THE PINK HOUSE - NOZZANO CASTELLO

JANUARY 2019

Just a ten-minute drive outside Lucca, along the straight Via Giacomo Puccini and a sharp left-turn once over the Serchio at Ponte San Pietro, you start heading towards Nozzano Castello. Passing Santa Maria a Colle, along Via di Poggio that runs parallel with the river, you soon arrive at Nozzano

Many times, I have passed this Castello, that had formed part of Lucca’s defensive system since the 12th century, with its commanding view over the cultivated countryside in the plain of Lucca and beyond to Monti Pisani. Along with nearby Ripafratta, Castiglione and Torre dell’ Aquila (Eagle’s Tower) whose fortifications have long since fallen into disrepair, Nozzano had been involved in numerous exhausting feuds with Lucca’s old enemy, Pisa. Having been destroyed several times, Nozzano has been well restored, although the walls that cling to the Rocca have suffered over the centuries. Renovations, that took place as far back as 1395, give the fortification an instant charm, still visible today.

Every year in September, members of Nozzano’s community re-enact their medieval past with crafts, parades, flags and music, whilst using old coins to purchase and sample authentic food and drink.

Close by along Via di Balbano is the impressive 18th century Villa Micheletti, now owned for many years by Gary XXX, an English property owner and businessman. The villa is surrounded by mature olive trees, vines and land stretching back to the woods behind. To the right are a small group of buildings forming part of whole the property, consisting of two smaller villas painted in a delightful pale pink.    

Again, these two semi-detached villas are surrounded by mature trees of pine, cypresses, fruit trees and abundant wild mint, rosemary and garlic. To my delight, my daughter Lucy, her partner Dean, and their two lads Luca and Beau have chosen to live in ‘the pink house’. As a qualified teacher and now resident, Lucy has recently taken the role of teaching at the bi-lingual English school in Lucca, having adjusted well to this latest chapter in their lives living in Italy!