The Ram

Details of the monument to Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany, in “Piazza della Repubblica”.The monument, by the sculptor Francesco Pozzi, was erected in the southern part of the square around 1840. There are four rams, one for each corner of the basement. The only pristine head is the one in the first picture, all the others have some part of the horns missing, like the head in the second photo.

See also: Two Grand Dukes - Leopold II of Tuscany - Heraldic Bees
Piazza della Repubblica - Forlorn Grand Duke

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Bombs on the Cover

By end of May, D-day for ground invasion was a definite date on the allied high command's calendar. But invasion by air, which was just as real as one by foot soldier and artillery, had been a definite military fact for months before. The particular bombs on the cover are 500-pounders, tumbling on an oil refinery in Leghorn, Italy.

(LIFE's cover, June 12, 1944 - Caption on page 22)

On the right the same area now, captured from Bing Maps.

See also: LIFE June 12, 1944 (Google Books)

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Saldi

A window in “Piazza Micheli”: “Saldi” (Sales) signs are everywhere in this period.Another shop window, this time in “Via Grande”.

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Sailing Gozzo

A tract of the “Fosso Reale” just before passing below “Piazza della Repubblica”, practically a 220 meter wide bridge. Amidst all the white fiberglass motor boats you can see what seems a refurbished “gozzo a vela”, a wooden boat rigged with a triangular lateen sail.More or less a century ago, the same kind of boats returning to the “moletto” (jetty) of Antignano after a day of fishing.

See also: Piazza della Repubblica

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Corner

Corner of “Via Serristori” and “Via Sant'Omobono”.

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Piazza del Municipio

The works in progress we saw a couple of months ago are almost completed and a part of the refurbished “Piazza del Municipio” is already open to the public. Always watching, from up there, is our colorful Chimera.This is where the buses carrying most of the cruise passengers stops, so a revamped square was long overdue. In background the arched loggia of our Chamber of Commerce.Town Hall building is on the other side of the square and the rest... is a parking lot.

See also: Mural Crown - Everyday Chimera - Chamber of Commerce - Town Hall - Work in Progress - Coat of Arms

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Theme Day: Fountains

This is one of the two Sea Monsters fountains by Pietro Tacca, the same sculptor of our Four Moors.These are obviously recent copies of the originals, made after the last war. In fact, a legend says that the Grand Duke Ferdinando II liked so much the fountains made for Livorno, that he had them installed in “Piazza Santissima Annunziata”, in Florence.

See also: Sea Monsters - Four Moors

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