Photo © Massimiliano Galardi

Agliana

Small hamlets and natural oases in the heart of the Pistoia plain

The territory of Agliana, with its unique quadrilateral shape bound by the course of the Bure, Calice, Ombrone and Brana streams, is characterized by the presence and vitality of the hamlets of Spedalino, San Piero, San Niccolò and San Michele, Agliana being nothing more than the toponym that defines the entire municipal structure.
The birth of Agliana followed the construction, in the 2nd century B.C., of the Via Cassia, along which, at the point where the route crossed the Agna Valley, a stopover station arose for pilgrims on their way to Rome and Lucca.
Because of its particular location, Agliana was also a strategic center for the Resistance in the Pistoia Apennines; the sacrifice of local partisans is remembered by a statue by Sergio Cammelli erected in Piazza della Resistenza.

What to see in Agliana

Reviewing the main attractions of the area, it is worth mentioning Spedalino Asnelli, once an important hospital and today a populous and active hamlet on the plain.

The beautiful Sandro Pertini Park leads all the way to the heart of the hamlet of San Piero where, in the central Piazza Gramsci, stand the Church of San Piero and the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento (Blessed Sacrament); the presence of the former is attested as early as 1152, but the current structure dates back to the late 19th century.

In the arm of land stretching between the Brana and Ombrone streams, with the singular name of Muccaia, you can have an idea of the unique characteristics of this fertile plain, while a place to relax and indulge in a nice walk amid the trees is the Agliana Park. Past the Mugnone stream is the beautiful complex of Villa Baldi.

Reviewing the main attractions of the area, it is worth mentioning Spedalino Asnelli, once an important hospital and today a populous and active hamlet on the plain.

In the surroundings

The Querciola Nature Protected Area is one of the most interesting places from a natural point of view in the entire Pistoia plain; in fact, it is one of the few areas still untouched following the transformation that has characterized the entire area since the 1970s. The areas of water, and mainly the lakes of Zela and Bigiana, are an excellent habitat for numerous species of birds: storks, herons, egrets, black-winged stilts, and marsh harriers.

Other interesting places belonging, like Agliana, to the area of Pistoia and the Pistoian Mountains, and that can be reached easily in a short time, include Pistoia itself, with its churches, cloisters, palaces, museums and monuments, and Montale, with the remains of the 13th-century fortified village towering above the current built-up area.