The Lunigiana or Lunesana is a historical territory of Italy, which today falls between Tuscany and Liguria. Its borders derive from the ancient Roman settlement, later the medieval diocese of Luni, which no longer exists.
It takes its name from Luni, a Roman town, perhaps pre-dated by an Etruscan settlement, which became the principal urban center on the northern Tuscan coast. Some contend that the name Luni refers to the moon. Others maintain, though little or no evidence exists, that the region was populated by those who worshiped the moon. As if to unite history and myth, the symbol of contemporary Lunigiana is a crescent moon held in the claw of a bear.
During the Middle Ages, there were 160 castles in Lunigiana, only thirty of which have reached our times in a good state of preservation. It was in these castles that Dante found respite during his stay in Lunigiana. The historical origins of these castles date back to times when the Lombards dominated most of the Pianura Padana and, seeking an outlet on the Ligurian/Tuscan coast, they found in the Cisa Pass and the Cerreto Pass, near the town of Fivizzano, the easiest ways to cross the Apennines.
Some scholars contend that with the growth of flourishing branches of the Malaspina dynasty, the inheritance of Lunigianese feudal territories by the ever contesting large and small branches of the family eventually brought about a diminution of individual holdings causing, in the end, the parceling of fiefdoms into increasingly smaller estates, all of which needed to be protected through the building of castles and other stone fortifications. Thus, through the centuries, many large and small (now picturesque) castles were built in Lunigiana, but at the cost of weakening the overall power of the family at each generation.
[source Wikipedia]
These are the castles that you can find in this video
1. Castle Malaspina of Fosdinovo
2. Fortress of Verrucola, Fivizzano
3. Castle of Bastia
4. Castle Malaspina of Tresana
5. Castle Malaspina of Mulazzo
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