Massarosa

etween the slopes of Apuan Alps and the coast of Versilia, there is the district of Massarosa.

Crossed by the State Road n. 439 Sarzanese-Valdera and the segment Lucca-Viareggio of A11 motorway, it has panoramic areas such as Mommio Castello, Corsanico, Bargecchia, Quiesa’s passes, of Via Balbano, of Pieve a Elici and the peaks of Gualdo and Montigiano. Today, on the hills, you can find factories, new inhabited centres and olive groves.

Of uncommon and great beauty are the “fosse” and swamp little islands of Massaciuccoli Lake, which make us think to the gorgeous music by Puccini. This is a natural protected environment (its area is included in the Natural Park of Migliarino, San Rossore) and Massaciuccoli is a marshy area with some rare animal species that you can admire by going aboard little rowing boats.

By concession of the group of Natural Park, a group of L.I.P.U (the Italian association to protect birds) has realized a bird-watching area.

In this gorgeous environment, the oldest evidence of human beings is witnessed by archaeological finds, discovered in the small town of San Rocchino by the excavation of silica sands dating back the Middle Paleolithic; this district is neither exposed nor open to the public. Another place where prehistoric finds have been discovered is constituted by Mommio’s caves, while the material discovered in Campo Casali and in Montramito gives us a valid proof about Ligurian settlements of VII century and of Etruscans in the next centuries.

The jewel in the crown of historical remains is the district of Massaciuccoli, where Romans have left important traces, still admirable today; effectively, you can find ruins of thermal baths and villas, as well as ceramic pieces from the II century b.C. to the III century AD that are preserved in the local Civic Museum. It is important not to forget eminent men such as D’Annunzio, D’Azeglio, Giusti, Manzoni, Pea, Rosmini and Giacomo Puccini who lived in this area and admired its charming beauty.