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ITALIAN REGIONS, TUSCANY
Santa Reparata International School of Art, SRISA - Via
San Gallo, 53r Florence Italy, info@santareparata.org
Copyright (c) 2010
SRISA FIELD TRIPS IN TUSCANY
- Arezzo & Cortona
- Casentino
- Siena & San Gimignano
- Viareggio
- Lucca
- Sant'Anna di Stazzema
Something about Tuscany
Capital: Florence
President: Enrico Rossi (Democratic Party of Italy)
Area: Total: 22,990 km2 (8,876.5 sq mi)
Population (2008): 3,701,243
Density: 161/km2 (417/sq mi)
Citizenship
Italian 93%
Albanian 2%
Romanian 1%
Time zone: CET (UTC+1)
Summer (DST), CEST (UTC+2)
GDP/ Nominal: € 99.1 billion (2006)
Website: www.regione.toscana.it
Capital: Florence
President: Enrico Rossi (Democratic Party of Italy)
Area: Total: 22,990 km2 (8,876.5 sq mi)
Population (2008): 3,701,243
Density: 161/km2 (417/sq mi)
Citizenship
Italian 93%
Albanian 2%
Romanian 1%
Time zone: CET (UTC+1)
Summer (DST), CEST (UTC+2)
GDP/ Nominal: € 99.1 billion (2006)
Website: www.regione.toscana.it
GIOGALTO & CASENTINO
*Welcome activity trip
Casentino is considered by right one of the most beautiful valleys of Tuscany.
Its borders, marked by the mountain ridges of
Monte
Falterona, Pratomagno and the Catenaia Alp make it look
like a vast amphitheatre, in the centre of which the
Arno River flows, running through the bottom of the
valley as far as Arezzo before heading towards
Florence. Situated in this valley is the little village
of Giogalto, home of the School’s Director, Rebecca
Olsen and her family.
We encourage the students to go and enjoy the Tuscan countryside while taking a cooking class. The students can learn how to make handmade pasta and a whole meal that they will eat all together at the end of the class.
____________________________________
AREZZO - CORTONA
* Fall and Spring semester
Arezzo is a medium-size Tuscan city, an agricultural center clambering up a low hill. On the very top of the slope live the aristocrats, peering down at the newly wealthy citizens who are gradually moving upwards, both literally and figuratively.
The city is best known for its antiques and its artistic masterpieces by Piero della Francesca, and stained-glass marv
els by
Guillaume de Marcillat. Arretium was an important
member of the 12-city Etruscan confederation, and it
was famous in Roman times for its mass-produced
corallino ceramics.
The Ghibelline medieval
comune ran afoul of
Florence's Guelfs, and the city's armies were soundly
trounced by Florence in the 1289 Battle of Campaldino.
(The Florentine forces counted a young Dante Alighieri
among the foot soldiers.) More recently, the city's
gotten some international face time as the setting for
Roberto Benigni's 1999 Oscar-winning film
La Vita è Bella (Life Is Beautiful).
Cortona , believe it or not, was a well-known Tuscan hill town before Frances Mayes wrote about renovating her house, "Casa Bramasole", near here. It is now, more than ever and quite rightly, a not-to-be-missed stop on the Tuscan hill town
circuit. Despite Frances's present continuous, creative writing course style, Cortona is an attractive place to spend half a day with great art, great atmosphere, stupendous views to Lake Trasimeno and the Val di Chiana.
____________________________________
SIENA-SAN GIMIGNANO
*Fall and Spring semester
Siena was a proud, wealthy, and warlike independent state during the Middle Ages, until its final defeat by Florence.
Medieval Sienese art (painting, sculpture, architecture, etc.) is unique and of historical importance. Sienese people are fiercely proud of their city and their neighborhood (contrada). The Palio, described below, is all about neighborhood pride and rivalry, and also constitutes the unbroken continuation of a Medieval tradition associated with religion, pageantry, trash-talking, bragging, and occasional violence. It is taken very seriously and is in no way a put-on for tourists; in fact, you are likely to be less welcomed during the Palio than at any other time, and there isn't the slightest doubt that Sienawould run the Palio with great enthusiasm regardless of whether any visitors ever showed up. That said, this is a city which depends and flourishes on tourism. Siena was a very poor little city for a few hundred years after its defeat, which is the main reason that its lovely Medieval buildings were never torn down and replaced with modern structures. In the19th century, tourists started coming. Nowadays, it is a requirement that new buildings within the city walls be built to maintain the city's character and beauty - many are strikingly modern, yet fit in well.
