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THE ARINGO
THE DUOMOTHE PALAZZO PRETORIO AND THE AVELLI.

(Itinerary n° 3) 

It is well worth the effort to climb up the steep steps to the Aringo. This large open space, with its magnificent view at the highest point of the Barga hill (also known as the Romeccio hill), is the place where people gathered in the past to govern and to administer justice protected by its strong impregnable fortifications.

Here also is the site of the Duomo, the cathedral of Barga. This imposing structure, now a national monument, has dominated the territory of Barga and the Valley of the Serchio for over a thousand years.
If you are going up to the Aringo for the first time, either from Via del Pretorio or up the steps from Via della Speranza, you will find it difficult to decide whether to enter the Duomo directly, or to stop and admire the panorama which nature has so generously provided.

The Apuan Alps as seen from the Aringo.

If you choose the latter you will see, on the one side, the line of the Apuan Alps and the Valley of the Serchio and on the other, behind the Duomo, the Appenine mountains of Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna whose steep slopes descend all the way down to Barga. But no description of this spectacular landscape is really adequate. You must see what has been the inspiration of poets and painters with your own eyes and your own feelings. It is always beautiful - by day in the sun or at night with the stars; in spring, summer, autumn or winter, when the scene changes with the continuous changes of colour with the seasons, or at sunset when the clouds in the background are tinged red, or on the 10th and 11th of November and the 30th and 31st of January, when there is the illusion of the double sunset.

The double sunset

On these particular days, the rays of the sun create an optical illusion as they drop behind Monte Forato. They seem to reverse back onto the landscape giving an unreal aspect to the travertine facade of the cathedral and to its carved figures. And there is another illusion, also unique, to be seen from the Aringo. If you look across at the group of mountains which include Monte Forato and the Pania you find that across the horizon their profiles seem to form the outline of a giant who has been wounded and who is lying down on the bare earth. This configuration is known as the Dead Man and seems to be an offering by the Sculptor of the Universe to those on the Aringo who are straining their eyes to the uttermost limit to take in this astonishing scene.

From the back of the Duomo, the view is perhaps less spectacular, but even here nature has been generous. In the background, the crests of the Appenine mountains stand out against the sky, and from here you can see the mountains tops of the Romecchio, the Omo, the Giovo, and the Rondinaio which mark the border between Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna.

The Appenines as seen from the Duomo.

The steep slopes of these mountains, which descend as far as Barga, form a large number of small valleys and streams whose waters flow into the Serchio River. There are very few villages, or even houses in these areas and particularly in winter, when the snow is on the ground, or at night, when there are only a few lights here and there, you get the impression of an immense primitive landscape.

Turning now to the Duomo, you will experience, on the inside, an equal sensation of grandness and of natural beauty. The first construction was begun in the 10th Century, but this was followed by numerous additions, enlargements, restructurings and reconstructions right up until the first half of the 20th Century. The sum total of this work has created the magnificent cathedral that we see today and although wars and earthquakes have often threatened to destroy it, the people of Barga, with faith and good will, have always restored it and made it stronger and more beautiful. Throughout its history the voice of its bells has resounded from the bell tower across the valley and beyond.

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