Martino and the new wine at about the middle of November.

Pontremoli - Once one of the most powerful and wealthy of Lunigiana cities, Pontremoli was a gateway to Tuscany and subject to sieges because of its position at the jointure of the Magra and Verde rivers. The violent mediaeval rivalry of Guelphs and Ghibellines was also played out here, and Castruccio Castracani, known as the Conqueror of the Lunigiana, was forced to build a wall dividing the city in the hope of stopping the battles between these rivals.

As mentioned above, Pontremoli is the home of the Piagnaro Museum. It is also quite a literary town, and hosts a large book fair in July and August.

Villafranca - This is another Lunigiana town that suffered heavily in W.W.II. The Malaspina Castle here was destroyed by bombing. Villafranca hosts the Mostra Mercato Medieval, or Mediaeval Market, during August.

Tresana - Tresana is rich with overgrown, atmospheric and abandoned ruins. While the Castello and borgo are abandoned, The Villa Castle has been restored and can also be visited.

Filattiera - Ancient Rome had an important junction in Filattiera, where roads from Northern Italy, Lucca, and Luni all converged. At the entrance to the town sits the Malaspina Castle, which, like so many other standing castles in the area, is privately owned. While one cannot visit inside, the 14th century structure is worth seeing from the outside.

Podenzana - Another great, but privately owned castle, decorates Podenzana. Podenzana and Aulla, which is the home of the Lunigiana Natural History Museum, are the only towns left where one can be sure of finding panigacci, the traditional chestnut pancake of the Lunigiana.

Equi Terme - This is a quaint and fascinating hamlet, and also the visitors' portal the Parco Regionale delle Alpi Apuane. There are also prehistoric grottoes in the area, and a world renown spa, the Terme di Equi, located at Via Noce Verde, 20. The website for the park is

www.parcapuane.toscana.it/

Carrara - This is a large industrial city, but visits to marble mills and workshops can make a detour to Carrara worthwhile. Marble has been quarried here since before the time of Christ. It is possible to hire a guide for visits to a marble quarry, and for the less adventurous, a visit to the Civico Marmo Museum is recommended. The museum is located on Viale XX Settembre in Carrara.

There is a festival celebrating the ancient marble quarries at the nearby town of Resceto at the beginning of August.

Filetto - The Byzantine town of Filetto holds a huge Medieval Fair and Market during the last two weeks of August. Music, food, pageantry and artisanal displays are featured.

If you are planning to visit the Lunigiana, the following websites may be helpful.

http://www.tdl.it/

http://www.inlunigiana.it/

Both of these are in Italian, but it is possible for English speakers to figure out a good deal of information. I also suggest checking for specific dates for any of the above mentioned fairs and festivals.

According to Ernesto Galanti, the President of the Lunigiana Produce Consortium, honey is produced in the Lunigiana in exactly the same valleys and forests that Medieval map makers charted centuries ago. "I have compared them with the maps of today," says Galanti, "They match perfectly; five centuries ago, the hives were placed in the same valleys where we are putting them today. The bees were flying toward the same woods, toward the same flowers." Galanti and the beekeepers of the Lunigiana are justly proud of the ancient heritage of apiculture in their valleys.

The weather in the beekeeping areas of the Lunigiana is just about perfect for the production of honey. Protected as they are by mountains on three sides, these little canyons and valleys are shielded from harsh winds and the cloud cover is dynamic, causing low humidity. Gorgeous acacia blossoms abound, and chestnut trees offer their blossoms, as well as create a lush underbrush that also feeds the bees.

Because of its isolation, the Lunigiana has bred residents that are close knit and attached to their homeland. Like Ernesto Galanti, many of them come back after leaving. Galanti worked as an engineer in Milan for twenty years, but longed to return to the Lunigiana. When he did so, he became a honey taster. Galanti became more and more involved in the production of honey, and was instrumental in securing the DOC designation for Lunigiana honey. The DOC was well deserved, for each time the honey of Lunigiana is entered in the Montalcino honey competition (see our last newsletter), it wins. Lunigiana honey is simply the best in Italy.

