Excursion: from Via della Croce to Rimaggino

For this very simple excursion I’ve indicated a journey time of approximately 3 hours, but the important thing is for each person to walk with their own pace, look around, stop and enjoy a view that always goes straight to the heart of Florence.

Our routes starts from Candeli, where you can leave your car in the parking lot in front of the “Lo Stivale” association club, right at the beginning of Via Villamagna. Continuing a few steps along this road we notice the stairs that lead to the church of Sant’Andrea a Candeli, a former Benedictine abbey, which passed over to the Camaldolesi in 1130 and then became the property of the Abbazzia di Vallombrosa (Vallombrosa Abbey) in 1526.

Sitting on the wall in front of the church, our view extends from the hills along the right bank of the Arno river until its valley and the Pian di Ripoli, where the river winds into Florence.

With the church on the right, we follow the narrow road along the medieval walls, topped by beautiful bell tower, to go back down into via Villamagna. Via della Croce begins immediately afterwards on the right: an ancient route that connected the valley of the river Rimaggio to that of Borro Candeli.

After a flat narrow initial section between the walls of adjacent gardens, the road rises and opens onto the arable valley planted with olive trees. After the climb we stop for a moment and turn back, beyond the Sant’Andrea bell tower you can see Giotto’s bell tower and the dome of Santa Maria del Fiore.

At this point we could continue in Via della Croce to get to the intersection with Via Vicchio e Paterno, but I would advise the walk to be extended slightly and for us to take Via di Riseccoli. After the surprise of finding ourselves in front of Villa la Tana, we are immersed in open countryside, among orchards and olive groves, a testimony to the agricultural vocation of this area.

Another surprise awaits us right on the intersection with Via Vicchio e Paterno as soon as we come out of the narrow stretch between the walls of a villa: the view of the steeple of the San Lorenzo a Vicchio Rimaggio church, a few meters below us.

It is worthwhile to go down as we are then greeted by the beautiful porch with two arches, decorated in neo-Gothic style and a beautiful tabernacle in the shade of an olive tree.

We turn back, going up Via Vicchio e Paterno until we find a big tabernacle decorated with a mural depicting the Annunciation.

Along with an example of a scattered house in ruins across the street, the tabernacle seems to frame the beginning of a beautiful forest dominated by turkey oak, downy oak and typical evergreen oak.

In this stretch, even in winter, the sun which filters through the foliage gifts us with a play of light and color that will remain etched in memory.

The path in the woods goes downwards and accompanies us to the intersection with Via del Mulino di Vernalese, a beautiful road that was once part of the old Via dei Mulini, which linked to that of Villamagna to that of Vernalese.

The road descends until it crosses the Rimaggio at a point where the river forms some small pleasant waterfalls. If you want to take a break this is the ideal place to relax, lulled by the flowing water.

We rise up again through woods and olive groves up to Via della Croce, in front of a small tabernacle; here we turn right to begin closing the loop route. A short descent leads us to the tiny hamlet of Rimaggino, here we cross the Rimaggio again and immediately after the bridge you will be able to see the tabernacle of the same name at the top of the hill.

Once we go past the square in front of Villa Bellavista we continue along the most beautiful stretch of the Via della Croce: let’s enjoy the sight of this beautiful landscape that everyone hopes to see visiting Tuscany.

After another 20 minutes of walking we return to the starting point, where we can enjoy a little well-deserved rest.

Claudia Friggi

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