Pappardella with hare festival | Staffoli

The traditional food festival, now in its 43rd year, forms part of the Festa del Donatore. Four weekends from 3 to 26 July, from Friday to Sunday, featuring dishes made with hare and meat. Limited places. Booking recommended.

Programme: see the poster

Staffoli is a hamlet once along the Via Francigena and under the control of Lucca. Well worth a visit is the church of San Michele Arcangelo, built in 1629 on the ruins of a Romanesque-style building destroyed by fire. Villa Maiorfi dates from 1790 and was inhabited by Facdouelle, a French officer associated with Napoleon. Between 1944 and 1945, the Montefalcone Estate – now an open nature reserve – served as a base camp for the Brazilian military forces fighting against the Nazi-Fascists during the Second World War. From these remains, a small altar was later erected for the worship of the Virgin Mary (the only example in Italy of religious devotion during wartime), and every year on 25 April a ceremony is held to commemorate the fallen, attended by local and Brazilian authorities.