The Petronio Mountain Community
Enrico Pelos
This is the Bracco valley community, an important pass for trading goods once and today a touristic resort. The mountains are in front of the sea and very interesting are the chestnut and beech woods, mountain plains and pine woods, very interesting also from the geological point of view. Since ancient times there was an important road network for the connections among Liguria, Emilia and Tuscany started here from a path, with a steep slope from San Lazzaro, near Casarza Ligure. It went up to Bracco and on San Nicolao Mount and down to Lunigiana, from where it was possible to proceed towards Lucca and Central Italy. Natural landscapes are absolutely beautiful and evocative, but as much interesting are the olive trees, the vineyards, the small villages with their characteristic small inner ways which accompany many interestig trekking and walking routes, with road signals showing the historical importance of the ancient connections among the coast, the inland area and the Po Valley. Ancient “pilgrim ways”, “salt ways” and “public ways” whit a large number of mills and olive presses.
(published on the web 7/2/2002)
