Bibbiena: The Practical Heart of Tuscany’s Most Forested Valley
Bibbiena is the Casentino’s largest town — a working hub with Renaissance palaces, a Donatello-school Madonna, and the Sagra delle Sagre that gathers the entire valley’s food traditions.
Camaldoli: A Thousand Years of Silence in the Forest
For a thousand years, Camaldolese monks have lived in silence among the ancient forests of the Casentino. Visit the hermitage, monastery, and historic pharmacy at Camaldoli.
La Verna: The Mountain Where Francis Received the Stigmata
The Franciscan Sanctuary of La Verna sits on a rocky mountain in the Casentino where Saint Francis received the stigmata in 1224. Della Robbia terracottas, sacred forest, and profound silence.
Poppi: The Castle That Became Palazzo Vecchio’s Prototype
Poppi’s Guidi castle inspired Palazzo Vecchio, Dante fought at nearby Campaldino in 1289, and Taddeo Gaddi painted its chapel. One of Italy’s most beautiful villages — and one of its least visited.
Pratovecchio Stia: Where Dante’s Exile Began and Tuscan Cloth Is Still Made
Pratovecchio Stia combines the castle Dante cursed in the Inferno, the Romanesque Pieve di Romena, the source of the Arno, and the workshop where Panno Casentino cloth is still made by hand.
Meet Raggiolo’s Chestnut Keepers: The Village That Refused to Forget Its Bread Tree
In the tiny village of Raggiolo, the chestnut was once the only food that kept people alive. Today an ecomuseum and annual festival preserve a tradition that shaped mountain Tuscany.
Meet Tessilnova: The Last Workshop Making Panno Casentino in the Town Where It Was Born
Panno Casentino — the curly orange wool that Audrey Hepburn wore in Breakfast at Tiffany’s — has been made in Stia since the thirteenth century. Meet the workshop keeping the tradition alive.
3 Days in the Casentino: Castles, Forests, and Sacred Mountains
A 3-day itinerary through Tuscany’s greenest valley — from Poppi’s castle to Camaldoli’s hermitage, La Verna’s sanctuary, ancient forests, and the source of the Arno.
Casentino: The Forest Valley Where the Arno Begins
The Casentino is Tuscany’s deepest green valley — home to UNESCO ancient forests, Poppi’s castle prototype of Palazzo Vecchio, La Verna sanctuary, Camaldoli hermitage, and the source of the Arno.