La Querciola is a Protected Natural Area of Local Interest, located 37 m above sea level. it is the lowest area of the plain of Pistoia.
La Querciola is a protected natural area of local interest. According to tradition, the name derives from the fact that in this area there was such a high number of oaks, that you could cross the whole area, passing from one tree branch to another.
The Querciola is located at 37 m above sea level and is the lowest area of the plain of Pistoia. It is located between the banks of the Ombrone and the Quardelli ditch, an area that is subject to recurrent flooding.
Flora and fauna
The area is divided into two types of environments: the marsh and the rural. Both are the ideal habitat for a large avifauna composed also by migratory birds, which live there, but there are also many reptiles and amphibians.
Most of the herbaceous vegetation is typical of wetlands and develops on the banks of numerous ditches and on the banks of water bodies. Widespread are the oak, elm, maple, black and white poplar, willows, which dot the fields, ditches, and paths. The water lily and many other typical herbs bloom along the water’s edges and in the canals.
Zela’s house
In the area there is Casa di Zela, a rural building whose oldest core is considered a tower house erected for defensive purposes and transformed into “worker’s houses” in the sixteenth century with the spread of sharecropping. The building houses a museum consisting of numerous objects representative of the rural culture and its transformations.
