The secrets of Lolle
Lolle is a small town completely immersed in the green of its meadows and protected by its centuries-old woods. The bond that has been created between nature and the people of Lolle is indissoluble and the result of nourishment and sustenance. The greatest mysteries of the mountain still reside in Lolle, the legacy of a past as far as unknown. A place that more than any other is a bridge between past and present.
A bridge as its main attraction, one of the places most rich in history of the entire mountain. Castruccio bridge located in the town of Lolle. The bridge was built by Castruccio Castracani, leader and lord of Lucca; it is built with a masonry vault with river pebbles, the height of the vault and the slope of the road suggests that the bridge should have served to cover the difference in height between the two attachment points of the bridge. On the left bank of the river, there are two buildings called “the two customs” that controlled the traffic of goods between Lucca and Pistoia.
Not far from the Castruccio bridge there are two other bridges built with the same technique, and probably dating back to the same period, much smaller but equally suggestive and interesting.
The darkest and yet to be deciphered secrets that make Lolle a place full of mystery and mysticism are not far away but slightly more hidden.
The “Sasso che fuma” is a large monolith, located in the so-called Pian del Ceppone that many say they have seen smoking in various circumstances giving rise to numerous legends.
The most mysterious place, however, is the “Sacred Enclosure”, also called “The Mounds” by the locals, where thanks to an archaeological reconnaissance work ten rectangular and circular structures more than a meter high were discovered made with sandstone boulders, delimited and protected by walls preserved high for a few rows but particularly thick. The fence was investigated with a small archaeological essay on one of the “Mounds”, made in accordance with dr. Perazzi of the Archaeological Superintendence of Florence, by a professional archaeologist from Pistoia in collaboration with the Valle Lune Association but the mystery has remained unsolved and we still do not know the origins and function of this particular structure. Other particular mysterious structures of the place are the Masso della Pescaia and the Sasso Castellano. The first is a large monolith covered with rock engravings from different eras and the second is an alleged solar calendar, which would indicate, in alignment with another monolith, the point where the sun sets on the day of the winter solstice.
For those who are not interested in investigating the mysteries of this small town but want to relax learning and tasting typical products, Fattoria di Lolle is the ideal place.