Terre di Toscana

Vicopisano

A moderate rise in the ground, acting as sentinel over the plane, turned into a small fortress and later into a fortified city: that is Vicopisano.
The beauty of its historic centre takes travellers by surprise. This has remained intact, with its keeps, its towers, its walls, the Romanesque church and, overlooking all this, the Rocca.

Uliveto Terme
The virtues of the springs in Uliveto Terme were known back in the Middle Ages and Uliveto water, bottled since 1910, is now widely known. Near the spring there is a spa, with sport facilities.
Terme di Uliveto
June to end of September - tel 050 788686

San Giovanni alla Vena
San Giovanni alla Vena is the main village near Vicopisano, and contains some of the sumptuous villas which important families from Pisa built between the 18th and 19th centuries.
Worth seeing in the small church is the Cross painted by Enrico di Tedice (second half of the 13th century) once kept in the small Church of Castellare, placed on an isolated hilltop, visible from the entire plane. The small church is a destination, on the first Sunday in May, of a picturesque procession at night.

Caprona
Dante Alighieri, too, was among those who attacked the Castle of Caprona in 1289, during one of the frequent territorial disputes between Lucca, Pisa and Florence. This episode is mentioned in the Divine Comedy (Inferno, XXI Canto). On the hill where the castle used to be, today there is the Tower of the Upezzinghi (19th century) characteristic symbol of the town and the Pisa mountainside.

Olive Oil Road
From Vicopisano the Strada dell’olio (Olive oil Road) begins. It runs along the slopes of Monte Pisano, touches the small towns of Buti, Vecchiano, San Giuliano Terme and Calci through centuriesold olive groves.

Monte Pisano
Whether you follow the Strada dell’olio and go up onto the ridge along the Alpine Club paths, or you pedal a mountain bike along the mule-tracks, Monte Pisano is worth an excursion, if only for the panoramic view which you can enjoy from the top, both looking out towards the sea or inland.

Events
As well as the moving Festa di Santa Croce del Castellare, there is also the Festa Medievale of Vicopisano, a commemorative historic pageant in costume which is held during the first weekend in September with groups of historic characters, small medieval settlements, itinerant musicians and theatrical performances on a theme.
Every second Sunday in the month the very heavily subscribed Collectors’ Market takes place in Piazza Cavalca.