One of the most delightful events to happen in Bagni di Lucca is coming up. The Presepe Vivente will be held on 4th December. This year it will be in Pieve di Monti di Villa. The residents have been busy preparing the village. Paul Davies dropped in to take some photos.
This is an event not to be missed.
Bagni di Lucca has long been known for making figurines. As a cheaper alternative to carved marble or stone, religious statues were made with Plaster of Paris, or gesso. Presepi, or nativity scenes, were particularly popular and salesmen from Bagni di Lucca took them to the world.
The industry still exists in Bagni di Lucca and there is now a plan to introduce a course in the making of figurines. A contribution from Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Lucca has enabled a small group of people including the mayor, Massimo Betti, Alessandro Gabrielli, Sonia Lena and Mariano Mariani to initiate a course of lessons in this traditional art.
The lessons will be open to anyone over 16 and will be managed by Simone Fiori from Arte Basanti, a firm that still makes figurines by hand in the old tradition. (Click here to see the post about it) He will be helped by Mariano Mariano, Luca Marchi and Marco Fontanini from other local businesses.
Applications for the course can be made until 23rd December at the education office in the Comune in La Villa or through the website http://www.comunebagnidilucca.it.
The course, or courses, if there is enough interest, will begin in the new year and will consist of lessons over 5 mornings and 2 afternoons. The cost will be €50 for residents and €80 for non residents. Each course will be limited to 10 people.
For information call (39) 0583 809940.
I think this is an excellent initiative and I hope it is successful. It would be great if it becomes popular and attracts people from outside the area as well as locals.
Residents of Bagni di Lucca took their plaster skills all over the world when they migrated to other countries. It would be wonderful to revive the skill and provide a fun thing for visitors to do.
Please share this post and spread the word.
This weekend is the time to be in Fornoli.
Let’s hope the weather is fine.
The beautiful Bernabo Spa has opened for business. A cosmetic company from Milan visited and fell in love with the elegant old building. Their main interest was the therapeutic water, but when they saw the wonderful marble baths they realised that it would be a great place for them to operate a small spa.
The treatment rooms.
The baths…individual marble baths.
…and the deep, walk in bath.
The source of the thermal water.
As well as the thermal baths they offer massage, manicures, pedicure, facials and much more. Drop in and take a look and make an appointment for a special treatment.
It’s great that the spa has opened. Bagni di Lucca once had 12 operating spas. This one was a favourite of Elisa Bacciocchi, Napoleon’s sister and Princess of Lucca in the early 1800s. Tell all your friends, share this on Facebook, have a treatment, let’s support this new venture.
Hours…Tuesday -Saturday 9.30am – 7.30pm
Bernabo Spa…Via Bagni Caldi 36. Ponte a Serraglio.
Tel. 0583 1808020
centrobernabo@exelor.it
Facebook…https:/www.facebook.com/centrobernabo/
Update…The Bernabo Spa is now closed.
On Sunday the local raft groups raced each other from Chifenti, where the Lima River meets the Serchio River, to the gorgeous Ponte della Maddelena.
I missed the race, but Montefegatesi photographer David Bonaventura was on hand to get get some great photos.
It looked like a fun day despite the less than perfect weather. I think the boys in the white raft won.
Il uomo morto, the dead man, is a cluster of mountains that, when viewed from a certain angle, looks like a man lying down.
The day I took the photo was a bit hazy, but you can see why the mountains got their name. I was in Pieve Fosciana in Garfagnana when I took the photo.
The festival Paese de Balocchi (I call it the Pinocchio festival) was a great success. The weather was perfect and people came out in droves to enjoy the entertainment on offer.
The umbrella installation in Via Umberto provided an extra level of colour.
The many stalls offered lots of things to buy.
The old fashioned games kept the children, and parents, busy.
There was a wonderful girl band making their way up and down the street, led by the marvellous Roberto Lucchesi.
A dinosaur, with rider, was a big hit.
Face painting is always popular.
There was a jumping castle, people in costume, balloons and more.
Well done to the organisers. The festival gets better each year.
This weekend is the time for the annual Pinocchio festival in La Villa.
It promises to be a lot of fun…don’t miss it.
Opposite the Villa Fiori car park in Ponte a Serraglio is a little tower hidden in the trees.
It needs a little love and attention, like many things around here.
Does anyone know anything about the tower?
The wooden horse and rider in the museum at San Cassiano is not just any horse. The sculpture has been attributed to Jacopo della Quercia. He was an early Renaissance artist from Querciagrossa, near Siena. He became a resident of Lucca when his family moved there.
He was in the contest to design the Doors of Paradise at the Baptistery in Florence, but lost out to Ghiberto. One of his most famous works is the exquisite sarcophagus of Ilaria in the cathedral in Lucca.
On a recent trip to San Cassiano I was delighted to find the museum open. It is housed in the Oratory opposite the church.
Up close the wooden carving is beautiful. In 1909 it was found in a state of considerable neglect. It was restored in the 1920s and again in the early 1990s.
The sculpture is made up of 3 elements of linden wood. 2 elements make up most of the horse, while the bust of the saint is carved from a single block of wood.
Behind the horse are 2 other carvings. Both are carved from a single block of poplar wood, with the exception of some parts of the hands and the head. On the left of the altar is Archangel Gabriel and on the right The Virgin of the Annunciation.
The church was open on the day I visited as well.
The interior is stunning. It looks ancient.
The floor has been worn down by centuries of feet.
The villages of Bagni di Lucca are a treasure trove for those who go looking.
