As is many Italian towns, a main piazza graces the center of Pietrasanta. Usually a church or cathedral anchors the piazza with a large stone paved area to wander, visit with friends, or sit down at a cafe/restaurant and eat, drink and relax. With Roman origins, the town was founded in the late 13th century. It is today a popular town for artists and art.
At midday in this and many Italian towns, few local folks are out and about but the streets will bustle in a few hours. Many museums, businesses, and shops close in mid-afternoon for the Italian tradition called "riposo," like the Spanish tradition of "siesta."
Pietrasanta is located only a few miles from Cararra, the world renown marble quarries from which Michelangelo selected his marble for sculpting "David" and his other extraordinary pieces. This Escher-like floor in a local church is, of course, perfectly flat and made of marble tiles. The blown out sculpture by the plant is........
....this Madonna, also all marble - even her translucent veil is marble!
This sculptor's studio and shop is downtown along with many other artisan shops. Some of the works above are castings. I don't know the story on the Kennedy piece but it seems out of place.
An art gallery on the piazza is about to receive this bust for an exhibit.
And like everywhere I've been in this part of Italy, there is a gelato store never more than a few hundred meters from wherever you stand.
But gelato or not, sometimes it's best to simply sit in the warm spring sunshine and enjoy being alive......
.....in some cases, alive for many years.
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