From Loro, take the road that ascends to San Clemente in Valle. At the first cross-roads, take the road to the left to the Castle of Poggio di Loro (altitude: 630 m). From the castle, a footpath heads towards Rocca Ricciarda: a walk of two hours. A second path leads to San Clemente, from which Poggio is separated by the drainage ditch of San Clemente: a 30-minute walk.

The castle of Poggio di Loro was recalled for the first time in a document of Frederick II of 1247, with which it was given – together with other possessions – to the Guidi family. It then passed to the Pazzi family of the Valdarno, in 1316, and to the Ricasoli family in 1329. It was also a Commune: documents survive that are relative to the amendments to its Statutes, which were made over the course of the centuries until 1756. It is a fortified village of unusual beauty and harmony, and can be entered through an archway that is protected by a tower that has now been lowered. Inside it, narrow streets separate stone houses of an elegant but simple construction. It used to have a fountain, utilised also by sojourners who passed through there “on their way to the Casentino or to the Valdarno”, as the castle is on the road that ascended to the Rocca Ricciarda. Those who were on their way to the Valdarno or, across San Clemente, to Anciolina and then to the Casentino, also came from there.
Even older documentation exists on the church of Santa Maria Assunta, that is recalled as Santa Maria in Advena in the deed of gift made of it to the abbey of Nonantola by Charlemagne in 780. In a document of 1191, Celestine III confirmed the benefices to that Abbey, citing the curtem de Avena cum ecclesiis. This leads us to believe that the castle existed previous to the date of the aforesaid first document, which expressly mentions it.
In its present form, the church is in elegant Romanesque style with a façade of well-ordered sandstone veins, like other churches in this area. It has an apse that faces east and a single nave. Paintings and well-made furnishings can be admired in its interior.

The visit takes 30 minutes.

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