Kastanienwald mit Dörrhütten

A walk in this beautiful Chestnut-Selva is a fascinating experience at any time of the year: in springtime the trees are in blossom, in summer the chestnut crowns provide cool shade, in autumn the forest delights us with its yellow and red-orange hues and the fruits falling to the ground.

From October to November, the chestnuts are collected from the meadows and, if necessary, removed from their prickly shells. The large ones are sold, the small ones are dried in the cascine (drying houses) over a smouldering fire for up to 5 weeks. To remove the peel and skin, they are filled in sacks and pounded on wooden blocks. They are then sorted out and ground or sold as dried chestnuts with a long shelf life.