May in Mugello: Trekking between natural beauty and hidden cultural treasures

As spring awakens and the days grow longer, May becomes the ideal month to immerse yourself in the beauty of Mugello, a land rich in history, art and breathtaking scenery. Far from the hustle and bustle of the city, this gem of Tuscany offers a multitude of trails that wind through wide expanses of flowering fields, lush forests and ancient villages.

In this article, we will take you on a discovery of three unique itineraries that combine the cultural element with the beauty of Mugello's trails, retracing the places that have inspired great Italian painters such as Giotto and Beato Angelico, and hosted illustrious personalities including writer Dino Campana and priest Don Lorenzo Milani, founder of the Barbiana’s School.

For art lovers, it is possible to undertake the Paths of painters, an evocative trekking route that winds for about 70 km through the heart of Mugello. This route is designed to be explored in several stages, generally three to five days, to fully savor the variety of landscapes and the depth of cultural heritage.

The common thread of this route is Mugello's deep connection with three important Italian painters: Giotto, Cimabue and Beato Angelico. The itinerary leads to Vespignano, Giotto's birthplace, where you can visit his house. Legend tells that it was in this very land that Cimabue discovered Giotto’s talent, intent on drawing his sheep on a stone. Further along the route, you reach Vicchio, where you can visit the Museum of Sacred Art, which houses important works by Beato Angelico and other local artists, offering valuable evidence of Renaissance sacred painting. To walk this route is to embark on a journey that blends a love of nature with a passion for art, breathing in the atmosphere that inspired the artworks of the most important Italian Renaissance artists.

As you travel along the Paths of painters, you can explore chestnut and oak forests, broad hills, skirt river valleys and cross flower-filled meadows, especially in Spring. In addition, the route allows you to discover ancient villages (such as Vespignano, Borgo San Lorenzo, San Piero a Sieve and Vicchio) and fascinating Romanesque churches (including Pieve di San Lorenzo, Sant'Agata and San Giovanni Battista). Places full of charm and history, where you can stop by, enjoy the local cuisine and stay overnight for a complete, unforgettable experience.

For lovers of poetry and literature, you can’t miss the On foot with Dino Campana trail, a trek that will give you an immersive experience in the wild heart of Mugello. This land, which served as the backdrop for Dino Campana's tormented and brilliant existence, does not provide a path marked with the writer's name, but the air you breathe and the woods you pass through still seem to vibrate with his words and his Canti Orfici.

A walk in the poet’s footsteps can only begin in Marradi, his birthplace. Strolling through the streets, you can sense the history in the air, and his house, now a study center, seems to still echo with his footsteps. Imagine Campana wandering these streets, his mind already in turmoil, his gaze lost in the mountains that surrounded him. Not far away you can reach Campigno, a village nestled in the mountains. This more isolated and wild landscape nurtured his imagination, and in his letters you can sense the visceral connection to this land. Climbing a bit, you can get to the Rocca di Castiglione, a ruin overlooking the Lamone valley. From here, the view sweeps over the Mugello landscape that Campana knew well, and it is not hard to imagine how this panorama might have fueled his poetic vein. Driving through these places, it is impossible not to think of his intense 1916 Love Journey with Sibilla Aleramo. Although there is no official tourist itinerary, ideally retracing the stages of their journey – from Firenzuola (Barco), through the spiritual Moscheta, the remote Casetta di Tiara, the quaint village of Palazzuolo sul Senio, to the return to Marradi – allows you to relive an intense experience, a combination of passion and landscape that is ingrained in his work.

To embark on this inner journey, arm yourself with Dino Campana's poetry and be guided by the beauty of Mugello. Every path, every village, every glimpse of landscape resonates with a verse, with an image evoked by his pen, transforming a simple walk into a unique experience.

In Mugello, there is also a trail that allows you to discover places associated with Don Lorenzo Milani and his innovative educational experience in Barbiana. This is not a simple nature walk, but a true secular pilgrimage to the places that shaped the thought and action of an extraordinary educator. The heart of this itinerary is Barbiana, the small hamlet in the municipality of Vicchio where Don Lorenzo Milani left an indelible mark with his innovative school.

The excitement of arriving in Barbiana is palpable: the Church of Sant'Andrea, loaded with meaning, is the centrepiece of this community that saw the birth of a unique educational experience whose goal was to reduce social inequalities through culture. Although the school no longer exists in its original form, the atmosphere of the place invites reflection. Walking among the surrounding hills, the gaze sweeps over the landscape that nourished Don Lorenzo Milani's reflections and that often became the living matter of his lessons, teaching his students to read the world with critical and conscious eyes.

The path winds through glimpses of authentic beauty, offering an opportunity to meditate on the crucial importance of education as a tool for emancipation and on the value of language as a foundation for creating conscious citizenship. Walking these paths is a way to keep alive the memory of a man who was able to transform a small corner of Mugello into a laboratory of ideas and hope, which still resonates with powerful relevance today.

May is therefore the ideal month to visit Mugello, a place where the beauty of nature blends with the richness of a cultural heritage of inestimable value. Whether you are an art lover in the footsteps of Giotto and Beato Angelico, a lover of poetry and eager to visit the places that inspired Dino Campana, or a traveler in search of the educational message of Don Lorenzo Milani, this land will be able to offer you an authentic and deeply enriching experience.

For a comfortable stay during your journey, have a look at our Collichiari properties.

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