Tuscany – the lesser known mystical Lunigiana
Anyone who has gone or is planning to go to Tuscany will certainly know the classic famous places like Florence and its Uffizi Gallery or Ponte Vecchio, Siena, Arezzo or Montepulciano – whether for its famous and delicious wine or its monuments and architecture.
Fewer know Lunigiana and its attractions. Where is it located? From the north, Lunigiana is the gateway to Tuscany. Next to Garfagnana, Lunigiana is the northern region of Tuscany, a green, stony landscape full of rivers and streams that create small waterfalls in the rocks, embellished with stone bridges. There are countless stone castles, fortresses and fortresses in Lunigiana. Many more than anywhere else in Tuscany. This is because the Malaspino family did not follow the traditional rule that the entire inheritance fell only to the eldest son. The land and power was divided among all the sons. It is a peculiarity which, although over the centuries, has led to the constant fragmentation of the territory into many small units, each with its own seat and fighting with each other, but which have given Lunigiana a priceless heritage that we come to look upon with awe today.
Those who love history and ancient legends must simply immerse themselves in the places behind the mighty walls of Lunigian fortresses and castles. One such option is a visit to Piagnaro Castle in Pontremoli with its collection of mysterious megaliths, the oldest of which date back to the late 4th century BC. Pontremoli is a small town with a motorway exit and a railway station. The description may be a little off-putting to the type of visitor who doesn’t fancy or can’t handle the hills and paths on them. What a surprise when you arrive, find the parking lot and discover that from here there is a tunnel under the aforementioned pedestrian access to the elevator that takes you up to the platform by the castle. From here it’s a jump to the courtyard and the entrance to the castle. The exhibition is open daily from 9.30am to 5.30pm in winter and from 10am in summer. Immediately after the tickets – various concessions are available – we get into a small hall where an accompanying film is shown with very knowledgeable but understandable commentary. Immediately afterwards, the visitor is immersed in another world.
There are 80 megaliths on display in the museum with human aspects between 2-3 metres in size, they are divided into three groups. Group A contains megaliths with the head directly perched on the torso, group B already has the neck between the torso and the head and the head is in the shape of a semicircle, and the third is more realistic with attempts at three-dimensional realization. They are made of Lunigan sandstone, and both men – some with weapons – and women are depicted, with breasts and, oddly enough, some nipples. To date, no written or other records have been found to illuminate both their creation and their use. For the former, scholars have assumed that they are the work of Etruscans, as one of them has an inscription on its back in Etruscan characters, MEZUNEMUNIUS, which has not yet been deciphered. However, as has been established, the inscription was added in later times. Are these tombstones, obelisks on roads, marking certain territories and boundaries? Or symbols of protection. Their purposefulness has yet to be ascertained, or not, until then we can look forward to mysterious stone beings reminiscent of the Golem of Prague, or here and there inscriptions or statuettes from various countries reminding ufologists and not only them of prehistoric austronauts.
