Puccini Laughs

The itinerary could only start from the Puccini Birthplace Museum, where Giacomo Puccini was born.
We proceed through the squares and streets of the old city and exit the splendid Renaissance walls through Porta Santa Maria.
We follow the signs for the river park to reach the Foro Boario, home to the weekly Saturday farmers' market.
We take the Puccini cycle/pedestrian path, proceeding along a stretch of dirt road that, running alongside the Serchio River, takes us safely to the locality of Ponte a Moriano.

After crossing the center of Ponte a Moriano, we leave the cycle/pedestrian path and continue north along Via Ludovica until we reach the village of Diecimo, where we turn to cross the Val Pedogna until we reach the start of the climb that leads to the hamlet of Celle Puccini, the birthplace of the composer's grandfather and where the Maestro spent part of his childhood.
The ancestral home, on the edge of town, among the woods, today houses a museum dedicated to the family and the courtyard hosts a series of opera concerts in the summer.

Leaving Celle Puccini, we take the beautiful, essentially traffic-free road that climbs to the church of San Pietro Apostolo in Fiano, where we begin the descent along the panoramic road that leads us to San Martino in Freddana.
From the SP1, which crosses the Freddana Valley and connects Lucca to the coast, we take the stretch of the Via Francigena that takes us, practically car-free, to the Certosa di Farneta after passing through small towns including Piazzano and San Macario in Piano.

In the locality of Farneta, known for its charterhouse and sadly infamous for the massacre perpetrated by Nazi troops on the night between September 1st and 2nd 1944, we begin to climb along a deserted and wonderful road that takes us to Chiatri Puccini, home to one of the villas owned by the composer;

“From up there you can see an enchanting view: the coast, from Livorno to La Spezia; the Arno and Serchio rivers; Corsica, in clear weather, the islands of Gorgona and Capraia, and also the scrubland of San Rossore, Migliarino and the Bourbon scrubland of Lucca.”

With Chiatri behind us, we pedal first to Mount Quiesa and then to Lake Massaciuccoli, a protected area with delicate landscapes. In Ripafratta, we rejoin the Puccini cycle path, which runs alongside the Serchio River and crosses the San Pietro Bridge, bringing us back to the outskirts of Lucca.