What a delightful surprise it was to stumble upon a mountain village in Tuscany that's so different to all the others, becoming a fascinating outdoor art gallery over many decades. It all began in the 1950s and 60s when an Italian artist by the name of Rosario Murabito lived in Casoli and created the first painting in the town's main piazza.
Graffiti is an Italian word that everywhere in the world has come to mean spray painted images in public places, many of which can hardly be called art, but in Casoli this street art is more accurately described as sgraffitti with an 's'.
Sgraffiti is the ancient technique of graffito that was popular during the Renaissance and is similar to a traditional fresco painting with respect to the preparation of the surface and the type of materials used. Several layers of plaster of different colors are superimposed on a wall and the surface is then etched with metal tools and this scratching of metal penetrates the underlying layers. 'Un graffio' means a scratch in Italian, hence the word graffiti.
The plastering and engraving have to be finished before everything dries, at which point it becomes impossible to change, so for large surfaces the work has to be divided into sections and spread out over several days.
The old house of Rosario Murabito is now a museum in the center of the village and his legacy lives on in an annual event called Graffiti in Casoli, a tribute to Murabito that is held in the last week of May. Each year a new artist who is skilled in this technique is paid a fee to design and create a sgraffito image on a wall in town using as his theme stories and portraits of the Casorini (the people of Casoli).
Clearly Casoli is not your typical Italian mountain village. Like many others it is perched high up, seemingly suspended over deep ravines and has the same innumerable hairpin bends and narrow roads to negotiate in order to get there, but there is nothing sad or dying about Casoli.
There are no 1 euro houses for sale here to attract new residents and it retains its bar/restaurant and small store. All the houses are well maintained and at least at weekends it is always busy and animated and there is a sense that all the residents here take great pride in their sgraffiti, as they should.
Casoli has several other advantages apart from its fabulous and increasingly famous street art. It is an important local hiking destination that faces the south west side of Monte Matanna so there are trails in all directions, many of which are quite challenging given that this is the southern end of the Apuan Alps. On any given weekend whenever the weather is reasonable you will see long lines of cars parked above town near to where the trails start.
Casoli is also very close to the Versilia coastline with its various summer resort towns like Viareggio, Pietrasanta and Forte dei Marmi and right below it is the often overlooked town of Camaiore. From Lucca it is less than an hour's drive so for us Casoli makes for a pleasant morning excursion that typically includes a short hike, a leisurely stroll through town to admire the sgraffiti and a coffee with a view on the outside veranda that is suspended precariously over the cliffs.
One of the more popular hikes near Casoli is the reasonably strenuous 3 hour loop to the Grotta all'Onda that covers a similar route as the Tre Scolli hike. The highlight of this hike is the large cave at 2,400 feet which was found to contain evidence of inhabitation during the Upper Paleolithic Age 40,000 years ago as well during the later Neolithic and Copper Age periods. We've described this hike in a separate article linked above.
However, if you want a much shorter walk that also has better coastal views then simply continue on the only street through the middle of town until you come across the sentiero sign C8 and follow this as far as you want to go before turning around.
It will take you up high above town but it is not a difficult path and there is no scrambling over rocks despite the elevation changes. It also gives you a good view of Casoli from above as well as Monte Matanna.
The bar in town which also serves as the small store and provides snacks (spuntini) is right in the middle of the village but the typical narrow alleyway doesn't prepare you for the wonderful terrace at the back where you can relax and simply enjoy the view.
All the sgraffiti will have much more meaning to the residents of Casoli than to visitors because the different images tell the story of the town, its history and traditions and more importantly its people, many of whom are incorporated in the drawings. The images also draw on Greek mythology to elaborate certain features in an imaginative way.
For example the 'Il Labirinto' (above left) shows the four seasons of the year on a background that is a clear reference to the labyrinth on the Duomo San Martino in Lucca. The 'Alla Fonte' design (above right) is located near the ancient water fountain in Casoli and so the artist took inspiration from ancient Greek vases borne by women.
The above images are a sample of all the paintings on display in the streets of Casoli, many of which have the artist's explanatory notes attached
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