Archive for 'Events'

Each year, at the end of October, the medieval town of Lucca is transformed and plays host to Lucca Comics and Games, Italy's answer to Comic-con. In fact, the festival has outdone the numbers of that perhaps more familiar name. Attendance in recent years has reached over 400,000, making it the biggest festival of its kind in Europe and the second largest in the world after Comiket in Tokyo.

The festival was established in 1966 and continues to dominate the city centre of the town for five days each year. Lucca's normal population of 87,000 is massively increased and the streets are flooded by attendees dressed vibrantly.

Florence is one of the great art centres of the world, known internationally for the many wonderful collections and museums that it houses and as birthplace of the Renaissance. Visitors nearly all try and make time for sites such as the Uffizi museum when visiting the city.

The serious art-lovers out there, however, might want to add something a little more off the beaten track to their itineraries; a visit to the Contini-Bonacossi Collection.

Maybe it's time to plan a trip, find yourself a Tuscan luxury villa and see this rare treat for yourself!

Put together by the politician, art collector and dealer, Count Alessandro Contini-Bonacossi (1878-1955), the collection is considered one of the most important art collections of the 20th century.

It was donated to the Italian state in 1969 but inheritance disputes meant that it ended up being sold off. It wasn't until 1998 that it was pieced back together and acquired by the Uffizi.

The collection is comprised of 50 works dating between the 14th and 18th centuries; 35 paintings, 12 sculptures and 11 coats of arms by Della Robbia alongside pieces of ancient furniture and majolicas.

If you are planning on finding yourself a holiday rental in Tuscany this summer, might I suggest an activity that is just a little bit different? Each July the lovely city of Pistoia, a destination a little off the beaten track for tourists but close to both Pisa and Florence, plays host to a music festival called Pistoia Blues.

Established in 1980, with a brief interruption due to the economic climate in that decade, the festival continues to take place in the city annually to this day. The festival takes place over the course of nine evenings in July and is organised by the Associazione Blues in conjunction with the Comune di Pistoia, or City of Pistoia.

San Gimignano, also known as “Town of the Fine Towers”, is a village right out of a children's storybook, set on a hilltop in Tuscany. Famous for its medieval architecture, it is well-preserved and provides wonderful examples of Romanesque and Gothic secular and religious buildings. Its historic town centre is so highly regarded that it has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It makes for the perfect setting of an annual festival called the Ferie Delle Messi, or Ferie Messum. This medieval re-enactment of food, games, competitions and culture has been taking place since 1993 and celebrates the cavalier tradition and the Battle of Montaperti in 1260 and Capaldino in 1289.

Each summer, the picturesque city of Cortona in Tuscany has a calender of events re-enacting medieval traditions through May and June. At the centre of these is the Giostra dell'Archidado, or the Archidado Joust, which takes place on the second Sunday of June. Existing since the Middle Ages and created officially in 1397, it commemorates the wedding of Francesco Casali, Lord of Cortona, to Antonia Salimbeni, a noblewoman from Siena. During the festival, the city streets are decorated with banners and flags and are given a medieval flare. The music of trumpets and drums resounds and stalls selling food, drink and crafts are set up. Medieval markets are also present on certain days.