Yesterday we visited Gioviano, founded in Roman times and with a name derived from an emperor. Perched on a hill commanding the Serchio valley the settlement clearly shows an origin as a castle. Its circular nucleus and high defensive walls enclose narrow but very well kept streets.

Again with these mountain settlements there seem to be rather more cats than humans around.

We once thought of buying a house here and certainly Gioviano has several fine dwellings with large rooms and noble porticoes. The Serchio valley views are also stupendously extensive.