San Gimignano is a small walled medieval hill town in the province of Siena, Tuscany, north-central Italy. It is mainly famous for its medieval architecture, especially its towers, which may be seen from several kilometers outside the town. The town also is known for the white wine, Vernaccia di San Gimignano, grown in the area. While in other cities, such as Bologna or Florence, most or all of their towers have been brought down due to wars, catastrophes, or urban renewal, San Gimignano has managed to conserve fourteen towers of varying height which have become its international symbol.
There are many churches in the town: the two main ones are the Collegiata, formerly a cathedral, and Sant'Agostino, housing a wide representation of artworks from some of the main Italian renaissance artists. The heart of the town contains the four squares, Piazza della Cisterna, Piazza Duomo where the Collegiata is located, Piazza Pecori, and Piazza delle Erbe. The main streets are Via San Matteo and Via San Giovanni, which cross the city from north to south.
____________________________________
PISA & LUCCA
*Fall and Spring semester
Briefly a significant port to rival Genoa and Venice, Pisa has a centuries-old tradition as a university town. Today it draws its fame from an architectural project gone wrong: the Leaning Tower ( Torre Pendente ) - one of a trio of Romanesque splendours on the green carpet of the Piazza dei Miracoli. The Piazza dei Miracoli ranks as one of the world's loveliest squares. Set among its sprawling lawns is one of Europe's most extraordinary concentrations of Romanesque splendour: the cathedral, the baptistry and the Leaning Tower, all financed with the loot brought back to the city after Pisa beat the Arabs in Sicily.
The piazza teems with people: students frollicking, local workers eating lunch, and tourists, many attempting arabesquetype moves so the shot suggests they're pushing the tower over. You may also care to indulge in one of the wonderfully kitsch tower souvenirs, ranging from the inevitable cigarette lighters to the infinitely more exciting glowing, flashing lamps.
Lucca is gorgeous, a beautiful old city that sparks love at first sight thanks to its rich history, handsome churches and excellent restaurants. Hidden behind imposing Renaissance walls, it's an essential stopover on any Tuscan tour and a charming base for exploring the Apuane Alps and Garfagnana. The walls around the old town remained intact as the city expanded and modernized, unusual for cities in the region. As the walls lost their military importance, they became a pedestrian promenade which encircled the old town, although they were used for a number of years in the 20th century for racing cars. They are still fully intact today; each of the four principal sides is lined with a different tree species. There are many richly built medieval basilica-form churches in Lucca with rich arcaded facades and campaniles, a few as old as the 8th century. Lucca is the birthplace of the famous composer Giacomo Puccini (La bohème and Madama Butterfly).
____________________________________
VIAREGGIO
*Spring semester
Viareggio is a city located in northern Tuscany, on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea. With a population of over 63,000 it is the main centre of the northern Tuscan Riviera known as Versilia, and the second largest city within the Province of Lucca. It is known as a seaside resort as well as being the home of the famous carnival of Viareggio (dating back to 1873), and its papiermâché floats, which (since 1925), parade along the promenade known as "Passeggiata a mare", in the weeks preceding Easter. The symbol of the carnival of Viareggio and its official mask is Burlamacco, designed and invented by Uberto Bonetti in 1930. The city traces its roots back to the first half of the 16th century when it became the only gate to the sea for the Republic of Lucca.
The oldest building in Viareggio, known as Torre Matilde, dates back to this time and was built by the Lucchesi in 1541 as a defensive fortification to fight the constant manace of corsair incursions.
Viareggio is also an active industrial and manufacturing centre; its shipbuilding industry has long been renowned around the world and its fishing and floricultural industries are still fundamental sectors to the city’s economy.
We encourage the students to go to this Field Trip, to let them discover the real Italian Folklore of the Carnival, a strong tradition that links two opposite worlds, the religious one, related to the Lent and the profane one, that talks about the deepest and transgressive desires of men.
____________________________________
SPECIAL TOPICS ACCADEMIC FIELD TRIPS
History of Modern Italy – S.Anna di Stazzema
“….Tiny, reduced to scattered houses under the peaks north-east of Farnocchia, amidst the named houses there is an oratory dedicated to Sant’Anna … " Thus mentioned in “ Versilia granducale”, 1700.
Sant’Anna, a hamlet of Stazzema (Lucca), is located on the southern-most offspring of the Apuan Alps, 660 metres above sea level. The village can be reached by a panoramic road, 10 km long, who mender through Versilia hills, touching the villages of Monteggiori and La Culla. Sant’Anna can also be reached by means of the ancient mule-traks, which were part of the old Via Francigena, as well from Farnocchia, as from Capriglia-Capezzano and from Valdicastello.
