Madonna dei Fornelli - San Piero a Sieve

Length: 42.50 km 

Weather:  4 h  

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From Madonna dei Fornelli take the direction of Monte dei Cucchi. Crossing a beech forest you go down to the Pian di Balestra crossroads where the signs for the “Strada Romana” lead directly to the border between Emilia and Tuscany. After an immense meadow, among trees, shrubs and along a lake, you arrive at the Piana degli Ossi where there are six ancient lime kilns. After passing, in the locality of Passeggere (a point equidistant from Bologna and Fiesole), the junction for Bruscoli climbs up to the Banditacce (1202 m, the highest point of the path). In the descent towards the Futa there are numerous remains of cobblestones of the Via Flaminia Militare well preserved and discovered by Cesera Agostini and Franco Santi, two archaeologists who grew up in these places for pleasure and passion.

You then arrive at the Futa Pass and the largest Germanic cemetery in Italy with 30,000 bodies of German soldiers who died in the war on Italian territory.  It then follows to Monte Gazzaro:  by mountain bike you cannot climb the ridge but you have to take the path that descends to the right at the intersection. At the bottom of the descent, look for the signs for the Osteria Bruciata pass, where once stood an inn renowned for its "human" meat dishes cooked by the owner after robbing and killing his guests.

You then arrive at Sant 'Agata which deserves a stop to visit the ancient Pieve and the museums of sacred art and peasant life (small detour) and, resuming the journey, continue on the dirt road which then becomes paved for San Piero a Sieve.  

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