The first digging of a large swimming pool at Podere Santa Pia, Castiglioncello Bandini, Tuscany

And early in the morning, the first workmen arrived, silent and with a strange determination to do what they had to do. They went to work inaudibly. What for them was a daily act was for us a unique experience.
The morning was still dark, the sky a deep indigo hue that seemed to stretch on infinitely. But even in the quiet of the early hours, the land was already stirring. The first workmen arrived with the dawn, we could hear their footsteps crunching against the dew-soaked earth as they made their way to the site.

The unspoilt landscape of the Tuscan Maremma, a more than ideal place for a swimming pool

Podere Santa Pia, early in the morning, the first workmen arrived, silent and with a strange determination they went to work, what for them was a daily act was for us a unique experience

Podere Santa Pia, early in the morning the first workmen arrived, silent and with a strange determination

And early in the morning the first workmen arrived

The first digging of a large swimming pool is to be, with unique views of the hills of the Tuscan Maremma. A new hillside will grow here...

The first digging of a large swimming pool is to be, with unique views of the hills of the Tuscan Maremma. A new hillside will grow here... As the sun began to rise, the workmen's efforts became more visible. The land was transformed, its contours altered by their careful hands. What had once been a flat expanse was now a series of slopes and curves, each one crafted with precision and care.

The morning was still dark, the sky a deep indigo hue that seemed to stretch on infinitely.
As the sun began to rise, the workmen's efforts became more visible. The land was transformed, its contours altered by their careful hands. What had once been a flat expanse was now a series of slopes and curves, each one crafted with precision and care. Their task was a curious one - to give shape to the land by taking something away. To some, it might seem a destructive process, but to these men, it was a labor of love. With their shovels, pickaxes and bulldozer, they set to work, breaking apart the earth and hauling it away in great mounds. And when I want to take a picture, their posture is stiff, with the arms somehow awkward and almost half-stretched next to their bodies, the muscles, the strained nerves, the weight of years, the hard labor. There is no elegance, but when you see them at work, the movements are fluid, without any hesitation. With a natural and dynamic elegance, they move what is heavy and rigid, rebar, tonnes of earth, sometimes seeming to dance between the woven ironwork, unaware of place or time, but in the rhythm and succession of actions that are nodi. And before our eyes, something comes into being that only they had already shaped in their minds, the bottom under the swimmer's foot, the color of the water that is deep blue in that volcanic rock, clear as around the Aeolian Islands, the Mare delle Isole Eolie, a sea that has no name and where none of them have ever been. Stromboli, Perciato, Pecorini, Malfa, Lipari, Panarea, Vulcano. The blue of forgotten summers, Stromboli and Monica Viti in L'Avventura.

The beautiful blue reflected in the volcanic stone of Monte Amiata and in our dreams.


Reflection of the evening sunset in southern Tuscany on the first sketch of a swimming pool at Podere Santa Pia	Mobile Working Cabin with an extraordinary view, amongst the cypresses and the lush greenery of Podere Santa Pia	A sudden appearance in the garden

Podere Santa Pia ligt in het hart van de Toscaanse Maremma (Februari)	The wild garden of Podere Santa Pia, in one of the most beautiful valleys of southern Tuscany	Vista sulla campagna maremmana, paese etrusco


Podere Santa Pia, Grotere kaart bekijken
[1] Photo by Rein Ergo © All rights reserved