Barred Window

Barred window, Via del Fagiano.
Finestra con sbarre, Via del Fagiano.

Old Brick Wall

Old brick wall, new blue shed, Viale Italia.
Vecchio muro di mattoni, nuovo capannone blu, viale Italia.

Walled Door and Graffiti

Walled door and graffiti, Scali della Fortezza Nuova.
Porta murata e graffiti, Scali della Fortezza Nuova.

Largo Vittorio Vaturi

Street lamp, Largo Vittorio Vaturi. (Already posted on Instagram)
Lampione, largo Vittorio Vaturi. (Già pubblicato su Instagram)

Forte di Punta

The Forte di Punta (Fort of the Point), which once defended the entrance of the port with a powerful battery of coastal artillery, and the tower of the Avvisatore Marittimo (Maritime Warnings service). (Already posted on Instagram)
Il Forte di Punta, che una volta difendeva il porto con una poderosa batteria di artiglieria costiera, e la torre dell'Avvisatore Marittimo. (Già pubblicato su Instagram)

Almost Winter

Autumn colors, almost winter.
Colori d'autunno, quasi d'inverno.

Fire in the Tower

For the second time in the last month there was a fire inside this tower...

See also: Swing Bridge Tower

Versione italiana

The Square Tower

The oldest part of the “Fortezza Vecchia” is the “Torre Quadrata” (Square Tower), which once guarded the Pisan port, its lower part still visible now. The round tower known as “Mastio di Matilde” (Matilda's Keep) was built after 1241 or even later. Matilda of Tuscany died in 1115, so the attribution is obviously wrong. Since the second half of the 14th century the two towers were surrounded by by a wall called “Quadratura dei Pisani” (Pisans' Square Fort).

(Already posted on Instagram)

External links: Matilda of Tuscany (Wikipedia)
See also: Fortezza Vecchia - Piazza dei Grani - Scalo Regio - Porta del Duca - Cortile d'Arme - Capitana - Ampolletta - Molo del Soccorso - Canaviglia - Palazzo di Francesco - Mastio di Matilde - From the Top
Search labels: Fortezza Vecchia

Versione italiana

Poor Old Walls!

It is not the first time that bush cutters are used to get rid of the weeds from the ancient walls of the Porto Mediceo.

The ground around is literally covered with fragments of the crushed old bricks.

English version

Decay at San Marco

People keep talking about promotion of tourism as part of local economic development, but a look at the sorry state of Porta San Marco (Saint Mark Gate) and of many other historical landmarks is not encouraging.

See also: San Marco - Enrico Bartelloni - New English Cemetery - Lion of Saint Mark - Porta San Marco
Search labels: decay

Versione italiana

Porta San Marco

“Porta San Marco” (Saint Mark's Gate), September 2012

“Porta San Marco” (Saint Mark's Gate), early 1900s

(Postcard digitized from the collection of Antonio Cantelli)

See also: San Marco - Enrico Bartelloni - New English Cemetery - Lion of Saint Mark

Versione italiana

Balcony to Nowhere

On the old walls, facing the “Porto Mediceo”, a balcony to nowhere ...

Versione italiana

Shaving Weeds

The stone walls of the “Fosso Reale” are being “shaved” to clean them from the luxuriant weeds.

Versione italiana

On the Ramparts

Visitors on the walls of the “Fortezza Vecchia” (Old Fortress). On the left the “Mastio di Matilde” (Matilda's Keep) with the Florentine fleur-de-lis.

See also: Fortezza Vecchia - Mastio di Matilde - Fleur-de-lis

Versione italiana

Scooter Art

Lone scooter wheel, with perforated brake disc, lost against a wall of words.

Search labels: bicycle art
External links: Bicycle Art

Versione italiana

Turret in the Sun

One of the turrets guarding the gate of the “Fortezza Nuova”.

Versione italiana

Modulblock

This kind of huge concrete module is called Modulblock, but they look like oversized Lego bricks. They are normally used to control landslides and to strenghten embankments.These blocks were used to build the blast containment wall for the defusing of the WWII unexploded bomb found in Venezia and now they are being removed.Each block is 160 cm (5' 3") long and has a weight of two tons.Before continuing the excavation of the canal, the whole area will be scanned again to avoid other buried surprises.

Search labels: new canal
External links: Modulblock (Prefabbricati LP)
See also: Bombs on the Cover - An Useless Dig - Canale dei Navicelli - Viale Caprera - Micropoles - New Venice - A New Canal - Crash - The Dig - Building the Canal - Venice's Canal - The Old “Cantina” - Along the New Canal - Under Construction - The Bomb - The Buried Bomb - The Wall

Versione italiana

Close-Up

An assortment of colors on plain and rough plaster.The same wall in “Via dell'Origine” seen from a few meters away.

Versione italiana

Lion Heads

This looks like a door knocker but surely it isn't: it's a marble head on the side toward the sea of the “Canaviglia” bastion of the “Fortezza Vecchia” (Old Fortress).A similar lion head is placed on the “Ampolletta” bastion of the same fortress. No trace of marble heads on the third bastion, the “Capitana”. My friend Stefano says that these are marble models of the bronze originals, now in the hall of the Province of Livorno, used then to moor the ships at the walls.

Barriera Garibaldi

Opened in 1837, the “Barriera Fiorentina” (Florentine Barrier) was the first passage built in the new Leopoldine Walls. It was a barrier and not a gate because, placed on the main road, it was open even at night.On the city side, in a traffic island, stands an obelisk dedicated to Leopold II of Tuscany. People call it “la guglia”, or the spire.Facing out, two decorated pediments stand on top of each building on the sides of the barrier. “Barriera Fiorentina” became “Barriera Garibaldi” in 1889, but the neighbouring zone is still commonly called “Fiorentina”.This is the usual location of the Sant'Antonino Fair.

See also: Leopoldine Walls - Sant'Antonino Fair
External links: Leopold II of Tuscany (Wikipedia)

Versione italiana