Discover Loppeglia: Churches, Villa Malpighi and Historic Routes

Loppeglia is a Tuscan village where historic settlement structures, sacred architectural history and traces of the rural surroundings can be read in the townscape. If you are looking for accommodation with a clear cultural focus, exploring the area here leads to churches, a distinctive villa, a historic watermill and routes connected with the history of the surrounding valleys.

Sacred history around Santa Maria

Loppeglia developed around a religious focal point shaped by Santa Maria. The church of Santa Maria is dated to the 8th century. Another important historical attribution concerns Santa Maria Assunta, which is dated to the 14th century. Its façade preserves ancient masonry made of roughly hewn stone blocks. An inscription bearing the year 1322 probably corresponds to the year the church was founded. In the 18th century, a chapel was added to Santa Maria Assunta, which was also used for burials. The single-nave interior corresponds to the restoration and extension carried out in 1823. August 15 is the feast day of Santa Maria Assunta in Loppeglia. This sacred heritage is complemented by a public oratory dedicated to the Santissima Trinità.

Villa Malpighi and the historic townscape

Villa Malpighi strongly shapes the townscape of Loppeglia. Benedetto Varchi was hosted there. The villa’s façade features a portico with four arches; inside, frescoes dated to 1594 have been preserved. In front of the façade, there is also a surviving extension of the wall that ends in two small towers with recognizable defensive functions. This makes it possible to see in a single building how representative architecture and older defensive elements come together in the townscape. The agriculturally shaped surroundings of Fiano and Loppeglia also form part of the context of the village. There, terraces historically connected with the settlements extend across the landscape. Fiano and Loppeglia are also located along the historic territorial route that connected the Valfreddana with the Pedogna Valley. A road linking the two villages to the historic route through the Freddana Valley is already shown on the 1850 topographic map.

Mill, library and cycling route

In the vicinity of Loppeglia, the Molino Menicone is located in the Località Menicone. The watermill dates from the 17th century; its original functional interior structures have been preserved. For cultural offerings in Fiano-Loppeglia, there is also the municipal Casa delle Idee library. It is a cultural center for adults and children and offers, among other things, reading and on-site consultation, local and international interlibrary loan, a digital library, bibliographic and internet research, an internet workstation and printing facilities. The services also include Nati per Leggere, homework assistance and use of the historical archive. For active days, there is specific cycling route information: a cycling route reaches Fiano-Loppeglia via an approximately 3 km climb. This information places the sporting side of the village in context without linking the cultural sights to a single standardized visiting format. If you would like to extend your research to other destinations, you can find [Celle](Celle), [Gello](Gello), [Villa A Roggio](Villa A Roggio), [Ansana](Ansana), [Piegaio Basso](Piegaio Basso), [San Martino In Freddana](San Martino In Freddana), [Fondagno](Fondagno) and [Pascoso](Pascoso).

For the overarching travel overview: Pescaglia.