Via di Francesco (Via Ghibellina) Day 3: Donnini - Prato di Strada

Laudato si', mi' Signore, per sor'aqua, la quale è multo utile et humile et pretiosa et casta.

Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Water, which is very useful and humble and precious and chaste.

- San Francesco, Cantico del Sole (1226)

Sister Water has been our constant companion today, gurgling along beside us along this long and difficult but green and shady path. 

We began the day with a long, steady climb from a starting altitudine of 250 metres to 1250 metres, through a series of groves of chestnut, white fir, Douglas fir (including the tallest tree in Italy) and beech forest as we climbed higher. Nearing the top, we stopped for a break at the Abbey of Vallombrosa. 

Founded in 1036 and repeatedly renovated and enlarged over the centuries in response to the needs of the community, this is the abbey to which Ariosto retired to write Orlando Furioso in 1516; in the following century John Milton mentioned it in Paradise Lost. The spot is enchanting, but only the church and the herbal pharmacy were open to visitors today; monastery tours are only available in July and August, when this area becomes a popular retreat from the summer heat.

From here we continued to climb, along centuries-old paths paved with stone, past a series of chapels, streams and waterfalls, to Passo della Croce Vecchia. Then we descended on a steep dirt track to an icy stream where we soaked our feet to refresh them after the long climb.

We crossed paths with a couple of long-distance walkers heading in the opposite direction, towards Florence, on the Cammino di Dante, which coincides with the Via Ghibellina in many sections. They reassures us that we would be going downhill for most of the afternoon, and so it was. It was a long day - covering a total of 26 km, with major differences in elevation, but walking through a shady forest to the accompaniment of bubbling streams is always less tiring than walking on roads or through open country, and the greenery seemed to recharge and regenerate us as we walked. 

Only towards the end of the day did we return to the road and to inhabited areas, passing below the tower of Montemignaio and through a series of villages before finally arriving in Prato di Strada, where the Ursuline Sisters of Casa Emmaus awaited us with two immaculate rooms and a delicious dinner. 

Donnini - Prato di Strada 26 km