Visiting the Mugello: What to See and What to Do
In our blogs and on our website, we’ve led many virtual tours to explore the areas around Villa Campestri: today we’ll venture into the towns around the villa and around our town of Vicchio, to discover the more beautiful churches to visit. Happy Adventures!
Today it’s a trip to explore the more beautiful parishes and churches nearest to Villa Campestri Olive Oil Resort. As we all well know, along with its good food and natural unpolluted beauty, the Mugello holds a good deal of the art that brings so many to visit Italy. It’s all key to the hospitality and welcome we’d like to bring to our guests.
Our advice? Come spend some time with us, in one of our period rooms. We’ve been conducting a virtual tour of our resort in recent weeks, thanks to the lovely photography of Studio Bonon, and we hope to provide more as time passes.
So now, with Villa Campestri as your point of departure, let’s move off to discover a bit of the Mugello.
Vicchio: The Church of Sant’Andrea a Barbiana, which dates back to the sixteenth century, contains a fresco of the School of Giotto (who was born in Vicchio) that depicts “The Madonna with Child and Santa Caterina.” In addition it was here the school of Don Lorenzo Milani – a well known converted priest and educator of the 20th century – was founded; he is buried in the cemetery of “his” church.
Vicchio: Parish of San Cassiano in Padule. Built around the year 1000 a.d., the church has undergone various reconstructions during the course of years, especially after the earthquake that struck the Mugello in 1919. It still, however, retains its ancient original structure and inside you can see a fine bas-relief in stone from the fifteenth century.
Vicchio: Parish of San Giovanni Battista. This parish began as a church, first constructed in the fourteenth century; after several restorations and enlargements it became a parish in 1785. Inside you’ll find paintings and frescos among which there is a “Madonna del Rosario” attributed to the school of Ghirlandaio.
Borgo San Lorenzo: Parish of San Lorenzo: We’ve already written about the splendor and marvelous atmosphere that one feels here in San Lorenzo. Of special importance in this largest church of the Florentine countryside that was first built in 941 a.d. Inside is the single work of Giotto in the Mugello, “The Madonna with Child.”
Scarperia: Parish of Sant’Agata and Parish of Santa Maria a Fagna: The imposing edifice of Sant’Agata is one of the most important historical buildings of the Mugello. Its foundations are late Roman, and its first reconsruction was during the twelfth century. You must absolutely go inside to see the works of art, the frescoes and the baptismal font. The Parish of Santa Maria a Fagna had its origins in the 10th century. In the fifteen it became the property of Niccola Machiavelli. In 1770 it was given a Baroque restoration, but inside one still sees it origins in the Romanesque style. Many of the works inside, including several frescoes, are attributed to the school of Raphael.
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