Follo

Introduction

Description

The flat area of this part of the Bassa Val di Vara bordering the Val di Magra is home to one of the most industrious and prolific industrial areas: Pian di Follo and Piana Battolla developed after the mid-1900s with the establishment of numerous production activities. From Piana Battolla, travelling along the Val di Vara provincial road No. 10, you will see a crossroads on the right indicating the direction to Tivegna. As soon as you take it, a beautiful hilly road with a very scenic frame begins that reaches Tivegna, Sorbolo and Bastremoli in that order. Tivegna is a typically medieval village in its structure whose church of San Lorenzo displays a Crucifixion, by Casone, from 1665 and a painting by Fiasella, an important Sarzana-born painter. Bastremoli contains the remains of its castle. After Bastremoli, you come out onto provincial road No. 15 Pian di Follo/Foce. Turning right, one has to travel through a small part of the valley washed by the Durasca stream before finding, again on the right, the steep fork for Carnea: this name, as is noted for other places, also encapsulates the Ligurian place name 'car', which leads back to the word 'stone'. At the end of this provincial road, one reaches the Passo della Foce where one rejoins the Aurelia state road. The road leading to the hamlet of Follo Alto and the hamlet itself, which in antiquity was an ancient possession of the bishops of Luni and part of an entire defensive system of the valley, are also very scenic. Just past the fork for Follo Alto, on the right you will notice, somewhat hidden, a suggestive presence: it is the church of San Martino di Durasca, dating from 960, inside which is a 1400 fresco depicting San Martino.

Information

Area: 23.27sq km
Altitude: 70m
Maximum elevation:
Number of inhabitants: 6400
Name in dialect: Folo
Inhabitant name:Folesi
Patron Saint:St. Martin of Tours (11 November)
Website:www.comunefollo.it
Webcam:
Bordering municipalities: Beverino, Bolano, Calice al Cornoviglio, La Spezia, Podenzana, Riccò del Golfo di Spezia, Vezzano Ligure
 Villages and hamlets: Bastremoli, Carnea, Follo Alto, Piana Battolla, Piano di Follo (municipal seat), Sorbolo, Tivegna, Val Durasca, Via Romana
 Alpeggiations: