In the midst of enjoying our Holiday Villas in Lucca we have come across a most wonderful antique timepiece exhibition curated by one of the neighbours of La Collina del Sole the exhibition is called “COREDÉ” {che ora é] and is just a stone’s throw away from the Lucca Villa Rental It is held in the village of Sillico, and showcases antique cuckoo clocks, mantelpiece clocks, watches and all manner of time keeping instruments, a welcome “break” from sunning yourself by the salt water infinity pool at La Collina del Sole a gem among Villas for rent in Tuscany The exhibition COREDE is open on Saturday and Sunday throughout the summer. Other fun things to do when you rent a villa in Tuscany in the Garfagnana region is go to a Medieval Feast which is also in Sillico a region of choice Villa rentals in Tuscany The Medieval Feast season starts at 6pm from the 27th of July and runs every evening it is called “ I Banditi del Sillico al tempo dell’Ariosto… all’ora di cena ” and is a very well thought of Feast serving local foods which are typical of the time. The entire village of Sillico is transformed with medieval costumes into a bandits lair the most famous of which was “Il Moro”. The medieval town inhabitants serve a delicious medieval meal in various nooks and crannies of the village, the church also hosts an exhibition with tools of the various local crafts. This Feast is held as a commemoration of the time that Ariosto an Italian nobleman and literary star who was mayor of the town of Castelnuovo de Garfagnana was taken prisoner by the feared bandit Il Moro.

The area of Garfagnana where you can find La Collina del Sole was the through road for Salt from the sea for many of the dukedoms and principalities of Northern Tuscany, and as salt was a precious commodity to preserve food and to help keep things cold, by default Garfagnana became a magnet for all manner of bandits and “salt pirates” who would lie in wait for convoys and extract any valuable item from their hapless victims.

Other fun pastimes in Garfagnana over the weekend is antiques shopping which can be enjoyed in the historic town of Castelnuovo di Garfagnana on the 1st Saturday and Sunday of each month, in the medieval jewel of Barga every 2nd Sunday of each month and in Lucca every 3rd Saturday and Sunday of the month. Lucca by the way was recently voted the most beautiful place to live in Italy by Forbes Magazine !

If you love old traditions then you will LOVE the Festa dei Pastori alle prade garfagnine or the feast of shepherds in the meadows of Garfagnana held on Sunday 4th August, it is a true gathering of locals in the cool of the meadows high up in Garfagnana hills guaranteed to be fresh a blessing in August a great day out. Yee Haaaaaaaaaaa