Montecatini was our home base in Tuscany for the final week of our tour. The town is about equidistant from the cities of Florence and Pisa. The hotel where we were staying, the Ercolini e Savi Hotel, was in a historical building in the center of town. I would describe its décor as somewhat faded rustic elegance. I particularly liked the painted furniture in the lobby.
Montecatini is actually two separate towns. The original Montecatini is a very small village located at the top of a steep hill. It’s now known as Montecatini Alto. Below Montecatini Alto is Montecatini Terme, a town of 20,000 people, where we were staying. Montecatini Terme was built on level ground in the 1700s as a spa town. In the mid-1800s, the first railroads connecting Florence to the coast stopped here and it quickly became a fashionable resort for the wealthy. The town is known for its Liberty style (the Italian version of Art Nouveau) architecture which was popular between 1890 and 1914.
Although we had a guided tour of Montecatini Terme scheduled for mid-morning, I set out to explore on my own as soon as I finished an early breakfast. The town was just beginning to wake up and many of the shops were still closed. I walked down the main street, past boutiques selling clothing and accessories, a nail salon, a book store, and even a department store catering to the local residents along with some bars, cafes, and restaurants. Since the Coop grocery store was open, I picked up a few Italian chocolate bars. I also made a mental note of the location of a gelato shop.
The main square is the Piazza del Popolo, which is surrounded by shops and cafes. It’s also where one of the grand hotels from earlier days is located.
The 1950s church, Basilica of Santa Maria Assunta, also faces the square. I entered the church just before the 8:30am mass began.
From the piazza, you can follow the Viale Verdi, a scenic promenade, up to the thermal complexes. I could see a Ferris wheel when I looked in that direction.
A little later, during the walk with our local guide, I learned that the Italian opera composers Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) and Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) were frequent visitors to the town. There’s a bronze statue of Puccini in a small garden off the Viale Verdi, only a few steps from our hotel.
We saw many references to Verdi and more Art Nouveau architecture as we continued walking up the Viale Verdi. The Teatro Verdi is still used for performances today.
According to a posted sign written in Italian, French, English, German, and Russian, this building originally opened to the public as a casino in 1906.
It’s just a short distance from the impressive main entrance to the Tettuccio Spa, which is still in operation today.
I was even more impressed once we stepped past the entrance.
My gaze wandered over the floors, walls, and ceilings, marveling at paintings, stained glass, mosaic work, and more.
We were curious about the water, which was coming out of the labeled taps from four different underground hot springs. Lodo explained that the “heaviness” (amount of minerals) of the water varied according to the spring it came from. He cautioned us that the minerals gave it strong laxative properties.
After Lodo’s warning, I wasn’t tempted to try the water but I noticed some guests sitting outside after filling their glasses at the taps.
We spent some time relaxing in the lavishly decorated Grand Café which now serves as a coffee and gift shop.
A modern concert hall is part of the complex. We were lucky that our stay in Montecatini coincided with the town’s annual opera festival. Before we departed, several of us purchased tickets for a Friday night performance of opera highlights.
Next, we went out into the Tuscan countryside to visit an olive oil mill. The road leading up to the Frantoio di Croce agriturismo was too narrow and curvy for our bus, so we had to transfer to this tractor-pulled trailer for the extremely bumpy ride up to the main house.
At this elevation, the views were beautiful and the air was fragrant with the scent of fresh jasmine.
In the distance, we could see a small hilltop village.
We met Mauro Campioni, the 4th generation of his family to own the property.
He told us that the farm has 5000 plants on the terraced hillsides and their own olive oil mill. Mauro’s two sons work with him. The trees are pruned by hand from January to early April. The olive harvest begins at the end of September and lasts 40-60 days. The olives that are picked must be pressed within two to three hours so it’s a time of intense activity.
Mauro led us through the production facility where we learned that you need the olives from ten trees to produce three gallons of oil.
And then there was an olive oil tasting. We tried four different kinds of olive oil that the mill produces and I liked them all.
Our Tuscan lunch at the olive mill consisted of salad, an antipasto of various meats (salami, finocchio, prosciutto, and something that looked like raw bacon), and then fresh pappardelle with a delicious ragù made with ground beef.
Right after we returned from the olive mill, it was time to check out Montecatini Alto. This typical Tuscan hilltop village has a population of 400. To get there, we took the historic (1898!) funicular from Montecatini Terme.
Once we reached the top, there were wonderful panoramic views.
Although the skies looked threatening, the rain was never more than a sprinkle as we explored the village on our own.
My first stop was the gelateria.
I had time to take a short but steep walk up to the 12th century clock and bell tower. According to posted signage, only six towers remain from the 25 that existed during medieval times. 19 towers were destroyed during a siege in 1554 by the Florentine forces of Grand Duke Cosimo dei Medici. The marble dial dates back to 1844.
The descent was much easier.
After we took the funicular back to MT, the remainder of the day was free for much needed rest and relaxation – and another gelato (purely in the interests of research).
