Neccio flour, currently almost exclusively used in the confectionery industry, has represented for many centuries one of the essential products for the sustenance of the rural population of Garfagnana.
The important role played by the chestnut tree in past in the Province of Lucca is demonstrated by several historical sources, like provisions regarding the chestnut picking and export dating back to 1360, laws on the chestnut tree safeguard already from 1489, as well as the presence of several premises used for the chestnuts processing and pressing scattered all over Garfagnana. These buildings (mills and chestnut dry-houses, the so-called metati) have particular architectural and structural features, to the extent that both the specifications and municipal building regulations include restrictions in order to preserve them as an expression of the local culture and the link with the environment.
