Dry-stone walls: a thousand years lasting tradition

Technical information

Route: Agnano – Foce di Calci- Castelmaggiore
Total length: 7.0 Km
Elevation gain: 350 m
Extimated travel time: 4 hrs (without breaks)
Departure time: 9.00 am
Return time: 1.00 pm
Itinerary Difficulty: level 2
What to bring: day pack (15-20lt), confortable clothes for hiking, light rain windproof jacket, hiking shoes water bottle, personal items.

Meet a local stone mason who will show you the complex art of dry-stone wall building, fundamental for farming and similar throughout the world.
You will climb gently for one hour walk through the terraced landscape that shapes Monte Pisano destination, between Pisa and Lucca.
The area is almost fully covered by terracing ancient olive trees, which produce a top quality extra virgin olive oil: harvest by hands, squeezed in small family run mills.
The professional hiking-guide will accompany you admiring the sea side view, enjoying the typical mediterranean scents, learning how to recognize some botanical species and get some
historical tips about the magnificent Cartusian Charterhouse located just down the valley.
Then you will meet a local farmer that will show you how dry stone walls are preserved and rebuilt when needed. The local farmer is skilled in this artcraft as himself loves the shape of terraced landscape and is fully aware of the importance either for farming but also for preventig landslide and therefore hydrogeological risk.