Giovanni Pascoli was born in 1855 in San Mauro di Romagna. Owing to some shocking events that shattered his childhood (the death of his parents and of other relatives) and influenced his poetry.

The poet had been looking for a quiet place to live for a long time. In 1895 he chose to retire to the country house of the Cardosi Carrara family in Castelvecchio with his sister Maria.
Here the poet spent the most quiet period of his life from 1895 to 1912 (year of his death). The "Primi Poemetti" (1897), "Myricae" (1903), the "Canti di Castelvecchio" (1903) and the "Poemi Conviviali" (1904) were all written in this house, which still has the same furnishings and structure as then. Pascoli's sister, who kept the heirlooms of the poet with great care over forty years, is now buried near the brother inside the chapel of this house.
Maria herself left to the town of Barga all the property of her brother, among them there are the records with 76000 documents, the library, containing about 12000 books, the works and all the buildings of the house, today a national monument. All years on 10th August, in the villa in Castelvecchio takes place the soirée, dedicated to the reading of Pascoli's poems and prose works, accompanied by classical music pieces

During his life Pascoli was not deemed as a very important poet, because his work was obscured by the poetry and the fame of Carducci and D'Annunzio.
Pascoli nourished a secret feeling of envy towards the success of D'Annunzio, who reached at thirty such a big fame that Pascoli could not even hope.
But Pascoli became successful during the period spent in Media Valle, and during the first half of the 20th century his poetry was so much rediscovered that he is today one of the most appreciated writers of our time.