Pisa | San Rossore Park, Migliarino,Massaciuccoli

A few kilometers from Pisa, there is an island of green and silent nature. It is the Natural Park of Migliarino San Rossore Massaciuccoli, a protected area that extends along the coast and includes the municipalities of Pisa, Viareggio, San Giuliano Terme, Vecchiano, Massarosa and Livorno.

Many environments to discover

A mosaic of very different environments that have remained intact: the Macchia Lucchese, Lake Massaciuccoli, the former Presidential Estate of San Rossore, the forests of Tombolo and Migliarino, the mouths of the Arno and Serchio rivers. The Park manages the Secche della Meloria, the rocks between Livorno and Gorgona island.

The Park can be visited with free or guided excursions, even for children, not only on foot but also by bike, on board a horse-drawn carriage, with an ecological train and with the boat. Routes have been designed with walkways, footbridges, wooden slides and special structures to stimulate sight and hearing, so as to allow people with motor and sensory disabilities to experience this corner of Tuscany.

The San Rossore Estate

The San Rossore Estate was the first property of the King of Italy, then of the President of the Republic from 1956 to 1999. In the Middle Ages there were many monasteries in this area, including one dedicated to San Luxorio, which later became San Rossore. From 1500 to 1700 the Medici family rented the land and bought, among other things, the Casale La Sterpaia.

It was the Grand Duke Ferdinando I de ‘Medici to begin the reclamation of the last stretch of the Arno, which was moved further north by 2 km. This is the so-called “Ferdinando Cut”. And it was Ferdinando II de’ Medici, in 1622, to introduce the dromedaries in the Estate, which settled so well that they remained there until 1976, the year in which, as a result of the famine following the Second World War that had already decimated them, the last specimen died.

In addition to dromedaries, over the centuries, the San Rossore Estate has also been populated by numerous horses. It was Leopoldo II of Lorraine who built the Hippodrome, called the ‘Prato degli Escoli.’ Since 1885, the most prestigious race held there is the ‘Premio Pisa,’ reserved for three-year-old horses.