Pietrasanta


Pietrasanta has always been an important cultural centre in Versilia.

It was founded in 1255 upon the preexisting "Rocca di Sala" and from centuries it has been known world-wide for marble and bronze handwork. . Tools have changed, but some stone-cutter still use the old tools produced by the iron-foundry in Alta Versilia. The important artisan tradition has been kept alive by the local workshops and atelier, by the firms specialized in the artistic-mosaic sector and by many artistic-foundries.

Today Pietrasanta is a centre of artistic marble working and of bronze artistic foundry and has seen artist such as Moore, Botero, Pomodoro, Cascella and Kan Yasuda.

The monuments and museums of what was today defined "the little Athens" are gathered in Piazza del Duomo, dominated from the above by Sala Fortress or Ghibellina Fortress, a fortified complex with a squared shape, angular towers and a central donjon. The San Martin Duomo Collegiata, to which left side raises the brick campanile, is the principal element of the monumental complex of the square. The romanic style building with gothic elements underwent changes during the centuries, the marble façade has a radially rose-window and three doorways belonging to the school of Pisa, the inside has three aisles and an hexagonal pulpit made by Stagi. The S. Agustin Church and Convent, built by Augustinian Fathers during the 14th century, has a marble façade and inside a basilican plant. The cloister is surrounded by an open gallery made of marble columns; among the tombs of renowned men is worth remembering that of Father Eugenio Barsanti, inventor of the internal combustion engine.

The convent shelters the Luigi Russo Cultural Centre, the "Giosuè Carducci" Civic Library with more than 40.000 volumes and the Bozzetti Museum, that was founded in 1984 from the idea of the Danish Muljlendoroh. The sketches are reproduced in a reduced scale, while the models are in a real scale, but both of them are made with the most dissimilar materials and the dimensions vary from a few centimeters to more than 7 meters. The square includes the Communal Theatre and Cinema where the prose season of the Versilian theatres takes place (together with the Politeama Cinema and Theatre of Viareggio), Marzocco Fountain, built to celebrate the annexation to Florence, the Freedom Column and the Monument to Leopoldo II.

The square is closed to the South by Arrighina small Fortress, that was destroyed by the Florentines and to which is connected Pisa Door, the only door remained. Walking in the historical centre, among beautiful and luxury buildings, it is worth visiting San Biagio Church, in Via Mazzini, inside which in 1993 the painter and sculptor Botero made two frescoes representing the Door of Hell and the Door of Paradise, respectively.

Events in Pietrasanta
In February (3 and 4 th), there is San Biagio Fair, were the holy reliquary is exposed in the San Martino Duomo. In the same period, Pietrasanta turns into a beautiful open-air antique-trade market, handicraft market, food and delicacy market.

Surroundings of Pietrasanta
Along the road to Valdicastello, departing from Sarzanese, there is SS Giovanni and Felicita Parish (9th century) in romanic style, whose interior has three aisles with marble columns. In the village there is the home of Giosué Carducci that preserves the relics of the poet.

3 Km North of Pietrasanta, along the Aurelia, there is the Parish of S. Stefano in Vallecchia (9th century), exteriourly changed while the inside with three aisles is rich of marbles and paintings. Along the coast there is Marina di Pietrasanta, that has always been renowned for its wide sandy shore, the green of the pine forests, as well as for its night clubs for all tastes and for all ages.