Piteglio

Piteglio is one of the oldest villages in the Pistoia Mountains. In its surroundings, there are numerous traces of prehistoric settlements. However, it is during the war between Pistoia and Lucca that it was fortified and placed to guard the valley. Indeed, Piteglio is in a dominant position over the Valle di Torbecchia, the Val di Lima, and the road that once led to Garfagnana. Even today, the town is dotted with remains and evidences of that period in which it stood undisputed, from its streets to its oldest buildings and up to the wash-wells of the 1500s, used until the recent past. Piteglio, however, has its own unique feature which, despite the passing of the centuries, has always accompanied it, magically surrounded by all sorts of legends.
Any element of the country can be described only through unique stories that originate in ancient times and that have been handed down to us.
In the village, for example, there are two churches. The Pieve della Santissima Annunziata, also called Pieve Vecchia, was formerly located along the Via romea and it is the oldest place of worship on the Pistoia Mountains. And the legend? It is said that the Pieve di Piteglio was one of the churches that Matilda of Canossa built trying to obtain the right to celebrated mass from the Pope.
The other church is the Church of Santa Maria Assunta, located in the upper part of the town. It was built by expanding and older church, while the bell tower was built by modifying and renovating the old castle watchtower. Nowadays, it looks almost like a nineteenth-century church, but the interior has not lost its original charm and its main peculiarity: the two internal chapels. The first one is dedicated to San Giuseppe, also called the Men’s Chapel, while the other is dedicated to the Madonna del Latte, also called the Women’s Chapel. In Piteglio, the cult of the Madonna’s milk is very ancient and very important, to the point that even the high altar was dedicated to it. The reason? And ancient legend. In addition to this, the church also has another unique feature. On the day of the Winter Solstice, the sun’s rays pass trough the window and illuminate and exact point on the wall of the main arch.
Walking though Piteglio and its streets, it is impossible not to be struck by its corners and its views. Anyway, to meet the last – perhaps – legend concerning the town, you need to take a small wooded path and leave everything behind just for a few minutes. The path leads to the so-called Culata del Diavolo, a rock on which the devil, frightened by a divine apparition, fell ruinously leaving the imprint of his lower back on a boulder.