The Casentino is the valley in which the first tract of the river Arno

Arno

The Arno is a river in the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the most important river of central Italy after the Tiber.- Source and route :The river originates on Mount Falterona in the Casentino area of the Apennines, and initially takes a southward curve...

 flows to Subbiano

Subbiano

Subbiano is a small town and comune in Tuscany, central Italy, on the left bank of the River Arno.-Geography:It is adjacent to Arezzo, the capital of the province of the same name....

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

.

It is one of the four valleys in which the Province of Arezzo

Province of Arezzo

The Province of Arezzo or Arretium is the easternmost province in the Tuscany region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Arezzo.It has an area of 3,232 km², and a total population of 323,288 in 39 comuni . At June 30, 2005, the main comuni by population are:- External links :...

 is divided. Mount Falterona, from which the Arno starts, represents the northern boundary between the Casentino and Romagna

Romagna

Romagna is an Italian historical region that approximately corresponds to the south-eastern portion of present-day Emilia-Romagna. Traditionally, it is limited by the Apennines to the south-west, the Adriatic to the east, and the rivers Reno and Sillaro to the north and west...

. On the east of the valley are the Alpe di Serra and the Alpe di Catenaia, which separate the Casentino from the highest tract of the Val Tiberina. On the west there is the Pratomagno, which separates the valley from the Valdarno

Valdarno

The Valdarno is the valley of the river Arno, although it does not apply to the entire basin of the river. The usage of the term generally excludes Casentino and the valleys formed by the major tributaries, such as the Val di Chiana, the Val d'Ambra , The valley of the Sieve, namely Mugello, the...

 Superiore. Part of the valley is included in the Foreste Casentinesi, Monte Falterona, Campigna National Park

Foreste Casentinesi, Monte Falterona, Campigna National Park

The Parco Nazionale delle Foreste Casentinesi, Monte Falterona, Campigna is a national park in Italy. Created in 1993, it covers an area of about 365 square kilometres , on the two sides of the Apennine watershed between Romagna and Tuscany, and is divided between the provinces of Forlì Cesena,...

.

It can be said that the valley has an oval form, with an extension across the river that varies from a maximum of 60 km to a minimum of 30. The topography of the Casentino is especially various, including both plains and mountains rich in large forests. These mountains have often attracted great saints: it was here that St. Romuald

Romuald

Saint Romuald was the founder of the Camaldolese order and a major figure in the eleventh-century "Renaissance of eremitical asceticism"....

 built his hermitages at Camaldoli

Camaldoli

Camaldoli is a frazione of the comune of Poppi, in Tuscany, Italy. It is mostly known as the ancestral seat of the Camaldolese monastic order, originated in the eponymous hermitage, which can still be visited....

, and that less than two centuries later St. Francis of Assisi

Francis of Assisi

Saint Francis of Assisi was an Italian Catholic friar and preacher. He founded the men's Franciscan Order, the women’s Order of St. Clare, and the lay Third Order of Saint Francis. St...

 established the Sanctuary of La Verna

La Verna

La Verna, in Latin Alverna and geographically known as Monte Penna, is a locality on Mount Penna, an isolated mountain of 1,283 m situated in the centre of the Tuscan Apennines, rising above the valley of the Casentino, central Italy...

, the headquarters of the Franciscan

Franciscan

Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....

 order.

The valley's biggest comuni

Comune

In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...

are all located in the Arno valley: among these the biggest are Bibbiena

Bibbiena

Bibbiena is a town and comune in the province of Arezzo, Tuscany , the largest town in the valley of Casentino. It is located 60 kilometers from Florence, 30 kilometers from Arezzo, 60 kilometers from Siena and 20 kilometers from the Sanctuary of La Verna.The town is on top of a hill at an...

 and Poppi

Poppi

Poppi is a comune in the Province of Arezzo in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 40 km east of Florence and about 30 km northwest of Arezzo....

, while Capolona

Capolona

Capolona is a small town and comune in Tuscany, central Italy, on the right bank of the River Arno. It is adjacent to Arezzo, the capital of the province of the same name.-History:...

, Castel Focognano

Castel Focognano

Castel Focognano is an Italian comune in the province of Arezzo, Tuscany. Although it is named after a village on the slopes of the Alpe di Catenaia, it is administered from the industrial town of Rassina.-History:...

, Castel San Niccolò

Castel San Niccolò

Castel San Niccolò is a comune in the Province of Arezzo in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 40 km east of Florence and about 35 km northwest of Arezzo....

, Pratovecchio

Pratovecchio

-History:Dono di Paolo, father of the Florentine artist Paolo Uccello, was a barber-surgeon from Pratovecchio. Dono moved to Florence and became a citizen there in 1373.-Main sights:...

, Stia

Stia

Stia is a comune in the Province of Arezzo in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 40 km east of Florence and about 40 km northwest of Arezzo. The village of Stia is often called the "source of the Arno", although the real source is some 1200 metres higher up on the slopes of Monte...

, Subbiano

Subbiano

Subbiano is a small town and comune in Tuscany, central Italy, on the left bank of the River Arno.-Geography:It is adjacent to Arezzo, the capital of the province of the same name....

 are more or less smaller. The villages located on the neighbouring hills and mountains are much smaller. These are Chitignano

Chitignano

Chitignano is a comune in the Province of Arezzo in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 50 km east of Florence and about 20 km north of Arezzo. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 996 and an area of 14.7 km²....

, Chiusi della Verna

Chiusi della Verna

Chiusi della Verna is a comune in the Province of Arezzo in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 60 km east of Florence and about 25 km north of Arezzo...

, Montemignaio

Montemignaio

Montemignaio is a comune in the Province of Arezzo in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 30 km east of Florence and about 35 km northwest of Arezzo....

, Ortignano-Raggiolo and Talla

Talla

Talla is a town and comune in the province of Arezzo, Tuscany ....

.

The Casentino is mentioned in the song "Ich hab in Penna einen Liebsten wohnen", from the Italieniches Liederbuch by Hugo Wolf

Hugo Wolf

Hugo Wolf was an Austrian composer of Slovene origin, particularly noted for his art songs, or lieder. He brought to this form a concentrated expressive intensity which was unique in late Romantic music, somewhat related to that of the Second Viennese School in concision but utterly unrelated in...

.