This is my blog continued now

from https://longoio2.wordpress.com/2017/06/27/41795/

The beautiful sanctuary of the Madonna Della Stella is situated between Gallicano and Castelnuovo di Garfagnana near the town of Fosciandora.

Why is there a sanctuary here? In 1798 the Raffaeli family bought up the remains of an ancient oratory (dating back to 1100) with the intention of converting it into an orangery (or “limonaia” as one would say in Italian). As the builders were stripping one wall they found behind the plaster an image of the Madonna showing her as she was praying at the moment of the Annunciation by the Holy Spirit in the company of a star and a dove. This discovery was regarded as a miraculous occurrence – the Raffaeli gave up their plans for the orangery and instead rebuilt the old oratory.

For many years the church was the centre of devoted pilgrimages and survived enemy fire when it was on the front (gothic) line during the winter of 1944-5.  But, in recent times, it fell into some neglect and abandon, mainly due to lack of staff. Fortunately, a few years ago and arrangement was reached whereby the sanctuary would be cared again and opened to pilgrims once more by a committee headed by the ODM (Order of the servants of Mary). Last time I was there was in 2015 when our choir of Ghivizzano sang as part of the celebrations for Marian May. At the time the old monastery was being re-structured to provide a holiday guest house or ‘casa per ferie.’

This work has now been completed and the casa has forty-five beds with single, double and self-catering rooms, a private chapel, beautiful gardens, TV room, Wi-Fi and splendid views.

Notice that I mention a private chapel. As befits an ex-friary there is a religious background to the casa in that many groups of people come from their local parishes. There are also facilities for less able and individual needs persons. Parish priests have their holidays here. There are spiritual retreats and seminars organised and it’s a great place for families with small kids. The casa per ferie ‘la Stella’ is truly a special place to away from it all in an atmosphere of peace and quiet and the possibilities for hiking and mountain biking are endless on well-marked trails.

Above all la casa has some of the best cuisine around and incredibly reasonable prices for it. I met a friend, fresh from the remotest parts of the Nepalese Himalayas , there yesterday for lunch in the airy restaurant with wonderful views which would have been even more extensive were it not for the fact that it was the stormiest day we’ve had for ages. (Thank goodness for the rain…Italy has been suffering from drought with almost half agricultural production perishing in many areas.)

I suddenly realised why the lunch was so delicious. It was cooked by the same wonder-cook who’d been at Bonini’s restaurant at the top of the over-hill route to Castelnuovo from Gallicano at Perpoli. I forgot to photograph the menu and even my first course. But I remember my friend chose a very tasty vegetable soup alla paesana and I selected spaghetti alla Amatriciana. We followed this by meat dishes. Mine was truly tender and accompanied by a tasty melee of mixed vegetables. My friend’s was grilled meat accompanied by a selection of herbs.

There was even a strawberry mousse to follow and coffee. Cover, bread and grated cheese were, of course, all included. (It’s not normal to tip in Italy.)

At ten euros for our ‘pranzo lavorativo’ – worker’s lunch – I rate this best ‘pranzo lavorativo’ I’ve had this year so far. No wonder when the cook is from Bonini. You can tell when it’s cooked with quasi-religious love. For food is indeed love here.

I can’t wait to get back to this restaurant. This Friday, for example, there’s going to be an evening fish meal which is an absolute treat with the famed Garfagnana trout included

I’d better stop here before I start feeling hungry again! Incidentally, there’s an article about the restaurant written by another person who’s been there in July’s ‘Grapevine, the special magazine for the Lucchesia area.

The restaurant and casa per ferie ‘la Stella’’s web site is at:

http://www.ospitalitareligiosa.it/strutture/ad/la-stella,5270