400 Italian cities are involved in the 31st edition of FAI Spring Days, with a total of 750 stunning sites, usually closed or with restricted access to the public, open on 23 and 24 March (check the website for how to take part).
Palazzo Buontalenti and Palazzo Marucelli Fenzi – Florence
Two historic palaces in the old centre of Florence. The former, also known as the Casino Mediceo di San Marco, was designed by Buontalenti in 1574 to house the Grand Duchy’s foundries and workshops. In the latter, there are magnificent ground-floor rooms boasting frescoes and stucco, a monumental staircase and a ballroom.
(ph. © 2024 Marco Lodovichi)
Vittoriano Bitossi Foundation Archive Museum – Montelupo Fiorentino
The museum is located in the original factory founded in 1921 by Guido Bitossi, whose family had been in the ceramics trade since the late 15th century. It is home to some 7,000 items, including plaster moulds, tools, documents, designs and plans.
(ph. © Delfino Sisto Legnani & Agnese Bedini / Archivio Fondazione V. Bitossi)
Campatelli Tower House – San Gimignano
In the 19th century, the Florentine Campatelli family turned this house with its 28-metre tower, built in the mid-12th century, into the magnificent upper-middle class residence it remains today.
Casa Laura and Collection – Ospedaletti
An astonishing treasure trove containing the original and very personal art collection of renowned antiquarian Luigi Anton Laura and his wife Nera. An exceptional cabinet of curiosities with some 6,000 items including Italian, European and Chinese furniture, porcelain, sculpture, majolica, silver and Oriental antiques.
Vallebona. The Magnificent Gateway to the Otto Luoghi
A village suspended between sea and sky, with a mild climate and bountiful land. Sites to visit include the Piazza dei Quattro Elementi, the Loggia dell’Aria, the church of San Lorenzo, the Oratory of the Nativity of Maria Santissima and the local distillery of bitter orange flower water, a Slow Food Presidium.
Villa Cambiaso – Savona
This ancient and richly frescoed noble residence preserves some wonderful stained glass windows of Florentine manufacture, along with gorgeous boiserie and a consecrated chapel where Pope Pius VII used to celebrate mass.
(ph. courtesy FAI)
