The little Athens of sculptors, between marble and bronze foundries
At the foot of the Apuan Alps, in Versilia, Pietrasanta has been the town of marble workers since Michelangelo came here to choose his blocks. Today dozens of marble workshops and bronze foundries work for artists from all over the world, earning it the nickname "Little Athens".
The long Piazza del Duomo is an open-air gallery, regularly hosting monumental contemporary sculptures, between the cathedral of San Martino with its rose window, the brick bell tower and the church of Sant'Agostino. In the church of the Misericordia, Fernando Botero, who lived here for decades, painted the frescoes of the Gates of Heaven and Hell. The Museo dei Bozzetti preserves hundreds of models by sculptors who worked in the town.
Tip: many workshops can be visited on request; Marina di Pietrasanta, a few kilometres away, offers beaches and the nightlife of the Versilia.
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