'A treasure to save. The castle and park of Sammezzano'. This is the theme of the conference organised for Saturday 9 April in the "Egisto Sarri" hall of the Palazzo Pretorio in Figline (piazza San Francesco, 3.30 pm).
The castle of Sammezzano, located in the municipality of Reggello, is known not only for the Moorish style of its construction (making it the most important example of Orientalist architecture in Italy) but also for the vastness of its surrounding park , which boasts the largest concentration of sequoias in the country. It is no coincidence that, over time, it has been chosen by various directors as a publicity and film set, including that of the film 'Il racconto dei racconti', directed in 2015 by Matteo Garrone and starring Vincent Cassel and Salma Hayek.
The meeting in Figline - organised by the Save Sammezzano movement and sponsored by the Municipality of Figline and Incisa Valdarno - will be an opportunity to examine in depth all the issues concerning the ownership, preservation and valorisation of this famous castle, completely redesigned by Marquis Ferdinando Panciatichi Ximenes d'Aragona in the 19th century.
Thebuilding, which has been managed voluntarily by the FPXA 1813-2013 Committee since 2012, was put up for auction again last October (several times), after another auction in 1999 had awarded ownership to an Italian-English company. Since then, the building'sstate of neglect has made it easy prey for thefts, the most recent of which was discovered just last weekend: the second of the twoweeping honeys that stood under the balcony of the 'Sala degli Amanti' was stolen.
And it is precisely to further promote the theme of safeguarding the Castle and the park of Sanmezzano, as well as to spread its cultural value as much as possible, that during the meeting on 9 April, the competition 'Piccoli Sammezzanini crescono' (Little Sammezzanini grow up), organised by the Save Sammezzano movement and dedicated to schools throughout Italy, will also be presented. In particular, the competition will remain open until 15 April and will award prizes for themed works created by students aged between 5 and 12.
For further information: www.savesammezzano.com
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