The chestnut is perhaps the most representative species of the historical Italian forest landscape, given that this species, unlike all others, has played a decisive role in the life of rural populations. Historically, the chestnut has had a range of functions incomparable to other species, both as main products, wood and chestnuts, and as by-products, such as leaves and bark, as well as the multifunctionality of the chestnut grove, integrating perfectly with grazing. Paleobotanical studies have shown that in central Italy around 1000 BC there was a presence of chestnut pollen equal to 8% of the total tree flora. This percentage increased strongly during the expansion period of the Roman Empire, reaching 48% at the beginning of the Christian era. The landscape of the fruit chestnut grove is one of the most fascinating forest landscapes for its ability to combine aesthetic values and cultural aspects. The density of the chestnut grove, generally between 90 and 120 plants per hectare, makes it a very bright forest, while the cleanliness of the undergrowth, almost always a meadow kept low by grazing, makes it clean and pleasant also for recreational purposes. The fruit chestnut grove has often been the subject of land arrangements, so we find it both on terraces earth and on dry stone terraces, but also with the classic “lunettes”, small semicircular stone terraces built around individual plants. Such attention and expenditure of labour were justified by the profitability of the chestnut grove, superior to any other forest species. The study of a specific case in the Apuan Alps, in Tuscany, helps to better understand the role of the chestnut grove in the mountain landscape and the evolution that has taken place in the last century. This case study also highlight the peculiar protection applied in the European Nature 2000 network site identified in this area, that indicates the mixed forest with chestnuts trees, deriving from the abandonment of the previous chestnut grove, a natural habitat deserving strict protection.