The Museums of the Valdera Region: history meets knowledge…
The Valdera lies south-east of Pisa as you head towards Volterra and is made up of age-old woods and typical Tuscan rolling hills with the river Era flowing through the valley. Volterra is definitely a point of reference for the area both for its history and museums but not to be overlooked are the surrounding smaller towns and villages with their wealth of museums which should satisfy all tastes.
The towns of Capannoli, Chianni, Lajatico, Palaia, Peccioli and Terricciola bear witness to the traditions and culture of the Valdera and are still today active communities with museums.
The Zoological Museum in Capannoli is certainly worth a visit. Housed in Villa Baciocchi, it was started by two young taxidermists (Gianluca Salvadori and Elena Baldelli) who have managed to recreate different environments taking you on fantastic and fun journey around the world to discover the wonders of nature.
Your journey through the museum will transport you from the plains of the African savannah to the white, pacific beaches of Hawaii; from the immense Patagonian prairies as described by Chatwin to the deserts of the African continent; from the dense forests of Brasil and Borneo to the icebergs and snow of Alaska.
The Zoological Museum has 130 different natural environments on permanent exhibition containing over 1400 animal specimens. Not just for academics and natural science scholars but also for school children and all nature lovers who want to find out more about the animal world and have a lot of fun at the same time!
The Museum of Icons is a completely different museum, but equally interesting. Located in the Palazzo Pretorio right in the heart of the medieval village of Peccioli, the museum offers not only an exhibition space but also a space dedicated to new projects and initiatives.
Visit too the Francesco Bigazzi collection which was donated by the journalist himself to the Peccioli Council and brings together 60 works from the 19th and 20th centuries.
Peccioli can be likened to a large, open air museum. There are various works of contemporary art scattered over the council district needing no entrance ticket and open 365 days a year. It costs absolutely nothing to visit works of art by Vittorio Corsini, Vittorio Messina, Hidetoshi Nagasawa created for the exhibition ‘Specie di Spazi’. In various positions throughout the council territory there are works of art on display by Umberto Cavanago, Fortuyn O’Brien and Alberto Garutti, all developed for the ‘Art and Peccioli’ exhibition put together to mark 500th anniversary of the death of Benozzo Gozzoli.
The medieval village of Palaia and the surrounding villages offer too an interesting choice of museums to visit which reflect the farming traditions of rural Tuscany in the 1800’s and 1900’s.
Il Museo del Lavoro e della Civiltà Rurale (Museum of Rural life) in San Gervasio (in the council district of Palaia) is host to a yearly festival which celebrates the local rural traditions and on the first weekend of September many of the museums old farming machinery are put back in action. Seminars are held too throughout the summer on various aspects of rural life from popular folk songs, to the portrayal of farming life in literature and art.
|
