Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Train it to San Miniato then hop on a shuttle bus (€1, every 20 minutes) to the Old Town.
Regional train services:
Florence
(€4.10, 45 minutes, hourly)
Pisa
(€3.70, 30 minutes, hourly)
OFF THE BEATEN TRACK
AN OPERA BUFF'S DETOUR
Some 35km west of both Barbialla Nuova and San Gimignano, ringed by a natural amphitheatre of
soul-stirring hills, is
Lajatico
(pop 1390). This tiny village is the birthplace and family home of opera
singer Andrea Bocelli (b 1958) who, each year in July, returns to his village to sing - for just one
evening.
His stage is the astonishing
Teatro del Silenzio
(Theatre of Silence;
www.teatrodelsilenzio.it
), a
specially constructed, open-air theatre built in a green meadow on the fringe of the village where the
natural silence is broken just once a year - by the Tuscan tenor and his friends (Placido Domingo, José
Carreras, Sarah Brightman and Chinese pianist Lang Lang have all performed here). Each year differ-
ent sculptures by contemporary artists are added to the ensemble, to striking effect. Gently rolling,
fresh green hills as far as the eye can see is the astonishing 360-degree backdrop and listening to the
tenor sing to an audience of 10,000 is an overwhelming experience. Tickets, usually released each
year in March, cost €58 to €230 and are sold by
TicketOne
(
www.ticketone.it
)
.
True opera buffs can continue 5km to
La Sterza
to buy wine and olive oil produced on Bocelli's
family estate at
Cantina Bocelli
( 10am-12.30pm & 4-7pm Mon-Fri), a red-brick vaulted cellar at
the southern end of the village on the SR439.
