Agriturismo La Torre
Who stays here?
Families and couples
What to do here?
During your summer stay you can use the swimming pool, we use the advanced “sea salt electrolysis” disinfecting system that avoids the use of chlorine. You also have the illuminated bowls area, the table-tennis, a coin washing machine, internet point with wireless area, playground for children and two barbecue. At the characteristic restaurant you can have breakfast or dinner with special typical menus prepared with what we produce in the farm and the local products. The City of Bagni di Lucca consist of 24 hamlets scattered over more than 180 square kilometers of territory, the largest mountain municipality of Italy: visit the small villages scattered on hills, many of which are medieval origins, with ancient churches, can be the beginning of your holiday. But the mountains that surround us and the countless streams that run through the area offer many other natural attractions: hiking trails, walk with Mountain Guides and Nature Guides, guided mountain bike tours, horse riding lessons and horse trekking, quad biking, rafting and kayaking on the river Lima, paintball, paragliding, hiking inside dell’Orrido Botri. For adventure lovers, in the magical scenery of Strette di Cocciglia, the Canyon Park offers a spectacular adventure between emerald green water and forest. Three kilometers from our company you can relax at the Terme di Bagni di Lucca, among the oldest in Europe with natural springs up to 52°C. You can visit the famous Ponte della Maddalena (Devil’s Bridge) at 4 km, and the Ponte delle Catene (Chain Bridge), designed by Lorenzo Nottolini and visible also from the farm. You can go in the Garfagnana area for to live the rural places and traditions, where you see the fantastic Apuan Alps: we report the Orecchiella Natural Park where there are many animals and also the brown bear, and two adventure parks, the Buffardello in S. Romano in Garfagnana and the Park of Levigliese in Vergemoli, a few miles from Grotta del Vento (Wind Cave), which is open all year round, where through easy paths you can see an exceptional variety of stalactites and stalagmites, lakes, streams and even wells vertical, in the heart of the Apuan Alps. Visit Garfagnana to live the rural traditions of its places or enjoy the bustle of Versilia with its numerous beaches and night clubs. In the winter, for ski lovers, Abetone is half an hour’s drive. Of course we recommend the famous cities of Tuscany as Lucca (25 km), Pisa (50 km), Florence (85 km), Siena (120 km) or the Etruscan Volterra (90 km) and the medieval S. Gimignano (90 Km), do not forgetting the Chianti lands.
Top 3 reasons to visit
- Greenery and nature, a familiar and friendly atmosphere
- Rustic but elegant rooms and apartments, good services
- Ideal location for visiting the northern part of Tuscany
Our Story
Agriturismo La Torre
The name comes from the area where the building complex and the farm are situated, namely La Torre, Municipality of Bagni di Lucca, suburb Fornoli. The first existing news of this nucleus, the oldest building complex, is kept in the State Archive of Lucca. In the “Spedale della Misericordia” (Hospital of Mercy) there is a collection of documents drawn up in 1609 of the “The goods that the Ensign Martino della Lena dal Bagno gave to the Hospital of Mercy of Lucca”. The description of the property is of “lands of forests with mulberries, olives and vines and a tower with two brick houses and a brick shed and others that pertain to it”. The Hospital of Mercy sold the property in the second half of the 17th century; in fact in the “Estimates and Documents of the Fixed Assets of the Fornoli Municipality district of the Serenissima Republic of Lucca” drawn up in 1700, a land surveyor and kept in the Historical Archive of the Municipality of Borgo a Mozzano, the property belongs to Girolamo della Lena da Ponte a Serraglio. The tower, with a square or rectangular plan, is depicted as a ruin. The description under the drawing states: “a small construction, covered by tiles and with a garden and fountains and two houses …” The next document found is “Document of the Fixed assets of the honourable brothers Giacomo and Luigi Trebiliani” drawn up in 1790 and kept in the State Archive of Lucca in the Trebiliani Donation. The picture shows the property in particular and in colour the plan of the house adjacent to the garden and a chapel, probably built on the ruins of the tower. The description under the picture states: “A piece of land sown with wheat, with vines and fruits, part olives and part forest, with a constructed house on two floors, with its land, with a cellar and a vat-room with a vegetable garden and a church above it, with others that pertain to it for the use of the landowners; with another adjoining house on two floors covered with tiles, with stable and hay-loft for rustic purposes and all that pertains to it situated in the Fornoli Municipality…” . The next information comes from the Historical Register of Landed Property of Borgo a Mozzano, dated 1866, where all the buildings, which now constitute the complex, are present. In fact we find three other buildings: the farmer’s house where there are now six apartments, the small greenhouse, characterised by large windows facing south and the bunker, a small building later used by the Clarke sisters as an aviary and today it has been renovated and is used as the office and reception of the farm. In 1918 the property passes for a few months from the Trebiliani family to Pellegrini and Varraud who in turn then pass it to Francis e Susie Clarke, wealthy sisters from Minnesota (USA). In the following years the older sister Susie Clarke (who dies in 1932) intervenes heavily on the building complex, expanding some buildings, building new ones. In this period the property reaches its maximum splendour. During the second world war the property is confiscated as the owners, Americans, are considered enemies and the villa is used as a German outpost suffering severe damage, which forces Ms Francis Clarke to claim compensation for damages when she is given the property back in 1947. In 1975 it was inherited by the University of Bologna, which used it as a study centre (and named it after the Clarke sisters), active till the early 90’s. During this period the buildings underwent further renovation, above all the villa and the stable where there were laboratories to study some floral pathologies. In 2001 the property passes at the Tintori family of Bagni di Lucca, nd after many years of work, today it has returned to its ancient splendour thanks to a careful job of restoration of the agriculture and its buildings... now proprietary and with Paolo and Laura manages the farmahouse.
Our Rooms
The farm is run by us, Paolo and Laura, the owners of the farm. In 2002 we left our office work for good to dedicate our time first to the restoration, and then the management of this little part of Tuscany: a dream come true and at the same time the consolidation of our love. As a matter of fact in 2005 we got married here, in the small church set in the tower overlooking the farm. In addition to the hospitality that characterizes the management of the agriturismo, we also take care of the various agricultural activities of the company and over the years we have increased our knowledge through experience, continuing education and training. With the birth of our first child and even more with the arrival of the second one, we have relied on the help of some employees that today have become part of the family. It is also thanks to them that this place will hopefully remain impressed in your heart as it is engraved in ours.