Poggiolo: Rural Character and Routes

Poggiolo is an agricultural settlement; parts of it have more recently been converted predominantly for residential use. This rural character gives you a concrete starting point for planning your trip to Tuscany. If you would like to combine different interests, you can first decide whether to focus on routes and landscapes or on historic cultural sites.

Hiking and cycling routes with different points of reference

A hiking route published by the national park runs from Camprena via Bosco di Marena, Castello di Gressa and Poggiolo, before returning to Camprena. Poggiolo is therefore explicitly included in the sequence of stops described. A Soci–Biforco–Soci cycling loop, by contrast, heads from Soci toward Poggiolo, crosses the Torrente Gressa at a ford and runs alongside Lago di Marena di sopra. This distinction is useful when choosing a tour: the hiking route passes through Poggiolo, while the cycling loop description indicates a ride in the direction of the village.

A ridge road between the Archiano and the Torrente Vessa passes through Marena, Poggiolo and Gressa and climbs through the Corsalone valley. This route adds another geographical connection to the descriptions of the two activities, without treating the hiking and cycling routes as the same.

Castello di Gressa is also a named point on the hiking route. It stands on the summit of a rocky spur beside the ravine of the same name, a tributary of the Archiano. Bishop Elemperto commissioned its construction between the 10th century and the beginning of the 11th century. Poggiolo itself has a chapel. The routes and places here bring together historic architecture, distinctive terrain and a local architectural landmark.

Cultural sites in Bibbiena: architecture, photography and archaeology

For art and history, Bibbiena offers its own clearly distinct points of interest. Santa Maria del Sasso is considered the only Renaissance architectural complex in Casentino and was declared a national monument in 1899. The complex includes a friars’ monastery with an adjoining pilgrims’ hostel, as well as a Dominican nuns’ monastery. These different religious orders and the Renaissance architecture shape the site’s historic character.

Chiesa e Chiostro di San Lorenzo brings together a church dating from the second half of the 15th century, built on an earlier oratory, a 17th-century cloister and former rooms of a Franciscan monastery. Two glazed terracottas by Andrea della Robbia are located at the side altars. They depict Cardinal Dovizi and Pope Leo X, as well as the Nativity and the Deposition from the Cross. The architectural history and works of art offer different ways to explore the area’s cultural history.

CIFA, the Centro Italiano della Fotografia d’Autore, is housed in a renovated former 19th-century prison building. The Museo Archeologico del Casentino is on the ground floor of Palazzo Niccolini and comprises six rooms. They chart the development of the Casentino Valley from prehistoric times to the Late Roman Empire. A dedicated exhibition area focuses on the Etruscan sanctuary of Socana, reconstructing its layout and ceramic terracotta decorations.

If you plan your trip to Tuscany around your interests, these themes are easy to distinguish: Poggiolo is shaped by its agricultural settlement character and the routes described here; Bibbiena offers points of interest ranging from Renaissance architecture to archaeology. This lets you choose a focus based on the places and subjects that interest you most.

Discover more destinations

Discover more destinations: Banzena, Soci, Partina, Farneta.

Back to the main travel overview: Bibbiena.