Montecarlo is a village certified by the Italian Touring Club with the Orange Flag. Medieval walled village built on a scenic knoll-but one should say inside a castle founded in 1330 at the behest of Charles IV of Bohemia and further fortified by the Medici. Even today one wanders between the two entrance gates and the conspicuous remnants of the castle leaning against the older fortress, completely surrounded by walls reinforced by a rampart in the later 1500s. Overlooking the main street is the church, the parish church of S. Andrea, which of the original building (14th cent.) retains the portal and the face of the facade and inside contains a detached fresco of the Sienese school (Madonna del Soccorso, mid-1500s).
The theater, not far away, is the 18th-century one of the Accademia dei Rassicurati. There is also a Romanesque parish church, S. Piero in Campo, on the road to Pescia, with a Lucchese-style facade. The territory of Montecarlo offers the possibility of walking among vineyards and olive groves, immersing oneself in nature and silence. From its countryside come refined Lucchese oils and fine wines: the Trebbiani, appreciated in the past by popes and rulers, are now DOC and animate a Wine Road and an Exhibition Market.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: www.bandierearancioni.it/borgo/montecarlo
