The path of greatest resistance

The path of greatest resistance

Regnano circular from Pieve di Offiano via Poggio

The starting point for this walk is Pieve di Offiano, which means the Romanesque church of Offiano. In addition to this delightful example of Romanesque architecture, our walk takes in a medieval bridge, a village that is historically important through its connection to the Italian Resistance during World War II, and the hamlet of Poggio that sits at the lower end of the medieval village of Regnano Castello. The entire walk is on good paths, tracks and lanes.

Walk summary

Grade: LeisurelyLength: 5km
Circular? YesDuration: 1h 30m
Start: N44.21910° E10.19370°Finish: Same
Max elevation: 668mMin elevation: 500m
Total ascent: 210mTotal descent: 210m

Equivalent flat distance: 6.663km — multiply this number by the flat walking pace (min./km) of the slowest walker for a better estimate of walk duration. NB: see my article on estimating walk durations.

Route map with elevation profile and downloadable GPS track

Download a GPX track for this walk: Download GPX track

Detailed description

Starting point: Pieve di Offiano (N44.21910° E10.19370°) — for those arriving by car there is a parking area opposite the church.

The first part of the walk follows the Via del Volto Santo (VVS), which is way marked with blue symbols. Keeping the church on your right, follow the surfaced lane for 100m then, at the farm, turn left onto a dirt road — there is a large water trough just before the road. After 200m, continue on the main track for a further 450m where you will see an electricity pylon at the point where the track diverges. Turn right and stay on the VVS for 250m to a large Madonna and Child shrine. At this point, you should leave the main dirt track by taking the minor grass path on the right, which, as you descend, gives you your first view of the village of Regnano Villa ahead. Depending on the weather and the time of year, you should be able to hear the sound of the Aulella river deep in the valley to your right. At the bottom of the path, you will arrive at a medieval bridge, which we suspect had parapets before the days of the tractor. Far below, you’ll see the river cascading its way down towards Montefiore. Cross the bridge and take the zigzag path up to Regnano Villa. Turn left onto a minor lane and left again onto the main road through the village. From here, continue up the main street, ignoring a right turn that is way marked for the VVS as you’ll be leaving it behind at this point. In fact, ignore any right turns and make your way out of the village near the church.

Note: If you decided to explore Regnano Villa then it’s possible to rejoin the walk near the church by using the bell tower as a reference point to aim for.

Turn left at the fork in the road where there is a sign for the Chiesa di Santa Margherita di Regnano. After 200m, take the turning on the left to the hamlet of Poggio. At the end of the road, continue up into the hamlet using the footway on the left that is marked with red and white symbols. At the top of the alley, ignore the steep path up to Regnano Castello on the right, and follow the back lane over the bridge and up through the collection of houses on the other side of the stream. This is the halfway point of the walk.

Note: If time is not an issue, and you have plenty of energy, then a detour up into Regnano Castello is well worth the effort and makes a good spot for a picnic. Return the same way to continue the walk.

As you leave Poggio, at the top of the path you’ll find a plaque depicting the Madonna and Child set into a wall. Follow the path that is more or less straight ahead, ignoring the way marked path that turns right. After 200m, you will arrive at another shrine, this one dedicated to Christ on the Cross, where you need to turn left. In approximately 150m, you will cross a small stream where you will find a rare fingerpost, confirming that you are on the path back to Pieve di Offiano. 250m later, stay on the more obvious track to the left for another 200m to arrive at a shed and another parting of the ways. Take the track on the left that runs gently downhill with magnificent views over Regnano Villa to your left. 230m further on, look out for a minor path on the right. It’s quite easy to miss but is well marked with some splashes of orange paint on the stone wall. The path runs down the lefthand side of the wall to another small stream, where it then makes a 90º turn to the left, becoming wider but rougher. Take the downhill track on the left at the next junction to where a barn is being renovated on a hairpin bend. There are great views of Pieve di Offiano where we started, and across the valley to the Alpi Apuane mountains. Keep to the left at the next junction and you will immediately see the electricity pylon that you passed earlier on in the walk. From here it is a simple matter of turning right and retracing your steps back to the start point.

Gallery

Poggio medieval bridge

Image 13 of 20

The bridge that links the two sides of Poggio

Walks with angellightphoto

Visit our leisurely walks page.

Leisurely walks

Walks with angellightphoto

Visit our moderate walks page.

Moderate walks

Walks with angellightphoto

Visit our challenging walks page.

Challenging walks

Walks with angellightphoto

Visit our of easy walks page.

Easy walks

Walks with angellightphoto

Visit our technical walks page.

Technical walks

Walks with angellightphoto

See the complete list of walks.

All the walks

Nigel Fawcett

One of the many benefits of being retired is that I get to spend so much more time in the great outdoors, not only as a photographer but in exercising one of my other great passions — hill walking. This is a particularly good fit when one’s photography centres around nature and the landscape. There can be few better places to do that than here in the beautiful mountains of Tuscany.