A trip to Sassarosso

Last year we saw from afar the town of Sassarosso - its name means "red stone", and the town itself was visibly pink. It is a bit out of the way, but we determined then to visit it another day. That day was yesterday.

Feeling the need for exercise, we parked the car at the nearby village with the jaw-breaking name of Massasassarosso, and walked on up the road.

Sassarosso sits on an outcrop of an unusual pink-coloured limestone, and blends in with the pink hilltop where the quarry is from which, over the centuries, the building stone for the houses has been obtained.  The rock is also notable for fossils - mostly ammonites.  Although we searched quite hard in the quarry, the only fossils we saw had already been discovered, either put on display, or incorporated into buildings.

The morning in Barga augurs well for the day

Three more esses than Mississippi!

Sassarosso nestled below its pink hilltop


The town gateway shows Sassarosso's true colours ...

Barbara enjoys a seat in the sun in front of a pink house

Fossil ammonite embedded in building stone

Fossil hunting in the quarry