Stage 17

Fiumalbo-Cutigliano

Fiumalbo is the last Emilian town on the VIA: from now on we are in Tuscany! Starting from the church dedicated to St. Bartholomew, patron saint of the town and of our path, and with Mount Cimone on our left, we begin the ascent to Abetone, the most important pass in the entire Apennines for almost 300 years. Here we find the two famous “pyramids” placed to celebrate the great eighteenth-century road that radically changed the Italian road system, quickly becoming the most important artery linking central Italy with the Po Valley and the Habsburg Empire. The empire ruled Austria-Hungary, part of northern Italy and, through descendant dynastic branches, also the Duchy of Modena and the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. Through the beautiful fir forest, with centuries-old trees among which was the one that gave its name to Abetone, and which was cut down for the construction of the road, we descend to the center of Cutigliano, a beautiful tourist town, whose most important monument, the Praetorian Palace, is a witness to historical pasts of great importance for the Pistoian mountains.