The Elba degli Etruschi project ends with the publication of the volume by Andrea Dini, Graziano Rinaldi, Patrizia Lupi “ELBA: THE FLOWERS OF THE EARTH”
The volume ” Elba: I flowers of the earth – The extraordinary geo-mineralogical diversity of the land of the Etruscans “for types from the Movability Books Publisher of SIMTUR. This is the second notebook of the Enjoy Elba and the Tuscan Archipelago Magazine ”written and edited by Andrea Dini and Graziano Rinaldi, with the editorial coordination of Patrizia Lupi.
The authors propose a new and accurate reading of the fantastic geo-mineralogical heritage of Elba, also illustrating it through images.
In addition to the strictly scientific aspect, the narration takes us back to the most ancient times of the formation of our planet and the Tuscan Archipelago and to those who inhabited it. Rinaldonians, Etruscans, Romans, Pisans of the Maritime Republic, French, Spanish, Tuscans up to the Elbans of more recent times who – like Luigi Celleri or Alfeo Ricci – have excavated and collected minerals of incredible beauty and value. Those same minerals that have attracted scholars, experts, collectors from all over the world to the island because Elba offers an incredible wealth of varieties, enclosed in a small casket of nature in the middle of the sea, which make it unique. And of these minerals, which bear strange and imaginative names, often of those who discovered them or of the places where they were found such as Ilvaite, unknown species continue to be covered: among the last ones Celleriite, by Luigi Celleri, in fact.
Eight chapters of the book, of which the last, signed by Laura Pagliantini, dedicated to the history of the Etruscans who among the first drew wealth and opportunities for commercial and cultural exchanges from the rich Elban iron deposits. The title of each chapter is evocative, introducing the texts dedicated not only to the geo-mineralogical diversity of Elba but also to the people who inhabited it, which has always been a crossroads of the Mediterranean routes, to the myths and history that have seen it as the protagonist of the development of Mediterranean civilizations.
The volume is also an unusual guide for those travelers, curious but respectful of the environment, able to appreciate the advantages of slow and sustainable tourism. The first seven chapters are dedicated to different places to visit, which correspond to the geographical areas into which the Island of Elba can be divided, and is aimed at experts in mineralogy, geology and geochemistry, but also for those who are fascinated by the beauty of Elban landscapes intend to search for the jewels of the earth, looking with more attentive and aware eyes at the outcrops of the ever-changing rocks or the colors of a beach or a seabed.
The reading is accompanied by the beautiful images that the author Andrea Dini collected in his long research trips on the island that saw him playing among gravels and rocky walls since he was a child. Like those of Graziando Rinaldi collected with passion and continuous wonder during his work as a naturalist, expert and entrepreneur, who brought him to the island many years ago, from which he has never separated.
The “Elba degli Etruschi” project conceived by Patrizia Lupi and Sabrina Busato, which has as its leader the Mining Park of the Island of Elba, saw the participation of numerous partners who have concretely contributed to the realization of the program: FEISCT, Enjoy Elba and the Tuscan Archipelago Magazine, Tuscan Archipelago National Park, ISPRA-ReMI, IGG – Institute of Geosciences and Georesources of the CNR, Department of Earth Sciences of the University of Pisa, MUM-Museo Mieralogico Luigi Celleri, Diffuse Archeology APS, the Pro Loco of Campo, Rio, Porto Azzurro and Capoliveri, Carlo D’Ego Cultural Association, Caput Liberum and Municipality of Capoliveri, La Piccola Miniera, Italy Our Tuscan Archipelago, Academy of the Elba cuisine-delegation, Elba del Vicino, Infoelba, Acqua dell ‘ Elba, SIMTUR, VisitElba.
The 2021 program included, in addition to two opening and closing conferences of the project, a series of guided visits and excursions, lasting a month, to the places of naturalistic and historical interest in the municipalities of Rio, Capoliveri, Porto Azzurro and Marina di Campo. For the occasion, the rooms of the Rio Marina mining museum, the Rio Elba archaeological museum as well as the MUM museum – Luigi Celleri Mineralogical Museum in Campo nell’Elba were opened free of charge to San Piero. This was accompanied by other public and private structures such as the Sea Museum of Capoliveri and the Small Mine of Porto Azzurro. The guides, made available by the PNAT and the Caput Liberum, accompanied visitors on the granite roads, to the Rio and Calamita mines, but also in the villages to discover the daily life of miners and quarrymen, thanks to the collaboration with the Pro Loco di Porto Azzurro, Capoliveri, Rio and Campo and cultural associations.
The project will be proposed again this year, extending it to other municipalities and public and private entities in Elba, to enrich the cultural offer of the island.
For information:
www.feisct.wordpress.com
www.enjoyelba.eu
www.parcominelba.it
www.simtur.it