Santa Maria della Grazie
This is one the shortest walks I have ever blogged, but it was full of interest. We were on a day's outing from Arezzo, where we are on holiday, to explore the Casentino valley. The northernmost on our list of places to see was the tiny 15th century chapel of Santa Maria della Grazie (literally Holy Mary of Grace in English. I suppose we would say Our Lady of Grace). If I understand the Italian edition of Wikipedia correctly, it was built following a miraculous appearance of the Virgin.
To reach it, we walked a few hundred yards up a path from a minor road, and as we did so, we noticed a waymark for a long distance path. At this point we made the impromptu decision to turn this little bit of sight seeing into a short walk.
Inside the church consists of a nave and chancel - and the chancel features a stunning surround by Andrea della Robbia made of painted terracotta.
To reach it, we walked a few hundred yards up a path from a minor road, and as we did so, we noticed a waymark for a long distance path. At this point we made the impromptu decision to turn this little bit of sight seeing into a short walk.
Inside the church consists of a nave and chancel - and the chancel features a stunning surround by Andrea della Robbia made of painted terracotta.
This is the panel on the left hand side and is typical of della Robbia's work, which can be found in a number of churches in this part of Tuscany.
There was also this delightful fresco.
We returned to the waymarked path and followed it as it climbed through light woodland in the bright sunshine. We decided to reach the top.
On the way, we were delighted by what seemed to be wild cyclamen by the wayside in several places.
After a while, the path leveled out and offered fine views across the forests of the Casentino
Around this time, I began to notice several large brown butterflies, with a distinct white stripe on the upper wings. They were rather like a White Admiral, but the underwings were wrong. They were in fact Great Banded Graylings, which I had previously spotted in Spain.
They normally roost with their wings closed, revealing only their rather drab underwings, which make for excellent camouflage when they land on the ground. I was thrilled to spot a pair engaged in what I assume was a mating dance which involved a degree of flashing the upper wings.
Having now reached the literal and probably the metaphorical peak as well, we retraced our steps.
Conditions: 28 degrees, sunny.
Distance: just over 2 miles all told.
Rating: four stars.
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