Italy Artisans

There is no other place in the world capable of competing with Florentine artisans in their ability to give the most common of objects that typical innate refinement. Whether it's leather, glass, ceramics, metals, but also the restoration of breathtakingly beautiful furniture or in giving new life to musical instruments that belonged to great musicians, Florence is the benchmark. But alongside all this, there are new artisans, young Florentines who dare to take new paths, new artifacts, new artistic expressions, dictating the line for new crafts. Finally, there are those who create specific perfumes by studying the personality of those who will wear them. A treasure map for those who want to discover something new and special in Florence.

Perched on the hills of the Marche overlooking the Adriatic sea, a stone's throw away from the beaches of Rimini and opposite San Marino, the sumptuous Urbino was able to contend with Florence to the throne of the Renaissance capital. Thanks to the Duke of Montefeltro: warrior and patron. Grace was born here in painting: Raffaello Sanzio, who never left his beloved city. The artisans of today behave as if they still worked for the Duke; whether it is making sumptuous costumes, lithographs, etchings, the precious ducal stars, elegant and fascinating polyhedra, or whether it is dyeing fabrics with woad, a grass capable of giving a special blue tone in use since the time of the Duke. But there is also a peculiar craftsmanship in Urbino: the construction of kites, which fly by the thousands in its sky in September in a competition between districts. Following in the steps of its passionate and friendly artisans, in Urbino you run the risk of taking your place in a time machine, to find yourself face to face with the Duke in the Palazzo Ducale.

In the alleys of this beating heart, an open-air theatre that resounds with timeless songs and voices, unsuspected crafts lie hidden: from those who restore ancient dolls to those who build mandolins that end up playing in concert halls all over the world. From those who make neon tubes into works of art to those who turn pastry making into a poem. A trip to the Naples of artisans above and below the ground.

The historic center of a city like Rome is made up of many small districts. Ancient districts are like villages, in which everyone still knows each other, and in which the artisans are popular characters, loved and respected for their usefulness, ability, and talent. Unfortunately, too rapid a shift towards a tourist vocation and a sudden real estate revaluation threatens those who stubbornly remain to do the work that was their fathers and grandfathers. Let's go and discover their wonderful daily work among the timeless alleys and squares of the great beauty.

Arezzo, in Tuscany, is known to everyone for its Giostra del Saracino, an ancient race that competes with the Palio of Siena. But few know that behind this event hides the silent capital of gold craftsmanship.

Around Pistoia, in a Tuscany lesser known by tourists, there are hectares upon hectares of vivariums. Plants that come here from all over the world, and go all over the world. A green passion that becomes art: Ars Topiaria carves plants and bushes in all kinds of figures, animals, men, objects... But the sensitivity of the people of Pistoia extends to music, to the many historical organs of the city, and its inimitable restorers. And then in forges in which plates, gongs, and cymbals are forged from incandescent castings. Here, the music of history evokes sumptuous Renaissance carnivals during which special confetti mixed with coriander were thrown from windows; coriander sugared almonds are still made, only in Pistoia, while the name has become a universal paper symbol of the carnival.