Castelnuovo Val di Cecina
Perched on the slope that separates the Val di Cecina from the Val di Cornia, Castelnuovo is a medieval village with a strong sense of identity, instantly striking for the powerful ‘physicality’ with which it is imbued.
As approaching the village from the winding and gentle provincial road, offering glimpses of a landscape bordering on the imaginary, after crossing the bridge over the Pavone River, one cannot help but be enchanted by the cluster of houses that lie almost directly ahead. A tangle of houses whose image changes in that play of light and shadow, voids and volumes, which varies as the sunlight radiates onto the dwellings during the day, making the “cluster” a vigilant entity in continuous, suggestive dynamism.
Houses that chase each other and seem to cling with strength and vitality to the slope of the mountain, enveloping it in a cloak speckled with gray, like the stones from which they are forged, and from which emanates all the energy that is the primary expression of this place.
Everywhere around the settlement, an immense green surface, symbolizing a powerful nature that dominates the environment with determination, frames the cluster of houses, as if to underline and remind of the eternal game of balances that has always characterized the complex relationship between man and nature in this territory.
And from this overwhelmingly physical presence, Castelnuovo Val di Cecina carves out its essence, which emerges and rises from the winding alleys, somewhat sleepy, that intertwine in the village, from the steep stairs nestled between walls of buildings that almost touch for an imaginary embrace, from the windows illuminated like nativity scenes in the evening, from the doors softened by flowers that serve as a colorful backdrop, from the small squares that suddenly appear to proudly showcase never predictable panoramas, where the gaze spans far and wide.
Welcome, then, to this place, where the silence and tranquility of peaceful living provide the opportunity to reconnect with oneself, finally away from the disorienting noise in which we often live, distracting us from the beauty that villages like Castelnuovo Val di Cecina generously offer us, satisfying the eyes and uplifting the spirit.
