Mulazzo

Discover Mulazzo

In 1306, a notary from the village of Mulazzo signed the deed granting hospitality to Dante Alighieri, exiled from Florence and welcomed by Marquis Franceschino Malaspina. That document — known as the Peace of Castelnuovo — ties Mulazzo to Dante’s biography in a direct and documented way. Anyone wondering what to see in Mulazzo today will find, at 351 metres above sea level in the Lunigiana area of Massa and Carrara, a village of 2,525 inhabitants where the memory of the Malaspina family can be read in the stones, the doorways, and the tower overlooking the central square. Here, the Lunigiana is not a backdrop: it is the load-bearing structure.

History and origins of Mulazzo

The name Mulazzo derives, according to local documentary tradition, from the Latin mulatium, probably linked to the shape of the terrain or to the presence of a resting place for mules along the routes connecting the Ligurian coast to the Po Valley. The village appears in medieval documents as a possession of the Malaspina family, one of the most extensively branched feudal dynasties of northern Italy. In 1221, the division between the Spino Secco and Spino Fiorito branches assigned Mulazzo to the Spino Secco branch, which made it one of its seats of government. The marquisate of Mulazzo maintained a degree of autonomy until the arrival of Napoleon, when the imperial fiefs of the Lunigiana were abolished in 1797.

The most frequently cited historical episode remains the stay of Dante Alighieri at the court of Franceschino Malaspina. The poet arrived in the Lunigiana in 1306 and, according to historians’ reconstructions, acted as procurator for the Malaspina in negotiating the peace with the bishop-count of Luni, signed at Castelnuovo Magra on 6 October of that year. Dante repaid their hospitality with the verses of Canto VIII of Purgatorio, where Corrado Malaspina praises his own house. This connection gave rise, in the twentieth century, to the creation of a dedicated museum in the village centre.

After annexation to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany and then to the Kingdom of Italy, Mulazzo followed the fate of the Lunigiana: emigration to the Americas in the late nineteenth century, a subsistence agricultural economy, and slow depopulation in the post-war period. Today the municipality encompasses numerous scattered hamlets across the hills between the Teglia torrent and the Magra river, and it preserves a built fabric in which the marks of feudal organisation are still recognisable: tower-houses, sandstone doorways, and perimeter boundary walls.

What to see in Mulazzo: the 5 main attractions

1. Tower of Dante (or Tower of the Malaspina Castle)

The cylindrical tower in Piazza Dante is what remains of the Malaspina dello Spino Secco castle. Standing roughly 25 metres tall, it is built from blocks of local sandstone. It is not the original Dantean tower in the strict sense, but it marks the site where the fortified complex in which the poet was hosted once stood. A medieval arch at its base connects the square to the oldest core of the village.

2. Lunigianese Dante Museum

Set up in the historic centre, the museum holds documents, reproductions and panels reconstructing Dante’s stay in the Lunigiana. Visitors will find copies of the notarial deeds from 1306, maps of the routes taken by the poet, and displays dedicated to the relationship between the Malaspina family and the literary culture of the fourteenth century. It is managed by the Centro Lunigianese di Studi Danteschi, founded in 1965.

3. Church of San Niccolò

The parish church of San Niccolò, in the village centre, has a simple façade and a single-nave interior with lateral marble altars. It preserves elements datable to between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. The patron saint of the municipality is Saint Martin of Tours, celebrated on 11 November, but the main church is dedicated to San Niccolò, reflecting the layered devotional history of the area.

4. Palazzo Malaspina and the Via Dantesca

Along the village’s main street stand the remains of the marchional palace, with stone doorways and Malaspina heraldic coats of arms visible on the façades. A signposted route — the so-called “Via Dantesca” — connects Mulazzo to other Lunigiana villages linked to Dante’s documented presence, following hillside paths through chestnut groves and rural hamlets.

5. Medieval bridge at Ponticello (Ponticello hamlet)

In the hamlet of Ponticello, a few kilometres from the main village, a humpback stone bridge spans the Teglia torrent. The single-arch structure dates to the medieval period and served the road network between the valley’s fiefs. The surrounding landscape is that of the mid-Lunigiana: chestnut woods, terraced hillsides, and small walled kitchen gardens.

