Not THAT Monte Carlo,
but Montecarlo in Lucca Province of Tuscany are the commune we are located in. And
we could not be happier to have this fantastic environment around us. The
village of Montecarlo is located on the top of a hill and has history back to
13 – 14th century.
For us Montecarlo is the tower on top of the hill, hard walk
up, but with a refreshing lunch or dinner. It is the place to have a view to
Lucca on one side and Montecatine Terme on the other along with the Lucca plain
all around.
The feeling of the medieval small town you can enjoy as you
walk along the streets. Montecarlo has the small shops, the tourist information
with wine tasting, the old buildings and the wall around the town. How can we
not look ahead and expect to enjoy our future local town and get to know the
people at the restaurants, known and not known, the shopkeepers at the
Alementari and souvenir shop as well those run the local tourist information.
The town of Montecarlo, located on
the hill (163 mt above sea level) ridge separating Valdinievole ("Valley
of the Clouds") and the Plain of Lucca, was built in 1333 in order to
bring together, near the fort of Cerruglio, the inhabitants of the Community of
Vivinaia (located where now is the village cemetery) and destroyed by the
Florentines in 1331. The borough was named Montecarlo (the Mountain of Charles)
in honour of Prince Charles, son of the King John of Bohemia, liberator of
Lucca from occupation by Pisa.
At the beginning of its history,
the land of Montecarlo was ruled by Lucca, and this state of affairs continued
throughout the XIV century, with the sole parenthesis of the period from 1342
to 1369, when it was directly dependent on the Commune of Pisa. In 1437, during
the war between Lucca and Florence, it fell definitively into the hands of the
Florentines, in the district of which it remained until the Unity of Italy.
The history of the territory is intrinsically
linked to the most important settlements of the territory: the Parish of S.
Piero in Campo, one of the richest diocese of Lucca, whose wealth is due to its
strategic position as an obligatory route between the Valdinievole and Lucca.
Furthermore in ancient times the Via Cassia ran through the village, as did the
Via Francigena during the Middle Ages. The other two important settlements
were: the Castle of Cerruglio (the present day castle) used in 1325 as a
military base by Castruccio Castracani, the Lucchesi Commander during the
battle of Altopascio, and the Castle of Vivinaia, once the residence of Emperor
Conrad II and Pope Benedict IX.
That was the historic flare of our
commune. Today the commune has an agricultural area with wine making and horticultural as the most important activities. Our
1,25 acre of land with sunflowers it will in 3 year time be changed with grapes
and olives, fruit and berries, vegetables and herbs.
Before we bought this property we already had made relation
with a local producer and exporter of wine. Assisting him in finding new
markets like; Texas, Sweden, Norway and Russia, so living just a few km away
gives us the expectations that we still will be involved in some interesting
business along with being a farmer.
We missed out on the local Wine Festival this week, but I am
sure we will make it in the future, and meet all these producers that I will
assist in the future to find an international market for.
