La Lima

SR66, 51024 Mammiano Basso, Toscana Italia | (Allarga la mappa)

La Lima was born from the river that crosses it, the Lima torrent, and its origins rely on a simple but revolutionary idea, which also probably come from the river. It all began when the Cini brothers decided in 1822, to build a paper mill that could exploit the current of the river for its operation.

Up to that time, the village was composed only of a house and a deposit for the wagons that ran along the road to Lucca, the idea of building a factory there might have seemed madness. The paper mill began to function and to work very well, and slowly a whole village grew up around it. The Cini brothers built the first houses to accommodate workers from neighboring villages. Then, they built a kindergarten and a school. Later, the Mutual Aid Society and the marching band were founded. Slowly, it became one of the liveliest villages in the mountain.

Like Campo Tizzoro, the church of La Lima was built by the factory, but the similarities among the two villages end here. The church was initially an oratory dedicated to Saint Paul the Apostle and it was built in 1949-1950 to commemorate Paolo Farina Cini, fell on the russian front. The project was followed and realized by the architect and painter Romano Dazzi. Only at the end of the ‘80s, with the constitution of the parish, the oratory was elevated to a parish church and it was further embellished with a fresco of St. Anthony of Padua, also by Romano Dazzi, which was bought with the contribution of the villagers.

Unfortunately, the World War II radically changed the fate of the village. Firstly, the Germans destroyed the bridge that crossed the river, one of the most beautiful of the area and that was rebuilt immediately after the war without the original ornaments. In addition to this, the paper mill was also forced to convert its production, due to the lack of cellulose. After the war, recycled paper had no more market and the Cini were supposed to reconvert the production again. However, they were no longer able to bear the costs and were forced to sell the factory to a financial firm. In a few years, the factory closed permanently.

As its history implies, La Lima remains a key crossroad for the trips to Abetone and Modena. Indeed, in this place, there is the junction between the SS12, beginning from the Tuscan coastline, and the SS66, coming from Florence.