Travelling towards Florence on the Autostrada Del Mare, just before the tunnel crossing the Montalbano hills one notices on the left side a hill-top town with towers and campaniles. It’s called Serravalle Pistoiese and its picturesque streets, mediaeval palaces and two castles certainly deserve a visit.

‘Serravalle’ is a word which regularly crops up in Italian place names. For example, there’s Serravalle a Po near Mantua and Serravalle di Chienti near Macerata. It means ‘the place where the valley narrows’ and often refers to a suitable place for ancient fortification. Places called Serravalle are inevitably found nestled within the hug of surrounding hills and valleys and Serravalle Pistoiese is no exception.

Autostrada exits from Montecatini Terme and Pistoia lead to Serravalle Pistoiese. The Florence train stops at Serravalle by Stazione Masotti.

We spent a bright afternoon in Serravalle Pistoiese last month. A walk up a steep street flanked by a garden of prickly pears led to the church of San Stefano.

Within its largely baroque interior there’s a terracotta statue of the town’s patron Saint, Lodovico, who traditionally thwarted a Luccan invasion of the Pistoian town. Behind the church lies the old fortress with Barbarossa’s tower, a dominating 138 feet high look-out equally effective in averting any invasions from Florence and Lucca.

Our stroll then took us to the Romanesque church of Saint Michael the Archangel which houses an exquisite 1438 triptych of the Madonna, child and saints by Bartolomeo di Andrea Bocchi.

The square in front of San Michele is surrounded by some imposing palazzi, including the town hall, and leads to the public gardens.

Here is the new fortress built by indomitable condottiere Castruccio Castracani who finally conquered Serravalle for Lucca with the help of superior forces and catapults.

In the spring-like winter’s day we were now in need of some refreshment. The town seemed quite deserted and its only restaurant, the recommended Locanda Tranquillona, was closed. Happily we found the nearby ARCI social club open where we enjoyed coffee and cakes.

It was then down a steeply twisting lane onto the main road and homeward bound for us.

The trip to Serravalle Pistoiese can be combined with a visit to nearby Pistoia zoo which, with its lions, lynxes, giraffes, Asian otters, meerkats, elephants, lemurs, bears, and red pandas, makes a fabulous family outing. Not forgetting, of course, the city of Pistoia with its other menagerie, the extraordinary carved animals supporting its Romanesque pulpits, which would fully deserve a couple of days, if not more, to savour its artistic and culinary appeals.

Doubtless we’ll pass by Serravalle’s towers again. But this time we’ll know what it’s like to walk its treasured streets and scent its history!