Fivizzano is a picturesque and diverse walled city in the Lunigiana known in its time as "little Florence". If you enter from the parking log near the bus station, you'll head toward as the Piazza Medicea with its central fountain.

Fivizzano was recently named capitale della Festa dei Piccoli Comuni, or the Capital of Festivals of the Small Communities of Italy. The two most important are Sapori, a food festival held in late May or early June and [Disfida di Fivizzano](https://www.wanderingitaly.com/video/disfida-fivizzano.html, an archery festival usually held in early July.

Just out of town there's the Verrucola Castle build by Spinetta Malaspina. It's about as pretty a castle and borgo you'll see in Tuscany, and you can photograph it from near the road. For outdoor activities, you might visit Equi Terme, a thermal resort, or take a hike along the Sentiero dei Ducati, a trekking route from the Apennines to the Tyrrhenian coast.

You can drink a bit of the past with China Clementi elixir, by buying a bottle at the pharmacy that originally made it, Antica Farmacia Clementi on Via Roma 109. Originally conceived in 1884, when Doctor Joseph Clementi created the special elixir to sooth the stomachs of his patients. And yes, it's a real pharmacy these days; we got a Covid vaccine there.

If you wish to see Fivizzano at its very best, see it on Tuesday when the weekly open air market flows around the Medici fountain. Have a zeppole at the Bar Ricci in the piazza, lean back and enjoy the rural life in "little Florence".