PARCO INTERNAZIONALE DELLA SCULTURA CONTEMPORANEA

Thanks to the town centre’s plethora of monuments, this “little Athens” of Versilia has in time become a true art centre with numerous galleries and important seasonal exhibitions in the Piazza del Duomo and in the church of Sant’Agostino, between the Gothic Torre delle Ore and the Teatro Comunale against the backdrop of the Apuan Alps.

Along the village streets are the typical marble craftsmen’s workshops: long a point of reference for Italian and foreign artists who work here and live in close contact with the artisans. Some of the artists have taken up residence in Pietrasanta, like Fernando Botero, here since 1983 — his frescoes of the Last Judgement can be seen in the church of the Misericordia, his bronze Il guerriero [The warrior] in Piazza del Municipio; or like the late Igor Mitoraj — his bronze sculpture of the Centaur stands in Piazza del Centauro, his high-relief of the Annunciation on the portal of Sant’Agostino.