A journey by steam train to Marradi where you can spend a day during the Christmas Advent period. A section in the Tuscan-Romagna Apennines to get to know an area of Italy that is very rich and interesting in culture.
marradi e Palazzuolo sul Senio are two delightful villages in the upper province of Florence lying on theTuscan-Emilian Apennines. Only 12 km separate them, they unite festivals and traditions.
Many will know the chestnut and brown fair held in October and attract thousands of people every year. In that period it is also possible to reach Marradi by steam train from Bologna, Faenza and Florence. The brown mugellano DOP it is a delicious product and its sweet derivatives (the castagnaccio, the burnt that is the roasted chestnuts and others) obtain an ever increasing success.
In recent years, another event pushes tourists to tackle the mountain roads, free from snow but often surrounded by a white mantle: the markets of Christmas of Marradi and of A thousand nativity scenes of Palazzuolo.
Sundays in December the streets of the historic center of Marradi are occupied by stalls of typical products of the upper Mugello and of the traditional ones of Nordic markets, that is gift ideas, decorations for the tree and the nativity scene, wooden artifacts. The local gastronomic specialties are much tastier and more particular, starting with the greedy necci filled with ricotta or chocolate (even empty if you want to be careful of the line, but don't know what you're missing), the chestnut polenta served hot hot, with marron glaces and sweet flour-based first courses. The inevitable glass of mulled wine sipped in front of the big bonfire.
Those arriving by car have a number of parking lots a little outside Marradi but connected by a service free shuttle; but if you can leave from Florence then don't miss the trip with the steam train departing from Santa Maria Novella.
An old time experience in carriages completely restored with the original wooden furniture, driven by the slow pace of a locomotive of the early 900s.
Not far away Palazzuolo sul Senio responds with its Christmas markets, arranged in parallel rows in the main square. The competition makes the atmosphere more magical A thousand nativity scenes for Palazzuolo in which the inhabitants participate with compositions of various kinds: from the traditional nativity scene with the hut, to others that see the child Jesus, Mary, Joseph, the ox and the donkey staying in improbable imaginative settings, so it happens that the holy family finds a place between the basilica of Santa Croce and the cathedral of Florence, or that a fourteenth-century scenario is reconstructed with the commander Maghinardo Pagano da Susinana and the Cia degli Ubaldini, lords of these lands, in adoration.
The cribs are about a hundred and are scattered throughout the country along a path indicated in one map which is next to every creation. One last tip: if you have time, linger beyond the sunset and walk along themedieval itinerary illuminated by torches. Until the day of the Epiphany of the characters in flesh and blood and puppets dressed in period costumes are present in some alleys of the village to remember its ancient origins.
If by any chance you think about doing a trip to Marradi for the Marrone festival, do not miss the article on the steam train that every year in October arrives in Marradi for the brown (chestnut) festival.
