On Tuesday, we went down the valley to visit the small village of Brancoli, to find the Pieve di San Georgio, a Romanesque church built at the same time (11th cent.) as the Duomo di Barga. Near to the small town of Ponte a Moriano, we ascended, by the usual series of hairpin bends, until we were high above the River Serchio, in a bowl of the mountains known as the Brancoleria, a lovely sunlit upland looking out to the Lucca plain and the Pisan hills.
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| The magnificent 11th cent. Ponte della Maddalena across the Serchio at Borgo a Mozzano, on our way down the valley |
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| Old olive groves along the way |
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| Across the road vines and palm trees speak to the summer warmth |
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| At the top, a magnificent vista of the plain beyond the valley, with Lucca in the middle distance, and the Pisan hills on the horizon |
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| In the village |
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| A shady balcony - good in the rain too! |
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| The interior of the church shows a marked similarity to the Barga duomo |
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| Heading back to where we left the car down at San Ilario |
All fabulous pictures but the photograph of the elegant shape of the 11th century bridge and the perfect reflection in the river -stunning.
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