Marina di Pisa is a

seaside resort A seaside resort is a resort town, town, village, or hotel that serves as a Resort, vacation resort and is located on a coast. Sometimes the concept includes an aspect of official accreditation based on the satisfaction of certain requirements, suc ...

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; it, Toscana ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (''Firenze''). Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, art ...

, in central

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. It is a ''

frazione A ''frazione'' (plural: ) is a type of subdivision of a ''comune'' (municipality) in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist era (1922–1943) as a way to consolidate territ ...

'' of the provincial capital of

Pisa Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the cit ...

, which lies about 10 km to the east.

Geography

Marina di Pisa lies on the left bank of the

Arno River The Arno is a river in the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the most important river of central Italy after the Tiber. Source and route The river originates on Monte Falterona in the Casentino area of the Apennines, and initially takes a s ...

, where it flows into the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is located directly north of the seaside resort of

Tirrenia Tirrenia is a frazione (parish) of Pisa, Italy with a population of 3,112 inhabitants. Immersed in the pine forest of the "Litorale Pisano" and in the coast of Ligurian Sea (even if the name of the village refers to Tyrrhenian Sea, in Italian ''M ...

and about 10 kilometers West from Pisa. Behind the town are forested sections of the ''Parco Regionale San Rossore, Migliarino, e Massaciucoli''. From Marina di Pisa, it is possible to see the islands of

Corsica Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...

Elba Elba ( it, isola d'Elba, ; la, Ilva) is a Mediterranean island in Tuscany, Italy, from the coastal town of Piombino on the Italian mainland, and the largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago. It is also part of the Arcipelago Toscano National ...

and Gorgona; and the mountains of the

Apuan Alps The Apuan Alps ( it, Alpi Apuane) are a mountain range in northern Tuscany, Italy. They are included between the valleys of the Serchio and Magra rivers, and, to the northwest, the Garfagnana and Lunigiana, with a total length of approximately . ...

Apennines The Apennines or Apennine Mountains (; grc-gre, links=no, Ἀπέννινα ὄρη or Ἀπέννινον ὄρος; la, Appenninus or – a singular with plural meaning;''Apenninus'' (Greek or ) has the form of an adjective, which wou ...

, and ''Monti Pisani'' above Pisa.

History

Marina di Pisa was mostly built during the economic boom of the late 1800s, as a seaside resort. It was further developed in the 1930s. Many marine support industries developed at the mouth of the Arno river and in the area along its banks.

Economy

The German aviation company

Dornier Flugzeugwerke Dornier Flugzeugwerke was a German aircraft manufacturer founded in Friedrichshafen in 1914 by Claude Dornier. Over the course of its long lifespan, the company produced many designs for both the civil and military markets. History Originally ...

based most of their production in the town from 1922 to 1932, after The Treaty of Versailles of 1919 banned construction of engine-powered aircraft in Germany. Here they built the "Wal" twin-engine

flying boat A flying boat is a type of fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in that a flying boat's fuselage is purpose-designed for floatation and contains a hull, while floatplanes rely on fusela ...

. The huge 'Savigliano' hangar (1925) which remained standing till 2007, was used for the production of the Wals, and work on the Do-X2 and 3 in the early 1930s. Then the world's largest airplanes, they were broken up for scrap here in 1937. The village is mostly inhabited during summer, however there are many people that live here all year. A redevelopment project is under way at the mouth of the Arno, known as "Bocca d’Arno", in a disused industrial area where a new touristic port has been built and a new residential district will be inaugurated in the next years.

Notes

References

*Ing. Gianfranco Bernardi, " Le Strade e le Piazze di Marina di Pisa", Felici Editore, 2010 *Ing. Gianfranco Bernardi, "Marina di Pisa per Immagini", Felici Editore, 2011

External links

{{Authority control Frazioni of the Province of Pisa Geography of Pisa