What to do in Tuscany in the Summer: addresses for contemporary art lovers

Two “giant” galleries, in Florence and San Gimignano

It was not easy for Matteo d' Aloja to choose among the Tuscan art galleries, indeed according to him there would be a shopping list to make, so his selection wanted to reward what he called "two giants".

In Florence, there is time until July 28, before the summer closure of the Galleria Il Ponte, to admire the personal exhibition dedicated to Marina Ballo Charmet, Tatay. Out of the corner of my eye.

The strictly photographic path of this artistic research is presented for the first time in the gallery, through twelve large-format color photographs of the Tatay project, taken in the last few years. They pertain to male parenthood, to the primary father-son relationship. Often details of areas of contact between the father and the very young child where a tactile-olfactory intimacy is suggested.

Moving to the province of Siena, we find instead Galleria Continua, open to San Gimignano in 1990, on the initiative of three friends: Mario Cristiani, Lorenzo Fiaschi and Maurizio Rigillo, in the spaces of a former cinema.

The gallery has established itself and prospered in a completely unexpected position, far from the big cities and ultra-modern urban centres, in a timeless village rich in history.

This choice of location has made it possible to develop new forms of dialogue and symbiosis between unexpected geographies: rural and industrial, local and global, art of the past and art of today, famous and emerging artists. Remaining faithful to a spirit of perpetual evolution and committed to interest the largest possible audience in contemporary art. The current exhibition (until 10/09) is entitled The Euphoria of Color by CarlosCruz-Diez.

In Bolgheri, between reasoning on the cosmos and winemaking

Satelliti, curated by Giorgio Galotti, is an exhibition that can be visited until 30 September, created with the aim of report the history and spaces of the Caccia al Piano winery, through a series of interventions by invited artists to highlight, with the works proposed and produced for the occasion, the bond that can be establish between the movements of the cosmos and the winemaking process.

Just as the collaboration between man and nature turns out to be the genesis for a sustainable supply chain, on this occasion the dialogue between the place and the works that recall the value of this relationship accompanies the visitor within a double narration where the visual, sound and poetic intervention acts as a counterpoint to nature and the production deriving from it, integrating completely into the external and internal environments of the place , to become a source of inspiration for future winemaking.

The artists involved are: Renata De Bonis, Ettore Favini, Anders Holen, Matteo Nasini and Alice Ronchi. For information on visits: 0565 763394, info@cacciaalpiano.it.

In the village of Marsiliana for a homely atmosphere

New for 2023, A Marsi is a small trattoria created and managed by the architect Lodovico Marsaglia in the The old mill of the Estate of the Marsiliana dei Principi Corsini.

A project born very simply, Comeno says himself: "The internal and external spaces created by Princess Giorgiana Corsini were already beautiful and very welcoming, the interventions were few and all aimed at enhancing her work, in particular the compass entrance window made by a young local blacksmith and a series of furnishings patiently found in small bric a brac in the area.

With Paola, my wife having no professional experience in catering, we then tried to recreate the same atmosphere as the tables at home through the furnishings, the hospitality and the quality of the food".

In Porto Ercole and Orbetello, 'alternative' purchases

You need to take a walk beyond the seafront of Porto Ercole to reach, with a pedestrian staircase or two uphill curves, the historic part of the town, the one characterized by the Rocca, from the walls, from the sixteenth century Palazzo dei Governanti and from a unique view of the port. A few meters before crossing the arch that leads to the old town, the "Cose come Case" shop of FrancescaRosi opens on the right.

"Cose Come Case - says Francesca - is a typical exclamation of the Silver coast that evokes amazement, it is the name I chose to create a space for furniture, but above all the craftsmanship that produces this emotion. In the old part of the town, I dreamed of a welcoming place for the customer and for the friend, a meeting point, where every object had a story to tell.”

Returning from Argentario, and from its disguising itself as an island, towards the continent, you pass by Orbetello. Here our guide recommends two essential stops: the workshop of Gianni Capitani who has been working ceramics with great dedication for forty years.

A person to learn from. And the Antica Pasticcera Ferrini: their apple pie is unsurpassed, but the dessert that you really won't find elsewhere are the "tette di monaca", incredible donut-shaped pastries created with a very thin layer of sponge cake and filled with a special chantilly cream.

Sleeping in the countryside…

From Orbetello you return to the mainland and to find the ideal place to stop in absolute peace, you can choose two directions, either the countryside, towards the center of the peninsula, or along the coast. The Podere l'Olmaia has a strategic position, between the Argentario sea, the Terme di Saturnia and the villages of Capalbio and Magliano in Toscana, and it is also thanks to its potion that from a hospitable house for friends it has been transformed into agriturismo , open to all lovers of the countryside, of slow and relaxed life.

Different hospitality options, from the 75 m2 apartment House in Farm, to the two 35 m2 studio apartments, to the rooms, all with the swimming pool at the center , known as La Vasca, narrow and long like the old fountains.

…or in the dunes of the beach

The Tuscan tour ends in a magical place, a widespread hotel surrounded by nature a few steps from the beach near Capalbio. The Lodges and Cabins of the Terre di Sacra Glamping offer the possibility unique experience of a detox holiday by the sea without giving up comfort and beauty.

You can choose between the Lodges, inspired by African safari tents or the new Cabins, private suites immersed in the Maremma pine forest.

Glamping is part of Terre di Sacra , a brand of the S.A.C.R.A. Company, born in 1922: an estate of over 1000 hectares that extends along about 12 kilometers of the Capalbi coast and which has inside the Lake Burano and the tower of Buranaccio.

The stages in the history of Terre di Sacra reveal the continuous attention to the environment and to nature in the management of land and landscape.

Initially, with the reclamation of marshy and malarial soils, then with the development of agricultural activity and Maremma breeding and, finally, with the conversion in 1968 of the hunting reserve into a WWF Oasis, the first in Italy.