Fucecchio, parade of the districts 2018

2018

The Palio delle Contrade Città di Fucecchio, commonly known as the Palio di Fucecchio, is an event reminiscent of a contest held in Fucecchio around 1200. Originally called Palio della Lancia, it takes place on the penultimate Sunday of May (except for the edition of 2017). The race includes two heats and a final, on horses mounted bareback by jockeys. The last historical edition of which we have news from the local historical archives dates back to June 14, 1863. It was only from the eighties that the carousel came back to life with regularity. The forerunner of the modern Palio was the "Fratres blood donors group", which in 1980 organized a pony race to promote blood donation. From the following year it was decided to organize a real Palio delle Contrade, with horses mounted in saddles. After an initial presence of sixteen districts, the number definitively dropped to the current twelve. From 1987 the saddle was abandoned, and the horses were mounted bareback. Since 1995, the FRATRES blood donors group left the Palio in the hands of the municipal administration, as it has grown a lot compared to how it was born. The event takes place inside the "ex quarry of Andrea" commonly called "La buca" by the locals: a natural racecourse suitable for horse racing. The land of the "hole" has been trodden by the strongest Italian jockeys: from Aceto to Cianchino, from Pesse to Trecciolino passing through other important jockeys such as Massimino II, Il Bufera, Bucefalo, Bastiano up to the youngest promises such as Gingillo, Lo Zedde , Bighino, Sgaibarre, Velvet, Tittia, Vittorio.

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San Miniato. The Cathedral of S. M. Assunta

The Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta and San Genesio is the main Catholic place of worship in San Miniato, the mother church of the diocese of the same name.

Pisa, the cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta

The cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, in the center of the Piazza del Duomo, also known as Piazza dei Miracoli, is the medieval cathedral of Pisa as well as the primatial church. Masterpiece of the Romanesque, in particular of the Pisan Romanesque, it represents the tangible testimony of the prestige and wealth achieved by the maritime republic of Pisa at the moment of its apogee. It was begun in 1063 (1064 according to the Pisan calendar in force at the time) by the architect Buscheto, with the tenth part of the booty of the undertaking of Palermo in Sicily against the Muslims (1063) led by Giovanni Orlandi belonging to the Orlandi family [1] . Different stylistic elements come together: classical, Lombard-Emilian, Byzantine and in particular Islamic, proof of the international presence of Pisan merchants at that time. In that same year the reconstruction of the Basilica of San Marco in Venice was also begun, so it may well be that at the time there was a rivalry between the two maritime republics to create the most beautiful and sumptuous place of worship. The church was erected in an area outside the early medieval walls, to symbolize the power of Pisa which did not need protection. The chosen area was already used in the Lombard period as a necropolis and, already in the early 11th century, an unfinished church was erected which must have been dedicated to Santa Maria. The new large church of Buscheto, in fact, was initially called Santa Maria Maggiore until it was definitively dedicated to Santa Maria Assunta.

Fucecchio, Tuscany, Italy. Panoramas

Prato, the Cathedral

The church, with three naves, is built in white and green marble. It most likely dates back to the 6th century. It is one of the most important examples of religious architecture between the twelfth and fifteenth centuries in the region, with an elegant passage inside it between the large Romanesque-Lombard arches and the impetus of Gothic in the transept, most likely designed by the famous Giovanni Pisano , which inside will create a wooden crucifix and his last masterpiece, the Madonna della Cintola, in 1317. The relic of the sacred Cintola is kept there. The most important works are the external pulpit (built by Michelozzo and decorated by Donatello), the internal pulpit by Mino da Fiesole and Antonio Rossellino from 1472, the Madonna dell'Ulivo, the only work created together by the famous brothers Da Maiano, Giovanni, Benedetto and Giuliano. In the transept instead there are the frescoes by Filippo Lippi (in the Cappella Maggiore), one of the greatest expressions of the Italian Renaissance, the frescoes by Paolo Uccello (in the Cappella dell'Assunta), and by Agnolo Gaddi (in the Chapel of the sacred Cintola), all interior of a bronze gate made by some of the most important goldsmiths of the fifteenth century.

Fucecchio, Tuscany. Corsini Park. The fortified towers.

Fucecchio. Corsini Park. The fortified towers. Dominated by the majesty of the "Torre grossa", the park is home to the high "Middle Tower" and the smaller "Pagliaiola".

San Miniato, Tuscany. Rocca di Federico

Fucecchio. Abbey of San Salvatore

The abbey of San Salvatore is located in the upper part of Fucecchio, in the province of Florence, diocese of San Miniato.

Spectacular sunset over the Apuan Alps

Calci. The Charterhouse of Val Graziosa

The Certosa della Val Graziosa di Calci, commonly known as the Certosa di Pisa or also the Certosa di Calci, is located in the province of Pisa, in the municipality of Calci, in a flat area on the slopes of the Pisan mountains called "Val Graziosa".

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