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Ristorante Nido dell'Aquila
availability not verifiable Loc. Ponte a Gaio
55022 (LU)
Contact number 0583800022
www.ilnidodell-aquila.com
- Animali domestici ammessi
- Ristorante
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- Giardino
The Nido dell’Aquila is a bar, restaurant and pizzeria, found in the middle of the Nature Reserve Orrido di Botri, near the entrance of one of the few canyons in Italy. The Orrido di Botri is a Nature Reserve managed by the State Forestry Corps from 1971 it’s at the foot of the Mountain Rondinaio and the Alpi Tre Potenze. The reserve is one of the most important in Tuscany because of the canyon, the wildlife because of the golden eagle, the hawk and the royal owl. II Nido dell’Aquila is a cosy mountain refuge built by the Comunita Montana della Mediavalle del Serchio (government owned organisation that looks after mountain land). Built in the middle of the valley dominated by the mountain tops and surrounding nature. During the past few years at the Nido dell’Aquila alot of work has being on the structure, two wooden gazebos and o wood burning oven has being made.
Our Services
Bar, Restaurant, Public Telephone, Parking, Public Toilets and Pic-nic Area
A day spend here is a day of mental and physical well being. Come and visit us park your car without any problem, have a walk and maybe a guided excursion in the canyon, then come and sit at one of our tables and pick one of our dishes prepared with genuine ingredients or simply have a coffee or ice-cream.
Our Kitchen
The Nido dell’Aquila serves only traditional dishes made with genuine ingredients and alot of products come directly from Garfagnana. Made like the past our speciality is bread,(cooked in a wood burning oven), chestnut bread, maize bread and fried bread which is in our starters. Our first course are all pasta dishes, tortelli,pappardelle and ravioli all homemade. Second courses are mixed grill, wild boar, roasts all made in the wood burning oven, the desserts are all homemade cakes. At night time there is also pizza avaiable.
Our Cellar
House wine: Red from the Colline Lucchese, white veneto
Bottled red wine: Stringaio Rosso Tuscano, Vignole Chianti Classico d.o.c.g., II Faggetto Nobile di Montepulciano, Morellino di Scansano Poggiopaoli, Nero d’Avola Aquilae
Bottled white wine: Terratico, Vermentino Acandio, Muller Thurgau trentino d.o.c., II Follo Cuveè Rustot brut (prosecco)
Don’t forget that we are also bar with coffee, beer, sandwiches, and ice-cream.
The Canyon
It’s a straight and embedded canyon with cold waters from the stream Rio Pelago which for hundreds of years has eaten away at the rock of the Apennine forming walls high 200 meters. Its opened for guided tours from the 1st of June to the 30th of September from 9.00am - 6.00pm. The tours are guided by the State Forestry Corps, to get into the canyon you pay €1.50 and they give you a safety helmet, the shortest route doesn’t need a guide but one has to wear the safety helmet and trekking shoes.
What to do
A few hundred meters from Montefegatesi one can take beautiful walks between century old chestnut trees. Going 13km in direction of Passo al Giovo, passing on the road built in 1819 - 1824 by the duchess of Lucca Maria Luisa Borbone. to connect her land to the dukedom of Modena, for commerical exchanges. Following the routes made by the CAI(Italian Alpine Club) one can find a lot of natural lakes. On the east side of Passo al Giovo there is the Alpe Tre Potenze and the route Passo di Annibale takes you to a ski-lift that brings you to the Val di Luce where one can find indications that takes you to Lago Piatto and Lago Nero, two beautiful lakes. On the west side the routes take you to the top of Mountain Giove and Rondinaio (the top is 2000 meters above sea level) and to the lakes Turchino and Torbido. On a good day from the top of these mountains one can see the sea of Livorno.
At the Nido dell’Aquila and the office of the State Forestry Corps one can purchase maps and recieve information on all the local legends, like the story of Dante Alighieri who went back and forth from Verona to Lucca, and that he took the inspiration for his “canto dell’inferno” from the canyon. A monument of Dante Alighierinwas built by Francesco Petroni in 1902 in a square at the top of Montefegatesi, in that epoca everyone knew by memory all of the “Divina Commedia” even if they couldn’t read or write.
Useful information
Who wants to visit the canyon must wear closed trekking shoes and bring a change of clothes with them. The last petrol station is in Fornoli or Bagni di Lucca. Mobile phones don’t have any signal in the Nature Reserve of Orrido di Botri.