Discover Crasciana

Crasciana combines a clearly recognizable local history with churches, festival traditions and trails in a landscape framed by the Apennines. This creates a destination that can be explored through more than just a single building: the fan-shaped townscape, traces of the former fortifications, sacred buildings and network of trails each tell a different part of the story.

Churches and Historic Town Center

Today’s Oratorio di San Frediano al Santo alla Villa was the old parish church of Crasciana. In the 1260 inventory of the churches of Lucca, it is listed as the only place of worship in Crasciana. The Santo alla Villa church has an unplastered gabled façade built of exposed stone. A stone-framed portal and a lunette made of sandstone blocks create distinctive accents on the front. Inside, the church has a longitudinal layout with three naves and a semicircular apse.

A second important landmark is the parish church of S. Iacopo e S. Frediano in the highest part of Crasciana. It is first documented in the 1387 inventory of the Diocese of Lucca. At the highest point of Crasciana stands a 17th-century bell tower with Guelph merlons. The parish church was expanded in 1748 with a third nave and a flat-ended apse. The two churches thus reveal different architectural features and historical periods.

Townscape, Castle Traces and Festivals

Crasciana has a fan-shaped urban structure. The Santo alla Villa church lies 500 meters south of Crasciana in an isolated location and therefore forms a separate historical point of reference outside the actual townscape. A castle was built in Crasciana around the 10th century to defend the village and its lands. A gate from the former fortifications has survived beside the church; two embrasures are located on its right side.

The local traditions also give the town its own distinctive character. Crasciana’s patronal feast is celebrated every year on July 25; a luminaria takes place on the eve. The Festa della Madonna della Consolazione is recorded as a three-day celebration held every three years; it was celebrated from August 22 to 24. If you would like to plan your trip around regional festivals and historically rooted local events, these different forms of celebration are particularly important points of reference.

Trails and Landscape

The CAI Trail No. 250 represents the connection between local history and the landscape. It continues for several hundred meters along the road toward Casabasciana and Crasciana before climbing through a beech forest. This description also makes the trail an interesting historical and landscape reference point, without equating the individual churches and fortification traces with one another.

The panorama around Crasciana is framed by the Apennine range. Along a network of trails, nature, history and local traditions come together in the surrounding area. When exploring Crasciana, you can therefore focus on different aspects, from architectural details and traditional festivals to preserved fortification elements and a landscape of forest trails and mountain panoramas.

More Places for Your Selection

For further comparison, you can also consider Benabbio, Pieve Di Monti Di Villa, Montefegatesi, Casabasciana, Lucchio, Scesta, Longoio-Mobbiano and Lugliano.

For the higher-level travel overview: Bagni Di Lucca.