On the morning of August 12th 1944, in Sant’Anna di Stazzema, one of the most terrible crimes, who injured the civilians during the second war, was commited.
The cruelty of Nazi-fascists flinged, suddenly and inexorably, against everything and everyone. In the course of a few hours, in the suburbs of the small village (Vaccareccia, Case, Moco, Pero, Coletti), hundreds of corpses, which was massacred, burned and
teared, remained on the ground. That morning of August in Sant’Anna were killed the olds, the women and the children. The Nazis killed the villagers and the evacuees who rised to Sant’Anna to live in safe. The slaughter of Sant’Anna di Stazzema still arouse a
sensation of civil and moral dismay and desolation, because it represent one of the most brutal pages of nazifascist’s barbarism, the cancer who affected Europe and annihilated the values of democracy and tolerance. It represented an hateful outrage who damaged
the human dignity. That day man decided to deny itself, to renounce to the respect of people and to the civil rights.
The tragedy of St.Anna inspired the movie “Miracle at St. Anna,” directed by Spike Lee and based on a novel by James McBride.
*Welcome activity trip
Casentino is considered by right one of the most beautiful valleys of Tuscany.
Its borders, marked by the mountain ridges of
We encourage the students to go and enjoy the Tuscan countryside while taking a cooking class. The students can learn how to make handmade pasta and a whole meal that they will eat all together at the end of the class.
____________________________________
AREZZO - CORTONA
* Fall and Spring semester
Arezzo is a medium-size Tuscan city, an agricultural center clambering up a low hill. On the very top of the slope live the aristocrats, peering down at the newly wealthy citizens who are gradually moving upwards, both literally and figuratively.
The city is best known for its antiques and its artistic masterpieces by Piero della Francesca, and stained-glass marv
Cortona , believe it or not, was a well-known Tuscan hill town before Frances Mayes wrote about renovating her house, "Casa Bramasole", near here. It is now, more than ever and quite rightly, a not-to-be-missed stop on the Tuscan hill town
circuit. Despite Frances's present continuous, creative writing course style, Cortona is an attractive place to spend half a day with great art, great atmosphere, stupendous views to Lake Trasimeno and the Val di Chiana.
____________________________________
SIENA-SAN GIMIGNANO
*Fall and Spring semester
Siena was a proud, wealthy, and warlike independent state during the Middle Ages, until its final defeat by Florence.
Medieval Sienese art (painting, sculpture, architecture, etc.) is unique and of historical importance. Sienese people are fiercely proud of their city and their neighborhood (contrada). The Palio, described below, is all about neighborhood pride and rivalry, and also constitutes the unbroken continuation of a Medieval tradition associated with religion, pageantry, trash-talking, bragging, and occasional violence. It is taken very seriously and is in no way a put-on for tourists; in fact, you are likely to be less welcomed during the Palio than at any other time, and there isn't the slightest doubt that Sienawould run the Palio with great enthusiasm regardless of whether any visitors ever showed up. That said, this is a city which depends and flourishes on tourism. Siena was a very poor little city for a few hundred years after its defeat, which is the main reason that its lovely Medieval buildings were never torn down and replaced with modern structures. In the19th century, tourists started coming. Nowadays, it is a requirement that new buildings within the city walls be built to maintain the city's character and beauty - many are strikingly modern, yet fit in well.
San Gimignano is a small walled medieval hill town in the province of Siena, Tuscany, north-central Italy. It is mainly famous for its medieval architecture, especially its towers, which may be seen from several kilometers outside the town. The town also is known for the white wine, Vernaccia di San Gimignano, grown in the area. While in other cities, such as Bologna or Florence, most or all of their towers have been brought down due to wars, catastrophes, or urban renewal, San Gimignano has managed to conserve fourteen towers of varying height which have become its international symbol.
There are many churches in the town: the two main ones are the Collegiata, formerly a cathedral, and Sant'Agostino, housing a wide representation of artworks from some of the main Italian renaissance artists. The heart of the town contains the four squares, Piazza della Cisterna, Piazza Duomo where the Collegiata is located, Piazza Pecori, and Piazza delle Erbe. The main streets are Via San Matteo and Via San Giovanni, which cross the city from north to south.
____________________________________
PISA & LUCCA
*Fall and Spring semester
Briefly a significant port to rival Genoa and Venice, Pisa has a centuries-old tradition as a university town. Today it draws its fame from an architectural project gone wrong: the Leaning Tower ( Torre Pendente ) - one of a trio of Romanesque splendours on the green carpet of the Piazza dei Miracoli. The Piazza dei Miracoli ranks as one of the world's loveliest squares. Set among its sprawling lawns is one of Europe's most extraordinary concentrations of Romanesque splendour: the cathedral, the baptistry and the Leaning Tower, all financed with the loot brought back to the city after Pisa beat the Arabs in Sicily.
