SATURDAY 22 AND SUNDAY 23 MARCH “FAI SPRING DAYS” ARE BACK

The “FAI Spring Days” are back again this year and will take place on 22 and 23 March 2025 from 9:30 am to 5:30 pm at the Church of Santa Maria a Ripa in Montecatini Alto and the Kursaal Festival Hall.

The event organized by the FAI Valdinievole Group, with the patronage of the Municipality, represents an opportunity to share and discover the hidden cultural and landscape heritage, offering tourists a new interpretation with unusual routes that are capable of arousing curiosity and wonder in the visitor.

The 2025 local edition of the event for which patronage is requested is dedicated to two important symbolic buildings of our Spa Town:

– Church of Santa Maria a Ripa in Montecatini Alto, better known as the “Monastero delle Benedettine”, whose foundation can be placed in 1533, the year in which a group of pious young women from the castle of Montecatini decided to withdraw from the world to embrace the Rule of the Hermits of St. Augustine: they were thus assigned the Church of S. Maria a Ripa with some houses attached, so that they could live there and lead a common life;

– Salone delle Feste del Kursaal, an Art Nouveau jewel inside the restored complex of the same name, which for a short period hosted the only gambling house in the city. The casino was closed in 1947 and subsequently, at least until the end of the Seventies, the hall was reserved for parties, events, masked balls, after which it was closed permanently. It has recently been affected by a conservative recovery project that will transform it into a multifunctional area intended for events, conferences and initiatives related to the world of architecture and design.

The visits will be organized by FAI Volunteers and apprentice Ciceroni Istituto Alberghiero Martini

Here are the links to the pages to discover all the info:

https://fondoambiente.it/luoghi/kursaal-ex-teatro-casino?gfp

https://fondoambiente.it/luoghi/monastero-di-s-maria-a-ripa?gfp