The chestnut miraglia is a monumental tree located near camaldoli, within the National Park of the Casentino Forests, Monte falterona and Campigna, so called in honor of Mrs Elena, wife of commendatore Nicola miraglia, who at the end of the 19th century was general manager of the Ministry of Agriculture. Its dimensions are impressive as its height exceeds 20 m and the diameter at the base is more than 4.2 m. The age is not well identifiable because the analysis of the diameter and height of the plant would establish 500 years, however more than a century ago the Historical Register of the forest attributed to the plant about 200 years, so today there would be a total of 300.
The plant is now surrounded by a dense net and a wooden fence to protect it from the numerous tourists and wild animals that could weaken its already very deteriorated state by time and attacks of fungi. The chestnut tree has a longitudinal opening of about 10 m and 1.5 m deep in the lower part, so big to accommodate in its interior, in past years, a table (then removed following the construction of the fence). Despite everything the plant is still alive and manages to convey to the top the nutrients necessary for its livelihood. An excursion of a little more than two kilometers, including return, with less than one hundred meters of difference in level between camaldoli and arrival to Castagno miraglia, but characterized by a pleasant alternation of ups and downs and flat stretches. The route is therefore also suitable for those who are not particularly trained for walking. The most demanding stretch are the first three hundred and fifty meters in constant ascent. The return, from Castagno miraglia to the Monastery of camaldoli, is practically all downhill.
