Itineraries

Walking with children: from Calci to San Miniato

  • Total length (km): 40
  • Percorribilità: by car, camper van, motorbike or Vespa
  • Difficoltà: none

If you want to try an itinerary with children in the Terre di Pisa, we suggest this ‘route’ from Calci to San Miniato. You can go trekking on paths rich in history, go cycling or mountain biking or horse riding, not forgetting activities in the museums.


Calci – Natural History Museum

The first stop on the itinerary is the Natural History Museum in Calci, located inside the splendid Certosa Monumentale. The Museum is an autonomous University Centre and is the only university museum outside the city.

Although it is one of the oldest in the world, it seems very modern in terms of the interest it can arouse in all ages. It is a child-friendly museum, which can be visited even with young children, who will be fascinated by the animal species in the mammal section or the ungulate section.

The exhibition aims to show the great biodiversity of the world’s animals and raise awareness of the preservation of natural environments often threatened by man. Huge whale skeletons overhead make a visit to the Cetacean Gallery exciting, as does one to the aquarium, the largest freshwater aquarium in Italy. One discovery after another keeps children’s attention for an enjoyable afternoon, with activities specifically dedicated to them.


Vicopisano – Brunelleschi’s Rocca

Vicopisano | Rocca del Brunelleschi
Vicopisano | Rocca del Brunelleschi

Second stop is the village of Vicopisano, characterised by no less than 13 medieval tower houses and the unmistakable profile of Brunelleschi’s Rocca. The discovery of the fortified village, the Rocca’s military secrets, the Palazzo Pretorio and its Prisons is an interesting experience for children, who can participate in guided tours or choose didactic itineraries to learn more about the history of the Middle Ages in an interactive way, through workshops and reconstructions.

And for those who want to experience a real weekend full immersion in the Middle Ages, there is nothing better than to participate in the Medieval Festival in September and take part in the numerous activities, shows and animations dedicated to ladies and knights. In addition to history, you can do activities on olives and ceramics: the area’s oil mills demonstrate the process of pressing olives, where you can taste and buy the exquisite oil produced directly, while ceramists show you how ceramics are made, from modelling on the potter’s wheel to painting.


Calcinaia – Ceramic Museum

Museo della ceramica a Calcinaia | Laboratorio bambini
Ceramic Museum

The Ceramics Museum dedicated to Lodovico Coccapani is located in the historic centre of Calcinaia, in the premises of an old workshop founded in the late 18th century by the three brothers who were members of the family.

The museum itinerary offers visitors the history of Calcinaia ceramics through the production, craft environments, kilns, and tools of the trade related to the tradition of ceramic art well developed in the Pisan Valdarno since the Middle Ages.
 
The Museum offers a series of educational workshops for school-age children, transforming the visit into a path of discovery and growth that helps them understand the relationships between the objects and the territory. The didactic paths involve adults and children in a simple, creative and fun way, making them touch the materials related to ceramic production – such as clay – and experimenting with the working techniques used over the centuries. The educational workshops present a hands-on approach, with the possibility of taking home a clay or terracotta artefact as a memento of the visit.

Pontedera – Piaggio Museum

Completely renovated in 2018, the Piaggio Museum – with its 5,000 square metres and over 250 exhibits – is the largest and most complete Italian museum dedicated to two-wheel vehicles. Unique exhibits that not only tell the story of the Piaggio Group and its brands, but also retrace the history of mobility and Italian industrial development.

The rooms house some precious pieces of pre-war railway and aeronautical production, the rich Vespa collection, the collection of Piaggio two-, three- and four-wheeler products (Ape, Porter, mopeds) and the Group’s extraordinary collection of branded models (Aprilia, Gilera and Moto Guzzi), which together boast a palmares of no less than 104 World Titles in the various motorcycling specialities.

The Piaggio Museum in Pontedera invites visitors to visit and experience the historical heritage it guards through an ongoing collaboration with schools and families, which includes a play area for children available to families, organised recreational activities, and targeted educational proposals ranging from pre-school to secondary school, including a guided tour of the rooms and the archives.


Montopoli in Val d’Arno – Civic Museum

Montopoli in Val d'Arno | Museo Guicciardini
Museo Guicciardini

At Montopoli in Val d’Arno, the Civic Museum in Palazzo Guicciardini preserves memories of local history, acquired collections and precious donations, and refers to exhibition points or points of artistic and architectural interest spread throughout the territory. It represents the first node of a municipal museum system that includes the Torre di San Matteo and the ‘Marinetta Nazzi’ exhibition hall in Montopoli, the Antiquarium and the Bastion in the nearby village of Marti.

The didactic proposals are intended to offer children and their teachers the opportunity to approach the art and history of the area in a stimulating, creative and fun way, through articulated paths designed for each age group.

For younger children (1st-2nd grade) a playful approach is proposed, emphasising the visual and tactile aspect of objects (form, colour, function). For those up to middle school, activities are planned to acquire the simplest tools both for reading a work and for placing archaeological materials in their cultural contexts of reference.

The museum’s educational activities are entrusted to cultural heritage graduates and volunteers of the ‘Isidoro Falchi’ Archaeological Group, who, using their knowledge of local materials and settlements, also act as educational operators.


San Miniato – Museum on the Civilisation of Writing

Museo Civiltà scrittura San Mianiato
Museo Civiltà della scrittura ©ValdarnoMusei

The Educational Museum on the Civilisation of Writing in San Miniato retraces the most important stages in the history of writing, thanks to faithful reproductions. The Museum, designed especially for primary and lower secondary school students, offers workshops that provide an insight into the use of writing in everyday life from antiquity to the present day.

The young visitor can learn about ancient numerations, the various calculation rules, and then put them into practice and become an active protagonist of the tour, through participation in historical and logical-mathematical games.

The section ‘Measuring Time’ shows how ancient civilisations measured the passage of time. Alongside the functioning of the gnomon, it will be possible to observe that of the sundial and more.

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