Premilcuore

Castles wrapped in the silence of the chestnut woods. Weapons and horses that challenge in a suspended atmosphere, made of dark sides and flashes of blinding light. Houses with doors and windows framed by stone, typical of Tuscan architecture. Excursions, hiking and walks that can stretch into the Foreste Casentinesi National Park

On the right bank of the river Rabbi along the ancient trade route connecting Tuscany to Romagna. A small mountain village, close to the two foothills of the Alpe di San Benedetto and Monte Falterona.

From 1100 to 1375 it belonged the powerful Guidi di Modigliana family and remained under the influence of the city of Florence until 1923. The medieval period preserved the walled hamlet where the only two passages of access to the village. Of the two doors to the north and to the south, Porta di Sotto and Porta Fiorentina, only the latter is left which today marks the border between Piazza dei Caduti and Piazza Ricci.

The remains of the ancient fortress on one side and the clock tower that is still operated today by the movement of two rocks that hang a long rope made of hemp, mark the ancient profile of the old town.

Testimony of Florentine architecture is the elegant Palazzo Giannelli and the prestigious Palazzo Briccolani. While the oratory of St. Lawrence, probably the chapel of the ancient castle, and the little oratorio of Mogio are remembered in history books in 1379

In the church of San Martino all'Oppio, founded around the tenth century and restored in the 1500s, some of the major artworks of the village are preserved, such as Madonna del Carmine by Jacopo Vignali.

Not far away from its medieval heart the beauty of unspoiled nature explodes, marked by ancient castles that stand in the silence of the woods and long paths leading to the Foreste Casentinesi National Park. Here, in the Visitor Centre, one can discover the richness of flora and abundance of wildlife.

Among the fortified rural hamlets we find Castel dell'Alpe, with the remains of Count Guidi's castle and the cistern, and Fiumicello, with the small church of Santa Maria delle Nevi, which holds a ceramic statue of the Maestà by Valbagota.

There is a very close connection between the community and its river this is testified by the mills, that are completely restored and working: the Castel dell'Alpe mill and the Mengozzi mill in Fiumicello. To be seen to marvel at their workings and to see them as a source of life for the territory. Great examples of industrial archeology

The cultural vivacity of Premilcuore is expressed in the two manifestations that revolve around the characteristic elements of the village: castles and chestnuts.

“La Contesa Di Castelli” is a fascinating summer re-enactment where the ancient castles of Montalto, Castel dell'Alpe and Premilcuore face each other in tests with weapons and horses in the background of a historic centre bursting with courtiers, merchants, astrologers, beggars and soldiers. The chestnut festival, however, is repeated every year in October attracting curious and greedy tourists.