Local cuisine and regional products

The table in Mulazzo is that of the inland Lunigiana, built on chestnut and wheat flour, wild herbs and pork. Testaroli — discs of batter cooked in cast-iron or terracotta testi, then cut into diamond shapes and dressed with Genoese pesto or extra-virgin olive oil — are the signature dish of the area and have received PAT (Traditional Agri-Food Product) recognition from the Tuscany Region. Alongside testaroli are panigacci, cooked between stacked testi and served with stracchino cheese or cured meats, and torta d’erbi, a savoury pie filled with chard, borage and other seasonal greens, enclosed between two thin layers of pastry. Farina di castagne della Lunigiana DOP (Lunigiana chestnut flour, PDO), obtained from local varieties such as carpinese and rossola, forms the basis of numerous preparations: castagnaccio, necci (chestnut flour crêpes filled with ricotta), and pattona, a dense polenta made from chestnut flour. Miele della Lunigiana DOP (Lunigiana honey, PDO), in both acacia and chestnut varieties, is the other protected-designation product of the area.

Among cured meats, Lardo di Colonnata IGP — aged in marble basins in the nearby Apuan Alps — often appears on charcuterie boards, alongside spalla cotta (cooked shoulder) and salumi di Gombitelli from the Lunigiana tradition. The reference wine is Colli di Luni DOC, both white (Vermentino) and red (Sangiovese, Merlot), produced in the bordering areas between Tuscany and Liguria. In late summer, several hamlets within the municipality organise festivals dedicated to testaroli and chestnuts: the chestnut harvest in October and November traditionally marks the food calendar of the area, and the Chestnut Festival draws producers and cooks who work the flour using the techniques of the gradile, the slow-fire drying house.

When to visit Mulazzo: the best time

The patron saint’s feast of San Martino, on 11 November, coincides with chestnut season and offers a precise vantage point on village life. Summer brings the “Banchettando” Festival, dedicated to the Renaissance banquet and the re-enactment of the Malaspina courts, held in the squares and alleyways of the historic centre, generally in July or August. The hillside climate — at 351 metres — makes spring (April–June) and autumn (September–November) the most suitable periods for walking along the Via Dantesca and the paths through the chestnut groves, without the heat of the Tyrrhenian coast or the harsh cold of the Apennine winter.

Winter in the Lunigiana is damp and can bring thick fog to the Magra valley, though temperatures rarely drop below zero for prolonged periods. Those who visit Mulazzo between October and November will find autumn colours in the surrounding woods and may witness the drying of chestnuts in the gradili still in use in some hamlets.

How to reach Mulazzo

By car, from the A15 Parma–La Spezia motorway, take the Pontremoli exit and drive approximately 10 km southward along the SP62 to Mulazzo. From La Spezia the distance is around 55 km, from Parma around 100 km, and from Florence around 170 km via the A11 and A15. From Genoa, allow approximately 130 km via the A12 motorway and then the A15.

The nearest railway station is Pontremoli, on the Parma–La Spezia line (the so-called Pontremolese), from which Mulazzo is about 10 km away, reachable by local bus services or taxi. The nearest airport is Pisa-Galileo Galilei, approximately 130 km away, connected via the A12 and then the A15 motorway. Alternatively, Parma-Giuseppe Verdi airport is about 110 km away. The village can also be reached via the Lunigiana hiking trails, including stretches of the Via Francigena that cross the municipal territory.

What to see in Mulazzo and in the nearby villages of the Lunigiana

The Lunigiana is a compact yet densely layered territory of historic centres that can be visited in combination with Mulazzo. A few kilometres to the south, Bagnone extends along the torrent of the same name, with a castle overlooking a settlement of stone houses arranged on several levels. Its market and arcaded square provide a cross-section of daily life in the lower Lunigiana, with an urban layout different from that of Mulazzo: more compact, more vertical, with the watercourse as its central axis.

Moving towards the Apuan Alps, Casola in Lunigiana occupies a border position between the Magra valley and the Apuan foothills. Its terrain is rougher, marked by gorges and karst caves, and the gastronomic tradition here is enriched by mountain-related elements. Together, Mulazzo, Bagnone and Casola form a three- or four-day itinerary that crosses the Lunigiana from north to south, taking in Malaspina castles, Romanesque parish churches and landscapes that change rapidly with altitude. Up-to-date information on the area can be found on the official website of the Municipality of Mulazzo, on the dedicated Wikipedia page and on the italia.it portal.