Le reti per la pesca prima alla foce dell'Arno (R. Cardini)
Bocca d'Arno, between fishermen and tamarisks
Retone a Bocca d'Arno (R.Cardini)Arriving at the mouth of the Arno, you will be delighted by the view with the beach, the pine forest of San Rossore and the white marble of the Apuan Alps in the distance. Closer, right at the mouth, there are small wooden stilts, these are the retoni (large nets) of fishermen, used for fishing along the coast or from the banks of the river. In the first post-war period, the “crociera” was invented, a large cross that holds up a net, inside which, once raised from the water, a smaller net is thrown. Like a cableway, this retrieves the fish a little at a time. The net plunges, lays down on the bottom and after about 10, 15 minutes it comes up and one looks at the catch. The net depends on luck (Cit. Fisherman of Bocca d'Arno). There are small nets, 10 by 10 meters, and there are larger nets up to 22 by 22 meters. Marina fishermen still use them, in addition to sea fishing. Then there is a small fish market where you can find mullet, squid, mixed small fish to be fried, anchovies, sardines and baby octopus... Arriving at the port of Marina di Pisa, in Bocca d'Arno you can see a villa, now dilapidated: It is Villa Romboli, that the Marina inhabitants called 'the house of the swallows' because this is how it was called by Eleonora Duse who, during a restoration of the villa, ordered the preservation of the swallow's nests that were on the roof beams. Here, in 1898, theatre actress Eleonora Duse and poet Gabriele D'Annunzio lived a summer of passion. There he composed many poems, here are some of them:
Cit. O Marina di Pisa, quando folgora il solleone! Le lodolette cantan su le pratora di San Rossore e le cicale cantano sui platani d’Arno a tenzone. (…) Come l’Estate porta l’oro in bocca L’Arno porta il silenzio alla sua foce.
Gabriele D’Annunzio, Alcyone, 1903
Cit. Bocca di donna non mi fu di tanta soavità nell’amorosa via (se non la tua, se non la tua, presente) come la bocca pallida e silente del fiumicel che nasce in Falterona.
Gabriele D’Annunzio, Bocca d’Arno, 1909
Cit.(…)Piove su le tamerici salmastre ed arse, piove su i pini scagliosi ed irti, piove su i mirti divini, su le ginestre fulgenti di fiori accolti, su i ginepri folti di coccole aulenti, piove su i nostri volti silvani (…)
Gabriele D’Annunzio, La pioggia nel pineto, Alcyone, 1902-03
