The best hikes from bus stations around Foresta della Valle Benedetta

Please take into account that it is very technical and some roads are closed.

An 18th-century masterpiece just waiting for you Also known as the Poccianti Aqueduct or the Colognole Aqueduct, this ambitious project, begun in 1793, was conceived by order of Grand Duke Ferdinand III in response to the growing water needs of an expanding Livorno. Thanks to its port, in fact, the city was experiencing a significant population increase. However, it was Leopold II who brought it to completion, inaugurating the work only in 1852. The project of the aqueduct, which supplied water to the city of Livorno from 1816 to 1912 and still serves the neighboring towns, was conceived by the skilled Florentine architect Giuseppe Salvetti, the first to trace the path through the hills of Colognole, where various springs gush generously. Due to his premature death, the work was assigned to the architect Calocchieri and completed by Pasquale Poccianti. The latter in particular left an indelible mark on the structure, creating the three imposing cisterns visible in Livorno: the Cisternone, the Cisternino di Città and the Cisternino di Pian di Rota.

Presence of water fountain

Poggio Lecceta, 457 meters above sea level, is the highest peak of the Livorno Hills and is divided between the municipalities of Livorno and Collesalvetti. The summit is occupied by a radar station, whose radome can be seen from a great distance. On the slopes of the hill is the Livorno hamlet of Valle Benedetta (364 m), known for being the site of numerous excursions by the C.A.I. of Livorno. Among the numerous streams that have their sources in Poggio Lecceta are the Rio Maggiore and the Torrente Ugione, which are among the longest that descend from the Livorno Hills. (from Wikipedia) Access to the Radar area is via a short, but very steep climb along Via del Radar; However, since it is a military structure that has the purpose of providing meteorological information, as well as ensuring air traffic control and surveillance of maritime navigation, access to the structure is prohibited to unauthorized persons.

Eremo della Sambuca (Valle Benedetta - Livorno) The hermitage is located south of the Valle Benedetta in the forest of the Livorno Mountains. Already known in the 13th century as an Augustinian hermitage, one of the many that flourished throughout the Christian West to welcome those who wanted to retreat in prayer far from the noise of the world, in 1390 it took the name of Eremo di Santa Maria in Parrana Among others, the Gesuati penitential friars settled there. The Gesuati (not to be confused with the Jesuits) were born as an association of lay penitents founded in the 14th century by St. Giovanni de' Colombini from Siena. They preached peace, poverty and their main function, in addition to prayer, was to assist the sick, the poor and the needy. They spread throughout Italy and, in particular in Tuscany, founded many convents. The Augustinian hermitage was expanded and strengthened by them with other interventions in the vicinity (cultivations, a water mill, "icehouses"). Precisely because of the holy life that these monks led and because of its position sunken into the valley of the Ugione stream, the hermitage took the name of Santa Buca, or Sambuca. Over time, the Gesuati also took over the administration of the Sanctuary of Montenero. After the Gesuati order was suppressed in 1668 by Pope Clement IX (and their assets confiscated to support the war against the Turks), the complex passed to a series of private owners and followed a long period of decline. The structure consisting of a small church (with a single nave, divided into three bays with a circular apse, cross vaults and remains of frescoes, including an Annunciation), cells, guesthouse, refectory, kitchen, granary, cellar, is in poor condition. Since 1950 the structure has been a state-owned building of the Municipality of Collesalvetti. In 1912 it was declared a national monument and a few years ago it was entrusted to the Parish of Giovanni Gualberto in Valle Benedetta.

Villa Cristina is a scout house. In the summer of 2023 I was also lucky enough to go camping with the Salesians

Nice dirt road at times with large stones but nothing complicated, all pedalable.

Ancient Hermitage, whose oldest nucleus dates back to 1100 (small church of Santa Maria di Parrana, with a few cells, Augustinian Fathers of S. Jacopo in Acquaviva), located in the valley of the Ugione torrent, in the Provincial Natural Park of the Livornesi Mountains and in the complex regional agricultural-forestry Livornesi Hills (Valle Benedetta Forest). From 1390 the hermitage took the name of Santa Maria della Sambuca and the penitential Gesuati friars settled there (until 1668, the year of dissolution of the order), with consequent expansion of the structure (church, cells, guesthouse, refectory, kitchen, barn, cellar). A state property since 1950, the Hermitage has been partly renovated with CIPE funds, but is in a state of abandonment and the other two wings (including the beautiful cloister) require urgent conservative restoration. Of great interest for the circuit of existing routes that touch other cultural emergencies such as the remains of mills on the Ugione stream (late 1600s - early 1700s), the ice houses (late 1700s) and other historical-cultural testimonies, as well as naturalistic and geological emergencies.