Rail Goddess

Yesterday we pulled our bikes out of their cases and put them together. So, today we did a hefty checkout ride to make sure the bikes (and us) are in shape for riding the Via Francigena. After taking the train to Bagni di Lucca, we nodded to the Rail Goddess, then proceeded to ride uphill to Tereglio a teeny tiny ‘borgo’ on a mountain top in the Garfagnana. The goal was to visit Chiesa di Santa Maria Assunta, a modest looking church with incredible art tucked inside. As mosaic afficionados our primary interest were the altars with beautiful frontispieces of brightly colored scagliola. Scagliola is a type of stone (pietra dura) inlay technique that was popular in 17th century Tuscany. Extras: Tereglio in the Garfagnana; Scagliola altar in Chiesa S. Maria Assunta