Casa Marchetti

Casa Marchetti is a townhouse in the centre of Barga, a beautiful, medieval hilltop town in Tuscany, Italy.

A true gem.

View of La Pania the biggest mountain in the Apua range taken from the Duomo (Cathedral)

One of the things I love about Barga is that it isn't overrun with tourists so you get to experience life in a typical hilltop town. 

Barga is surrounded by olive tree groves, chestnut trees and grape vines and is famous for its Farro grain - the food of the ancient Roman legions.

The historic centre was originally built as a castle surrounded by walls which still seem to protect it. Inside, the houses are clustered around an impressive cathedral dating back to before the year 1000. It is crisscrossed by many winding, cobblestone streets and narrow alleys that run into interesting squares, irregularly shaped ancient buildings, beautiful old houses, tiny shops, bar/cafes, trattorias, pizzerias and restaurants. 

At the same time Barga is close to many well known places - Florence, Pisa, the historical city of Lucca, the 5 towns of Cinque Terre on the Ligurian Coast and many others are just a day trip. 

Carrara, famous the world over for its flawless white marble (the stone from Michael Angelo's David came from Carrara) is about an hour's drive from Barga.

You can have a day at the beach in Viareggio, a spa in the old Roman Bathes in Bagni di Lucca, and enjoy magnificent walks or bike rides through vineyards, forests and to other medieval towns in the area. Visit the famous Wind Cave or the town of Collodi where the story of Pinocchio was written.

In winter you can spend the day at a ski resort in nearby Abertone.

From the nearby hamlet of Sommocolonia (views to die for) you can walk down an old Roman road back to Barga.

In Barga you have the best of both worlds! If you have a car great, but otherwise it is easy to get around by public transport to the majority of the places.

The Duomo is pre Middle Ages

Barga itself has everything you need and everything is in walking distance of the townhouse.  

The original historic centre of Barga still remains.  I love wandering through the narrow and winding cobbled streets of medieval Barga, through ancient arches and up time-worn steps.  The views from the Duomo are wonderful and there are a number of little bars where you can soak up the atmosphere, have coffee, a cold drink, a gelato or a meal on the way. 

Porta Reale - the main gate into  Barga vecchia

This photo is taken from via Giardino about 50 metres from the townhouse. The street leads across part of the aquaduct into the old town.

The 'newer' part of town, immediately outside the medieval section, offers  every convenience - supermarket, butcher, fruit shops, banks, etc.  The townhouse is equally handy to both Barga vecchia (old Barga) and Giardino (new Barga).

Looking back on part of Barga vecchia from the Tiglio road

Photo taken from the balcony of Caffe Capretz in Medieval Barga looking down at the main street of the 'new' town.

The townhouse (before its new coat of paint) is indicated on the right of the photo.

But - more about Barga itself later