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Exclusive events to have fun and learn in contact with nature
Grandfather Amedeo's Museum
Amedeo Giannini was born in Porcari in 1933. At the age of six, he moved to Massarosa, where he still lives today. From childhood, he helped his family (sharecroppers) with various farm chores, but his natural inclination toward commercial activities led him to work. In 1948, he went to work as a sorghum husk binder in a factory in Viareggio, where he remained until 1953. He then embarked on a street vending business, which he was forced to abandon for military service. After three years in Sardinia as a clothing salesman, he returned to Massarosa and began working as a salesman, a career that would lead him to retirement.
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After retirement, he devoted his time to the Agritourism and Educational Farm
"Il Giardino di Manipura," founded by his daughter Elena and granddaughter Eleonora in 2012. Here, together with his family, he teaches children the secrets of agriculture and old, now obsolete, games. He is also a member of the Lucca Historical Institute, Guglielmo Lera Section of Massarosa.
Inside the Amedeo Museum,
our farm's great-grandfather
You can find
Agricultural traditions
The agricultural life of the past, when every seed had profound value and every harvest told a story of toil, passion, and connection to the land, comes to life through Amedeo's stories.
Ancient traditions that have allowed generations to survive and thrive. Work in the fields followed the rhythms of the seasons, and crops such as wheat, rice, peanuts, and many others were essential to daily sustenance. Each followed a unique cycle, reflecting the characteristics of the land and the ingenuity of the farmers, who, through techniques passed down from father to son, managed to best exploit the land to obtain the fruits necessary for life.
Thanks to Amedeo, the historical memory of our farm, we rediscover the agricultural traditions with which the land was worked with respect and that today, those same lands are cared for and cultivated with love and passion by us at Oligea - Manipura.
Life stories
Amedeo shares his life story, a tale rooted in years of intense experiences. An ordinary man, yet with a richness of experience few can match. He spent many of his younger years immersed in the heart of the marshland, in direct contact with nature and its resources. That deep connection to the land and the territory left a lasting impression on him, fueling a passion for local history and traditions. This intimate connection with his homeland today drives him to share the beauty, resources, and riches our region has to offer.
Amedeo introduces us to the firsthand accounts of those who have lived, worked, and loved this land, passing on a legacy of experiences not found in books, but only in the stories of those who have experienced it firsthand. His words are a bridge between the past and the present, an invitation to rediscover the value of a territory.
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Professions of the past
The crafts of the past represent a world of tradition, art, and passion, in which every activity was tied to nature and people's daily lives. Amedeo allows us to rediscover these crafts, now almost forgotten.
The making of brooms or pomegranate trees, the cultivation of sorghum, or the production of silkworms were an integral part of life in the past. Crafted by expert hands, they gave life and shape to objects used in everyday life, contributing to a heritage we can rediscover and appreciate today.
A journey into the past that helps us understand the ingenuity and strength of those who lived in symbiosis with nature and teaches us to value hard work and respect for our surroundings.
Inside the Manipura Garden
Stories of life, ancient agricultural traditions, and curiosities from Massarosa
Order on our Oligea website and have it delivered directly to your home.
Between biodoli and cinnamon
Between Biodoli and Cannelle – Book by Amedeo Giannini
History and Memories of the Massaciuccoli Marshes
A lake and a marsh, once a source of life and passions: hunting, fishing, sedge, biodolo, peat bogs, rice paddies…
Those who lived in or around the reclaimed land in the 1940s and beyond cannot forget how precious the marshland was with its resources, let alone its infinite beauty.
In the pages of this book, the author recalls his childhood days in the marshes, allowing us to savor the clarity of its waters, telling us about the people who lived there, and introducing us to the jobs that supported their families: the sedge cutters, the rice weeders, the boat builders, the fishermen who repaired fishing nets or made traps and bertibelli, but there were also those who caught frogs to sell at the market, or those who filled cartridges for hunters...
In short, Amedeo Giannini brings those moments to life, and he does so simply yet precisely, with a wealth of detail, to allow those who lived there to relive its beauty and so that new generations can better understand and respect this land that was once a source of life and now, sadly, risks extinction.
Land and War
Between Land and War – Book by Amedeo Giannini
A Year of Peasant Life 1944
People looked at each other, as if they couldn't believe they had survived that terrible world conflict.
The difficulties they faced were many, because everything had been destroyed, everything had to be rebuilt.
But there was no resignation in the people's eyes: the suffering of the long war had not weakened them, but had significantly strengthened their desire for revenge and redemption, as well as their spirit of collaboration and friendship.
Even our farmer's family, though large, had emerged from that terrible war without loss of life, and that in itself was miraculous.
The Sedge
Sedge
The Gold of Massaciuccoli
That mixture of marsh grasses you see in our marshes, deep green in the summer and a beautiful golden yellow in the winter...that's the sedge, "the gold of Massaciuccoli," as great poets have described it.
Giovanni Pascoli, in his research on the sounds emitted by nature and all that moves, wrote of the sedge: "The sedge sings the musicality of sounds." Because, in my opinion, when it's dry, if you rub it together, it emits a faint sound, a subtle musical harmony.
Gabriele D'Annunzio, referring to the great comings and goings of wagons carrying the sedge, wrote: "Behold, on the wagons along the main roads passes the sedge harvested by the greatest scythe in the marsh in the shadow of the Quiesa where the sun shines."
Massarosa. The crops that disappeared from our countryside.