Chestnut forest with village huts

A walk in this chestnut selva is a rewarding experience at any time of year: in spring the trees are in bloom, in summer the chestnut crowns provide cooling shade, in autumn the forest delights us with its yellow and red-orange hues and the fruit falling to the ground and in winter the bare giant trees radiate a feeling of peace and inner contemplation.

From October to November there is a lot going on in the Selva, when the chestnuts are collected from the meadows and, if necessary, removed from their prickly shells. The large ones are sold, while the smaller ones are dried in the cascine (drying houses) over a smouldering fire for several weeks. To remove the shell and skin, they are placed in sacks on wooden blocks. They are then sorted out and ground or sold as dried, long-life chestnuts.