What is Loro Ciuffenna known for?

Romanesque parish church 2 km up the Setteponti, built around the year 1000 with an 8th-century Lombard pulpit preserved in the right aisle. Twelfth-century water mill on the Ciuffenna, still in working order, traditionally used to grind chestnut flour from the Pratomagno slopes. The mountain ridge above the village, 1,592 meters at the iron cross, separating the Valdarno from the Casentino since pre-Roman times.

Where is Loro Ciuffenna?

Loro Ciuffenna is a comune in the province of Arezzo, Tuscany region of Italy, about 60 kilometers from Firenze.

Tuscany · Arezzo

Loro Ciuffenna

A Valdarno villagestraddling the Ciuffenna torrent, with the oldest working water mill in Tuscany and a Lombard pulpit two kilometers up the road.

60 km / 37 mi

Nearest hub (Firenze)

5,869

Population

Apr–Oct

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Borghi più belli d'Italia

Why come

Loro Ciuffenna sitson the western slopes of the Pratomagno, between the Arno valley and the Casentino. The torrent it is named for cuts through the centro storico under a hump-backed stone bridge of Roman origin, remodeled in the Middle Ages. A water mill on the bank is still in operation, the oldest active mill in Tuscany, dating to the 12th century and used until recently to grind chestnuts into flour. The inhabitants of the castle of Loro were the first to submit to the Florentine Republic in 1306, and the village formed its own statutes as an autonomous comune in 1462. Two kilometers up the Setteponti road stands the Pieve di San Pietro a Gropina, one of the great Romanesque parish churches of Tuscany, built around the year 1000 over two earlier churches; its circular pulpit, supported by two knotted Lombard columns, is 8th century.

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Gallery

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Known for

Pieve di San Pietro a Gropina
Romanesque parish church 2 km south of the village, built around 1000 over a 5th-century church and an 8th-century Lombard one with a knotted-column pulpit.
Ponte sul Ciuffenna
Hump-backed stone bridge of Roman origin crossing the torrent in the centro storico, heavily remodeled in the medieval period.
Mulino di Loro Ciuffenna
12th-century water mill on the Ciuffenna, the oldest active mill in Tuscany, traditionally used to grind chestnut flour.
Pratomagno
Mountain ridge above the village, with the iron cross on its summit at 1,592 meters and pastures used since the Middle Ages for transhumance.
Museo Venturino Venturi
Museum dedicated to the Valdarno sculptor born nearby, with a collection of drawings, sculptures and paintings donated to the comune.

When to visit

Best months · Apr–Oct

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

April through June brings green slopes, mild evenings and water in the Ciuffenna torrent. September and October are the dry months, when the Pratomagno chestnuts ripen and the Setteponti road sees the best light of the year. July and August can push the Valdarno floor into the mid-thirties; the village stays cooler at 330 meters than the plain below, but the centro storico empties in the afternoon hours. November through March is quiet. The mill keeps running. Many trattorie shorten hours, and the Pieve di Gropina sees almost no visitors except on Sunday morning.