Today, honey is beginning to make the Lunigiana more and more prosperous. There are well over 200 hundred beekeepers in the area and more than five thousand hives. The protected forests, where the chestnut trees and their symbiotic underbrush thrive, as well as the more cultivated acacias, insure an abundance of honey for these producers. Now, about fifty producers are making honey that is labeled with the Lunigiana DOC.

Biscotti di Miele e Mandorla

These delicious cookies aren't hard to make and the flavors of the honey and almonds will delight you. I hope you enjoy them.

The Cookies:

• 1 cup blanched almonds
  
  
• 1/4 cup sugar
  
  
• 1-1/2 cups flour
  
  
• 1/2 tsp. salt
  
  
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
  
  
• 8 Tablespoons softened unsalted butter
  
  
• 2/3 cup Tuscan honey (Acacia or Millefiori are
  
  
• nice in this recipe)
  
  
• 2 eggs
  
  
• Zest of one orange, grated

The Glaze:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
  
  
• 1/4 cup honey
  
  
• 1 Tablespoon orange juice
  
  
• 1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted and cooled

For the cookies: In a food processors, grind the almonds with the sugar until fine. Whisk the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl.

Using the paddle attachment of an electric mixer, cream the butter and honey. Beat in the eggs, followed by the dry ingredients, and then the ground almonds and sugar, as well as the orange zest.

Wrap this dough in plastic wrap and chill for 6 hours.

Separate the chilled dough into 4 sections, and roll each into a log on a floured surface. Break off small pieces of dough, and roll each piece into a 1/2 inch ball. Place the balls on a Silpat covered cookie sheet, and flatten them slightly.

Bake for 12 to 14 minutes in a preheated 325 degree oven. Rotate the cookie sheet halfway through the baking time. The cookies should be golden and firm when baked. Cool on a wire rack.

For the glaze, whisk all ingredients except the almonds and glaze the cooled cookies. While the glaze is still wet, sprinkle each cookie with the toasted almonds. These are great with afternoon coffee or tea.

Testaroli

This unusual pasta specialty of the Lunigiana is named after the testi, or ovens and pans that it is traditionally cooked in. Today, we can use a crepe pan. The dough is made without eggs, and first cooked gently in the crepe pan, then quickly boiled in water before dressing and serving.

Since the Lunigiana shares a Tuscan border with Liguria, testaroli are traditionally served with pesto, thereby combining specialties from either side of the border regions.

The Pasta:

• 4 1/2 cups flour (you can use all purpose flour, or a combination of that and whole wheat flour, which is more traditional)
  
  
• 2 cups water
  
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
  
  
• 1 large onion
  
  
• Extra Virgin Tuscan Olive Oil

Whisk the flour, water and salt together until very smooth. The mixture should have the consistency of heavy cream. Rest this for about 30 minutes.

To cook the testaroli in a way the closely approximates the traditional method, cut a large onion in half and spear it on the end of a long fork. Dip this cut side of the onion in olive oil, and lightly coat the heated crepe pan with the oil-dipped onion.

Now pour about a half cup of the batter onto the heated crepe pan, and cook for about 4 minutes, or until bubbles appear. The heat should be no higher than medium beneath the pan. Flip the crepe and cook for a few minutes more. When all the batter has been make into crepes, stack them and slice them into large diamond shapes, getting about three diamonds per crepe.

This recipe provides enough testaroli to heartily feed six, with some room for trial crepes. I find the first one or two are usually experiments, and I get the hang of it after that.

The Pesto:

• 3 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
  
  
• 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese, cubed
  
  
• 3/4 cup Extra Virgin Tuscan Olive Oil
  
  
• 3 Tablespoons pignoli nuts, lightly toasted and cooled
  
  
• 4 medium to large cloves of garlic, peeled
  
  
• Place all ingredients in a food processor and process for 3 minutes. You should have about 2 full cups of pesto. This is a fabulous recipe and good on all sorts of pasta.
  
  
• To finish the testaroli, place them in a very large pot of boiling salted water, and cook for no more than one minute. Drain, gently toss with an adequate amount of pesto, and serve.