The olive and the hills
The Tuscan landscape, and the hills around Lucca In particular, is identified to a large extent by the presence of the olive tree.
Thousands of the years olde, these dignified trees with their generous foliage of silvery leaves that flutter in the slightest breeze, provide a pleasant contrast with the briallant greens of the mown terraces in the springtime, or with the dry, yellowish grass in the summer.
The characteristic contortions and irregularities given by yearly pruning the “topponature” and cleaning, give their grey trunks unpredictable shapes and forms.
The various operations that are regularly carried out, change, imperceptibly renew and perpetuate the value of human intervetion and at times the tree is given a form and appearance that is statuesque.
The olive has always been a symbol of peace and the fertility of the earth; it is an axample of the deep bond between man and the natural world, it is a sign of vitality and renewal. Its cultivation represents on of the major resources of the tuscan country and, together with the typical terraced slopes, it is a characteristic of the entire hill area.
It is said that the Greeks brought the olive to these slopes with their scant coverage of “humus”, but its wide diffusion is mainly linked to the hillside’s considerable transformation at the hands of Lucchese merchants. Investiments and the spread of cultivations continued until the beginning of the 20th century, but there has been a recovery in recent years and, as mentioned above, new interests.
Forgotten treasures of Lucca
Some Grapevine readers may have seen the recent exhibition in Lucca, “Lucca abbandonata, Lucca ritrovata” feauturing stunning black and white photographs of over 60 significant buildings in and around Lucca which have fallen into disuse and are lying empty.
Now the exhibition organisers wanted to draw attention to the wealth of history contained in these buildings and their potential to play a role in the life of the city again.
Some of the buildings are well-known the Mercato del Carmine, the ex Manifattura Tabacchi, most less so. A few have already been restored the churches of the Suffragio and San Girolamo, both now used for concerts, the former Banca d’Italia in Via Mordini, now converted into apartments, and the Villa Niemack, as featured in our March issue. In other cases restoration in under way the Caffè delle Mura, for example. But for the most part these building lie wating for a new life, many in a serious state of deterioration.
The catalogue will be of interest to anyone who loves Lucca and its buildings, or who has ever wondered about the history of a particular abandoned building. 250 pages in a manageable paperback, crammed with fashinating photographs and a short history in Italian of each building. Some of the photographs can also be seen on www.flickr.com/luccabbandonata.
The promoters of the exhibition and the catalogue, CasaPound Italia and Associazione Culturale epsilon are to be congratuled on drawing this heritage to the attention of a wider audience, as indeed is the city of Lucca for its support. let’s hope their initiative succeeds in saving some of these treasures.
The catalogue is on sale at Lorenzini newsagents, Via Fillungo; Il Collezionista bookshop, Piazza San Giusto.
Villa Minutoli at Massaciuccoli
The building, which was perhaps the centre of the original building, belonged to the Spada family, but at the beginning of the 19th century, was inherited with all the surrounding properties, by count Carlo Minutoli, who increased them considerably thanks to the cultivation of rice. The immense farm was divided up subsequently; the part in the hills was divided into lots and were bought by italians and people from abroad. During the second half of the 1700s, the villa housed the first archaeological finds from the excavations of the baths.
Miglianello
Miglianello is a little village immersed in the terraces of olive groves that cover the entire hillside.
The particular layout of the buildingis due to the fact that originally it was an Olivetan Monastery.
In the 18th century, the building was bought by the Papanti family. The complex has maintained the ancient characteristics of the original building; all that is left of the monastery is the olive mill and storerooms.
Inside there is a hall and two rooms with walls papered with prints of a wide variety of bird species: a “History of birds” of 1768 dedicated to grand duke Pietro Leopoldo, and of great interest to natural sciences scholars. Beside the villa there is a gothic-style church which may have been private chapel, built during the last century.
The Garden that extends from the hill behind the Pitti Palace as far as Porta Romana, reached its current extension and appearance, becoming one of the largest and most elegant Italian style gardens, through several stages of enlargement and restructuring work carried out at diffrent times.
The first works initially affected the area that was closer to the palace, after the buildung had been purchased by Cosimo I de´ Medici and by his wife Eleonora di Toledo, who had chosen this place for new grand ducal palace.
The initial plan was drawn by Niccolò Tribolo, although the works were completed, after his death in 1550 by other architects including also Giorgio Vasari (from 1554 to 1561) along with Bartolomeo Ammannati and Bernardo Buontalenti under the reign of Francis I, who succeeded to his father Cosimo.
The Medici and the Lorraine families continued to enrich and enlarge the garden also in 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. Besides adding lovely meadows, avenues, small groves and beautiful panoramic views, they made the garden more precious by including extraordinary decorative complexes, thus forming an outdoor museum that exhibited both Roman and 16th and 17th century statues.
The first phase led to the creation of an “Amphitheatre” adjoined to the hill behind the palace. The early amphitheatre, initially formed by “edges and evergreen meadows”, was later replaced by a stone one decorated with statues based on Roman myths such as the Fountain of the Ocean sculptured by Giambologna, then transferred to another location within the same garden, the small “Grotto of Madama”, and the “Large Grotto”, which has begun by Vasari and ended by Ammannati and Buontalenti between 1583 and 1593.
Despite the fact that it is currently undergoing complex restoration work (1998) due to the damages suffered over centuries these statues continue to be remarkable examples of Mannerism architecture and culture.
Decorated internally and externally with stalatites and originally equipped with water plays and a luxuriant vegetation, the fountain is divided into three main sections.
The first one was frescoed to create the illusion of a natural grotto, that is a natural refuge to allow shepherds to protect themselves from wild animals, and originally housed the Prisoners of Michelangelo, which were moved to this location after they had become part of the Medici collection (the original statues have now been replaced by copies).
The rooms that follow exhibit valuable sculptures like the “Bathing Venus” of Giambologna and the group of “Paris and Hellen” of Vincenzo de Rossi.
NOTE:
Due to their very nature, these historical garden require costant restoration and maintenance.
A schedule has therefore been established which provide for their seasonal, yearly and long-term care through periodic renovation and upkeep.
Clearly, the architectural component and plant life are involved more frequently than the inorganic structures of the garden and its decorations, and although the different types of work are not necessarily interdipendent, they have been planned for during the same period of time.
Moreover, the need to safeguard sculptural works from degradation by atmospherical agents and vandalism often requires housing the originals indoors and replacing them with copies for display. Thus, the gardens’ furnishings are necessarily in an incomplete and costantly changing state.
