First easy stage where, following some sections of the Via Francigena, you discover waters, mills, old wash houses and paper mills that constitute the historical memory of Colle di Val d'Elsa manufacture industries. Today, the river park near Gracciano offers a chance to refresh to the many visitors that choose it as a place to escape the heat, especially during summer. After the town of Scarna, you can meet the mysterious lake of Sant’Antonio al Bosco and, not far away from it, its homonymous church, born in the 18th century as a convent that used to give hospitality to pilgrims. You follow the Colligiana road for the next 2 kilometers but, soon enough, after leaving the industrial zone of Pian del Casone, you take the SP74 road and arrive to the town of Abbadia a Isola, a stop used by pilgrims during the 10th century, also remembered by the Archbishop of Canterbury. In the past, Abbadia a Isola was used as a strategic location of control over the Via Francigena, and today it considered an authentic place of hospitality for those who walk or cycle through this famous historical itinerary.

From Abbadia a Isola you can easily reach the town of Strove from which, along the beautiful main road, you can admire the tree-covered Montagnola, destination of this stage. You leave the SP74 road to enter the lonely provincial road 101 of Montemaggio, from which you take a detour to visit the Pieve di Santa Maria a Castello, an important evidence of Tuscany’s medieval architecture, along with its Pleban complex. After returning to the main road, you immediately start to climb from the Borgo di Scorgiano. This slope of 7 kilometers is very beautiful but just as challenging, with double-digit sections. The Pieve dei Santi Maria e Gervaso is situated in the village of Marmoraia. The church, built in Romanesque style, still preserves a part of the medieval fortification that hides its facade. A heavily suggested stop for a proper rest after the fatigue of the climb.

From Marmoraia, you finally descend through dirt roads and thick woods until reaching the cultivated fields and follow the trafficked SP541 road for a short stretch, only to leave it for Mensanello from which you can meet the medieval churches of Fabbrica and reach Quartaia. The Abbazia di Santa Maria Assunta in Coneo is easily reached through the provincial road by taking and following a white road. The church, built in a Romanesque style, is one of the most ancient Vallombrosa monasteries. Only 2 kilometers far and still along the provincial road, you can find another “place of silence”, the Pieve of SS Ippolito e Cassiano a Coneo, an ancient village inhabited by a community of priests and, during the XII century, also a place where the priests used to work as notaries. After returning to the city of Colle, for those who are still not satisfied by churches and monasteries, you can visit the cathedral of the saints Alberto and Marziale or some ancient churches like the Santa Maria in Canonica, Santa Caterina, or the complex of San Pietro. A reservation in paradise is thus guaranteed.