Hello, dearest friends,

Today, since the weather is bad in my area, I’m taking the opportunity to catch up on some posts about my Christmas vacation. I’ve seen quite a few places, so I want to get ahead a bit and share many of the photos I took during these festive days.

As I was telling you, I spent a lot of time in Tuscany, visiting friends and family for the holidays. Continuing the journey I started in my previous post, where I introduced you to Rapale, this time I stopped in another beautiful village: Pietraviva, located in the municipality of Bucine, at about 300 meters above sea level.
This charming village is in the Val d’Ambra, as it lies on the left bank of the Ambra stream. The name "Pietraviva" probably comes from the ancient fortress that was built in this village. However, it might also refer to the stones in the river, which are of a certain color and seem almost alive.

It could also refer to the fact that the houses in this village are made of stone, and stone was an essential material for the construction of these buildings. You can already notice this from the first photos I’ve shared.
What immediately catches your attention are the prominent staircases, which essentially serve as the streets of this village. Notice how the houses are arranged; they preserve the architectural layout typical of fortified villages.

I took this walk alone, and there was practically no one around. Almost all the houses were closed, likely because, as usual, they’re mostly used during the warmer season. Someone had put up a few Christmas decorations outside, which made it clear that some people live here year-round, but the rest was pretty bare of decorations.
Walking through the streets of Pietraviva feels like immersing yourself in an atmosphere of tranquility, while also realizing that history was made here. It’s truly wonderful to preserve these places; in fact, it’s very important to do so.

Of course, there were plenty of cats wandering freely around. To be honest, I spent a while looking for the famous yew tree of Pietraviva, which is supposed to be one of the oldest trees in Italy, but I couldn’t find it. Unfortunately, I later got confirmation from a local lady that it was brought down by a strong storm – such a shame.

I hope, as always, that my photos have transported you to this part of Tuscany. I truly hope you’ll have a chance to visit it someday too. I wish you all a great start to the week, and I’ll see you soon!

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