Hiking along the Via degli acquedotti

1st stage
The itinerary starts from the Piazza del Duomo in Lucca, then exits the majestic city walls and, through the railway station underpass, reaches the temple-cistern of San Concordio. From here begins the trail that faithfully follows the arches of the aqueduct and gradually takes you from the city environment to green cultivated countryside. The spectacular Nottolini arches end at the locality of Guamo, where you will be confronted with a neoclassical-style building similar to the San Concordio one. It is the small temple-cistern where the water flowed before being conveyed into the two overhead pipes. The path of the aqueduct becomes buried, but it is still easy to spot it due to the presence of the brick filter wells. You will soon reach the location known as "Alle parole d'oro," a place where water from the Serra Vespaiata is collected. Here begins a somewhat more strenuous section: you will have to tackle the 2 kilometers of ascent leading to Gallonzora, a scenic location overlooking the Plain of Lucca. After this last effort, the descent to the beautiful village of Vorno will begin.

2nd stage
Once you leave the village of Vorno you will face the climbs that, first along the paved road and then along beautiful scenic trails, lead up to the saddle of the Campo di Croce pass. From the saddle the descent through the holm oak forests of the Pisan side will begin. The trail loses altitude, gentle at first, then becomes steeper until you reach the locality Scarpa d'Orlando, where you will encounter one of the many intakes of the springs that feed the Medici Aqueduct of Pisa. Much older than its Lucca "twin," this waterworks was commissioned in the late 1500s by Ferdinando I de' Medici, inaugurated in 1613 by his son Cosimo and remained active for about three centuries, until the early decades of the 1900s. Follow the underground conduit that leads to the Cisternone, the large building used to accumulate and decant water, on which the six balls, an unmistakable symbol of the Medici family, stand out. Another short downhill stretch will take you among the houses of Asciano, where you will take the bicycle/pedestrian path that faithfully follows the aqueduct's 4 kilometers of straight route to its end, in Piazza delle Gondole, now within the ancient city walls of Pisa.