Exploring Sant'Andrea di Compito: A Journey Among Ancient Camellias

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Hello dear friends,

It is with great pleasure that today I share these photos with you that I took over the weekend. I was hosted by a dear friend of mine, who also happens to have a strong passion for art and history. For some time now, I've been trying to convince her to join Hive, hoping that she'll share her discoveries and excursions with the world. Unfortunately, she's quite shy, so we'll see when I manage to persuade her to do so.

Meanwhile, yesterday we shared an excursion together in a very beautiful and interesting place called Sant'Andrea di Compito. It's essentially a hamlet of the municipality of Capannori in the province of Lucca. We are practically at the foot of Monte Serra, at an elevation of around 150 meters above sea level. You might be wondering why we came to this place.

Actually, every year there's an annual event that practically marks the beginning of spring in this place, where the camellias bloom. It's said that these flowers are centuries old, truly ancient camellias.

Unfortunately, the weather wasn't very kind to us, although according to forecasts, it was supposed to be much worse. Nonetheless, the most important thing for me was discovering this ancient village. As you can see from the photos, we weren't the only ones who came here for this event.

I must say I was very happy to spend the afternoon here. They've even created a short path that winds through where these ancient camellias grow. Let's say today was more of a naturalistic exploration than a cultural and artistic one!

This village is also quite sparsely populated, but fortunately, the few people who live here manage to carry on this ancient tradition of the camellia bloom.

Ultimately, there are two rather important historical buildings in this place. The first is the watchtower, which dates back to the thirteenth century and probably was part of a defensive system of the Republic of Lucca. The other historical building, which I couldn't visit inside, is the Church of Sant'Andrea di Compito, dating back to around the year one thousand.

One thing that truly surprised me is that technically, all these camellias you see in the photos come from Japan and were imported several centuries ago to this place. You should also know that Tuscany has a strong tradition in floriculture. In fact, in the area between Prato and Lucca, there are many floriculture companies.

In conclusion, I can say that this was also a beautiful experience. I'm not just saying that as a flower enthusiast, but I think this tradition only adds to the beauty of this ancient village.

Thank you, as always, for reading the post. See you in my next post very soon, and I wish you all a wonderful day!