Poppi: and rare medieval walled city

First appointment with the new heading "Places".

Today we will talk about Poppi, a beautiful Tuscan town of 6.396 inhabitants in the province of Arezzo.

The town is on the list of most beautiful villages in Italy.

Poppi is placed at the center of the Casentino (437 meters above sea level), before the Arno valley between the provinces of Arezzo and Florence, Today the National Park, remained almost intact in its natural and artistic beauty thanks to a number of tourists not standardized.

The medieval town of Poppi is a rare "walled city" at the top ruleth the Castello dei Conti Guidi, work of the famous family of architects Exchange and "prototype" of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence.

Thanks to the constant restorations over the centuries, The castle of Poppi is currently in excellent condition.

Inside we find the Library Rilliana, full of hundreds of medieval manuscripts and incunabula.

Another factor of great importance is the Cappella dei Conti Guidi with a series of fourteenth-century frescoes attributed to Taddeo Gaddi, pupil of Giotto.

Coming down from the castle you can admire the Rectory of Saints Mark and Lorenzo (sec. XVIII) which houses works by Ligozzi and Morandini.

In front of it, in the main square, you can see a rare example of "baroque Tuscan", the Oratory of the Madonna del Morbo (sec. XVII), a unique hexagonal building with the dome scales.

Continuing through the village master flanked by porticos which allow a visit to the covered every season, we come to the ancient Abbey of San Fedele (sec. XI), full of remarkable works of art, including a crucifix Giotto, several paintings by artists such as: Ligozzi, Hatches, Alessandra, Morandini and Solosmeo.

At last, the Augustinian Monastery (sec. XVI), which preserves valuable Della Robbia terracotta.

The tour through the charming town of Poppi may end with a healthy walk along the medieval walls, from which you can admire a beautiful view of the typical Tuscan countryside.

Just outside the town is the First of the European Fauna Park Zoo, in that 19 March 2013 turned on the beauty of 40 candles.

Il primo Parco Zoo della Fauna Europea di Poppi è stato fondato nel 1973 by Dr. Roberto Bricks, a veterinary surgeon in the province of Arezzo, that has chosen to make this work, the only one of its kind in our country.

Lo Zoo si trova nella Valle del Casentino, placed in the Apennines north eastern, tra Tuscany and the Romagna. It is an area of ​​extraordinary importance for the flora and fauna, in that 1993 also saw the establishment of the National Park of Casentino Forests Monte Falterona and Campigna, at a distance of 20 years to the day from the opening of the first public zoo in the European Fauna in Poppi.

The park is an oasis of green 50 hectares and, at a distance of 40 years after its opening, still intact wilderness, inside which the animal species indigenous especially as deer, Daini, rates, Wildcats, istrici, poiane, owls, barbagianni e lupi trovano protezione e cura.

Michael Lattanzi

By the number 30 – The Year of 10/09/2014