...avenue bordered by elms and poplars; under the trees are marble
seats for the strollers to rest.
I don’t have enough time to visit the entire estate of San Rossore. So I choose to just wander the surrounding meadows and enter the pine forest where fifteen hundred camels were brought. It might look like an African or Judaean landscape; scenes of the Bible come alive in my memory; the warm breath of these ample woods is inviting, it would be sweet to die in their shade.
Montaigne, whom I shall quote for my readers’ pleasure, visited the Cascine and the estate of San Rossore at the time of its foundation: "On Friday, July the 7th” Montaigne says “I went to see the Cascine, or estates of Piero de’Medici, two miles from the estate. This gentleman owns in San Rossore a vast property that he personally takes care of, substituting every five years the peasants that work and earn half of the fruits.
Wheat is grown on this very fertile land, and there are pastures with all kinds of animals. I dismounted to see the work in the homestead. There is a large number of people making cream, butter, cheese with all the necessary utensils for that kind of occupation. From there, along the plain, I reached the shore of the Tirrenian sea, from where I could discern Lerici to my right, and on the other side, much closer, the sea front castle of Livorno. The island of Gorgona can be clearly seen, with Capraia further away and Corsica even farther. I turned left and followed the shore to the mouth of the river Arno, where it is difficult for boats to enter because of the many small streams that flow into the river, carrying earth and mud that precipitate obstructing the estuary. There I bought some fish for the actors in Pisa. Along the river you can see many tamarisk shrubs”.
I don’t have enough time to visit the entire estate of San Rossore. So I choose to just wander the surrounding meadows and enter the pine forest where fifteen hundred camels were brought. It might look like an African or Judaean landscape; scenes of the Bible come alive in my memory; the warm breath of these ample woods is inviting, it would be sweet to die in their shade.
Montaigne, whom I shall quote for my readers’ pleasure, visited the Cascine and the estate of San Rossore at the time of its foundation: "On Friday, July the 7th” Montaigne says “I went to see the Cascine, or estates of Piero de’Medici, two miles from the estate. This gentleman owns in San Rossore a vast property that he personally takes care of, substituting every five years the peasants that work and earn half of the fruits.
Wheat is grown on this very fertile land, and there are pastures with all kinds of animals. I dismounted to see the work in the homestead. There is a large number of people making cream, butter, cheese with all the necessary utensils for that kind of occupation. From there, along the plain, I reached the shore of the Tirrenian sea, from where I could discern Lerici to my right, and on the other side, much closer, the sea front castle of Livorno. The island of Gorgona can be clearly seen, with Capraia further away and Corsica even farther. I turned left and followed the shore to the mouth of the river Arno, where it is difficult for boats to enter because of the many small streams that flow into the river, carrying earth and mud that precipitate obstructing the estuary. There I bought some fish for the actors in Pisa. Along the river you can see many tamarisk shrubs”.
