Apennine Colossus by Giambologna Villa di Pratolino, Vaglia, Tuscany, Italy

G

Gillian Walsh

New member
Hey,

Does anyone know how to get to the Apennine Colossus in Vaglia from Florence? It's only a 44 minute drive, is there a bus to the area from the city?

Gillian + David.
 
Hello Gillian and David, welcome to the forum!

The Apennine Colossus by Giambologna is a really magnificent statue located in the Medicean Park of Pratolino in Vaglia. The statue unfortunately is under restoration since some months and is only partially visible.

The Park is reacheable by car (about 30 min driving from Florence) or by bus. The ATAF bus n.25A (ATAF is the Florence public transportation company) departs from Santa Maria Novella and has a stop nearby the park entrance.

The Park is closed from November to March.

When are you planning to visit it?
 
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My wife and I will be in Florence for a couple of days at the end of July. I want to find out if making it out to the Villa di Pratolino, specifically to see Giambologna's Colossus would be doable, how much it would cost, and the best way to make it happen. We are on a budget and we only have a couple of days in Florence, and I know there's no shortage of amazing things to see and do, but the pictures of the Colossus I've seen make me want to try and see it in person.

Any information would be useful.

Thanks for your time.
 
The Apennine Colossus at Villa di Pratolino...

Ciao Toby,

The Villa di Pratolino is a very large park and nice to visit during the summer - the Colossus is definitely one of the highlights. Here's a good pic.

The park is actually free and it isn't that far from Florence so there is an ATAF city bus you can take to get there, you can read more details at the bottom on this page about the Pratolino park.
Bus tickets run 1,20 euro each way.

Unfortunately, I am the bearer of sad news: since last July (2012) the Colossus is under restoration and is presently completely covered in scaffolding! :( It is also unlikely that said scaffolding will be gone by this summer but we really don't know at this point: the regional website here for now hasn't published updates so far since they said it was being restored.

I say keep a visit there in mind during your visit to Florence, but let's check closer to your travel dates to see if there are updates as to whether the Colossus will be visible.
 
Hello!

I was wondering if anyone knew if the Apennine Colossus was still under construction, or if the restoration efforts have been completed. I am traveling to Florence in May/June of this year and would love to see the Colossus.

Thank you for any help you can provide!

Best,
Dana
 
Restoration is complete!! The only thing you'll have to pay attention to is opening times for the park in that period, as it will likely be only on the weekends. If you make a point to check back here closer to your travel dates, we should have updated the information on the article once they are confirmed.
 
Oh, fantastic!

Thank you so much for the update. I will definitely check back and view that article as the time gets closer. This is an excellent forum -- I'm so glad I found it in advance of our trip!
 
Hello Tuscany aficionados,
I tried to visit the Villa Davidoff in May 2013, specifically to see the Colossus and found the park closed for a private event. I had no opportunity to return during that visit to Florence. I will find myself in Florence this February, 13-18 and now see the entire place operates seasonally and will be closed. I don't exactly get to Florence every weekend, so I'm wondering if there is any capacity at all to visit, even if only in the park.
Regards, David.
 
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David - in May 2013, even if you had found the park open, you would have not seen the Colossus as it was completely covered by scaffolding.
And this February the park is closed -- but the article above has the contact info for the park, so before despairing about seeing it, I would email them and ask what it would take for them to let you in to go see it! ;-). Entrance to the park is normally free and it is run by the province government so I make no promises, but it wouldn't hurt to try.
 
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