NIGEL'S RAMBLES: Winter Light

Thursday, February 27, 2014

Winter Light

Winter in Italy is the perfect season for walking in the foothills of the Apennines. It is not hot and often not humid and the play of light on the landscape is something special.

I usually use the CAI footpaths, but I have done nearly all of them in my province. I decided to invent with the aid of my 25000 map a circular walk that started at a Romanic church, passed an old Customs house before returning to where I started.

The little church at Beleo on a hill outside of the village was founded in 980 and is a typical tiny Romanic “Pieve”. After suffering heavy damage during the war it has been nicely restored. It has a war memorial to the Alpini - Italian mountain troops. The list of those who died from the province on the Russian front is endless and quite shocking.

Pieve di Beleo, Casina, RE

I then dropped down to the valley below, the winter light combined with the fresh green grass was magical.

Beleo, Casina, RE

I then climbed up to Costa Medolana. This is a relic from a time when a large part of the province of Reggio Emilia formed part of the Ducato di Parma. This was once a Customs house. Nearby a boundry marker can still be seen in the middle of a field. The complex which later became a large farmhouse is an advanced state of disrepair.

Costa Medolana, Casina, RE

It has been raining here for what seems forever , so thanks to the muddy conditions I could not take the footpath back to Beleo. This meant taking the road on the ridge up to the top of the valley and then taking the road down another ridge back to Beleo.