The piazza teems with people: students frollicking, local workers eating lunch, and tourists, many attempting arabesquetype moves so the shot suggests they're pushing the tower over. You may also care to indulge in one of the wonderfully kitsch tower souvenirs, ranging from the inevitable cigarette lighters to the infinitely more exciting glowing, flashing lamps.
Lucca is gorgeous, a beautiful old city that sparks love at first sight thanks to its rich history, handsome churches and excellent restaurants. Hidden behind imposing Renaissance walls, it's an essential stopover on any Tuscan tour and a charming base for exploring the Apuane Alps and Garfagnana. The walls around the old town remained intact as the city expanded and modernized, unusual for cities in the region. As the walls lost their military importance, they became a pedestrian promenade which encircled the old town, although they were used for a number of years in the 20th century for racing cars. They are still fully intact today; each of the four principal sides is lined with a different tree species. There are many richly built medieval basilica-form churches in Lucca with rich arcaded facades and campaniles, a few as old as the 8th century. Lucca is the birthplace of the famous composer Giacomo Puccini (La bohème and Madama Butterfly).
____________________________________
VIAREGGIO
*Spring semester
Viareggio is a city located in northern Tuscany, on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea. With a population of over 63,000 it is the main centre of the northern Tuscan Riviera known as Versilia, and the second largest city within the Province of Lucca. It is known as a seaside resort as well as being the home of the famous carnival of Viareggio (dating back to 1873), and its papiermâché floats, which (since 1925), parade along the promenade known as "Passeggiata a mare", in the weeks preceding Easter. The symbol of the carnival of Viareggio and its official mask is Burlamacco, designed and invented by Uberto Bonetti in 1930. The city traces its roots back to the first half of the 16th century when it became the only gate to the sea for the Republic of Lucca.
The oldest building in Viareggio, known as Torre Matilde, dates back to this time and was built by the Lucchesi in 1541 as a defensive fortification to fight the constant manace of corsair incursions.
Viareggio is also an active industrial and manufacturing centre; its shipbuilding industry has long been renowned around the world and its fishing and floricultural industries are still fundamental sectors to the city’s economy.
We encourage the students to go to this Field Trip, to let them discover the real Italian Folklore of the Carnival, a strong tradition that links two opposite worlds, the religious one, related to the Lent and the profane one, that talks about the deepest and transgressive desires of men.
____________________________________
SPECIAL TOPICS ACCADEMIC FIELD TRIPS
History of Modern Italy – S.Anna di Stazzema
“….Tiny, reduced to scattered houses under the peaks north-east of Farnocchia, amidst the named houses there is an oratory dedicated to Sant’Anna … " Thus mentioned in “ Versilia granducale”, 1700.
Sant’Anna, a hamlet of Stazzema (Lucca), is located on the southern-most offspring of the Apuan Alps, 660 metres above sea level. The village can be reached by a panoramic road, 10 km long, who mender through Versilia hills, touching the villages of Monteggiori and La Culla. Sant’Anna can also be reached by means of the ancient mule-traks, which were part of the old Via Francigena, as well from Farnocchia, as from Capriglia-Capezzano and from Valdicastello.
On the morning of August 12th 1944, in Sant’Anna di Stazzema, one of the most terrible crimes, who injured the civilians during the second war, was commited.
The cruelty of Nazi-fascists flinged, suddenly and inexorably, against everything and everyone. In the course of a few hours, in the suburbs of the small village (Vaccareccia, Case, Moco, Pero, Coletti), hundreds of corpses, which was massacred, burned and
teared, remained on the ground. That morning of August in Sant’Anna were killed the olds, the women and the children. The Nazis killed the villagers and the evacuees who rised to Sant’Anna to live in safe. The slaughter of Sant’Anna di Stazzema still arouse a
sensation of civil and moral dismay and desolation, because it represent one of the most brutal pages of nazifascist’s barbarism, the cancer who affected Europe and annihilated the values of democracy and tolerance. It represented an hateful outrage who damaged
the human dignity. That day man decided to deny itself, to renounce to the respect of people and to the civil rights.
The tragedy of St.Anna inspired the movie “Miracle at St. Anna,” directed by Spike Lee and based on a novel by James McBride.
Cortona
Viareggio
Sant'Anna di
Stazzema
San Gimignano