Ancient path

For centuries the paper mill valley has been crossed only by a wooden track running against the rocks and provided only with wooden boardwalks, known as “Sentiero delle Assi”. Eventually in the year 1871 when the paper makers underlined the necessity of modern machines to produce paper began the construction of a new safer road. This was the time when new technologies brought a great development in the papermaking process. In the paper mill Valley, however, this caused a raise of the production cost instead, because of the location, far from new born market places, and not suitable for the transport of the huge amount of rags from the lake shores of Toscolano to the valley and vice versa, and the difficulty of carrying the  finished product out of the valley to the storehouses in the town centre. Nevertheless the brand new road provided with 4 channels, shortened the distance to reach the paper mills in the valley, passing through the ravine in the area known as Garde. Recently ancient trails are accessible again on foot or horse riding : the “strada delle valli” from Botticella to Gaino or Pulciano; the “strada di Contrada” from Gatto to Gaino, the “sentiero delle calchere” (an old furnace used for making lime) from Maina to “prati di San Martino” and the boardwalk connecting Luseti to Covoli.