When July comes to an end, something stirs the soul of every Italian, the ancestral memory of the summers of old, when August was the month when the entire country shut down for the mandatory vacations. While it was unnerving to see big cities turn into veritable ghost towns, Italians were quite happy to migrate to their favourite resorts, either in the mountains or by the sea. My family never had their own favourite spot, which allowed us to know many towns all over Tuscany but when I think about the sea, I always remember that little town not far from here that was our go-to place for a day trip. The incredible thing is that this charming little resort, up until 90 years ago, was nothing but a swamp. To turn this disease-ridden hellhole into a model seaside resort it would take two very powerful politicians and the desire to impress of a controversial regime. That's why this week What's Up Tuscany will bring you back to Tirrenia to tell you the amazing tale of the tailor-made seaside resort that sprung up from nothing in a few short years. If you listen to the entire episode you will learn how this was just one of the many new towns created by the Fascist regime to showcase their vision for a new Italy, modern, efficient, designed using the most advanced architecture in the world. Tirrenia didn't follow closely the diktats of the regime, which was a blessing, as the town is still quite pretty even today. We have told you the story of the Hollywood on the Arno a year ago but, even without the pull of the movie stars of the time, people didn't line up to buy the expensive villas built between Pisa and Leghorn. That's why the two powerful politicians behind the plan decided to use the less valuable plots of land to house many working class children so that they could have some time in the sun. The "colonie" are still around, with their modernist architecture that was lauded back in the 1930s but people hate that they're so linked to the hated regime. I will tell you why these establishment played an important role in Italian history and how many of them are still operational today, either in their original form or as quirky hotels. In the last chapter, I will show you around, providing you with plenty of practical advice from a local, from the best "bagno" in town to the place where you can get an unforgettable gelato. To me it will always be special, as it's the closest way to go to the sea but it's still very worth a trip next time you come to Tuscany. It might not be the perfect seaside resort as they thought back in the day but it's still a very pleasant place where to get some r&r. Email: [email protected] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/larno.it Twitter: @arno_it / @WhatsupTuscany LINKS TO SOURCES (ITALIAN ONLY) https://pastapizzascones.com/guida-colonie-marine-tirrenia-calambrone/ https://www.corriere.it/cronache/cards/littoria-mussolinia-tirrenia-citta-immaginate-fascismo/latina-bonifica-dell-agro-pontino_principale.shtml https://tirrenia.weebly.com/storia.html https://tuscanyplanet.com/tirrenia/ BACKGROUND MUSIC Pipe Choir - Bom Bom Breakthrough (Instrumental) The Passion HiFi - Buried (Instrumental) Pipe Choir - The Opening Closing (Instrumental) Elitro - Midnight A Himitsu - Isolated Mind Audionautix - Soulstone Wayne John Bradley - Blues Rock Original Instrumental All released under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License https://soundcloud.com/pipe-choir-2/pipe-choir-bom-bom-breakthrough-creative-commons-instrumental https://soundcloud.com/freehiphopbeatsforyou/free-the-passion-hifi-buried https://soundcloud.com/pipe-choir-2/p-c-iii-the-opening-closinginstrumentalcreative-commons https://soundcloud.com/argofox/elitro-midnight https://soundcloud.com/argofox/a-himitsu-isolated-mind https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyyMXafoL-Abr...