"Genius Loci" returns to Santa Croce

The Genius Loci cultural festival has now reached its fourth edition and offers an interdisciplinary programme, including entertainment and talk shows, accompanying the visiting public in the discovery of the Santa Croce monumental complex.

Unique scenarios such as the Cenacolo and the Great Cloister will be animated over two nights and a dawn of events with original site specific productions of music, theatre, cinema and literature, created and staged in harmony with the genius loci’ of Santa Croce.

There will be many artists and characters involved: amongst these, the writers Chiara Frugoni and Dacia Maraini, the writer and riddle composer Stefano Bartezzaghi, the singer and instrumentalist Elina Duni, the artist Letizia Renzini, the duo composed of the singer Ginevra di Marco and the poet Franco Arminio, the saxophonist Dimitri Grechi Espinosa and the photographer Paolo Ninfa, the musician John Greaves, standard-bearer of the Canterbury progressive music scene, the writer and playwright Stefano Massini accompanied by Whisky Trail, the live performance of Oliphantre and the Ghimel Trio.

The initiative is organized by Controradio, by the Controradio Club association and by the Opera of Santa Croce. It is carried out thanks to the collaboration with the cultural association La Nottola Di Minerva, with the contribution of the Municipality of Florence for Estate Fiorentina 2021, the patronage of the Metropolitan City of Florence and the support of Gucci.

Before entering into the heart of the Genius Loci festival, the special preview "Waiting for Genius Loci. The future of memory” will start from the 15th September. It proposes a sort of "festival within the festival", with a series of literary meetings dedicated to key figures of our cultural identity.

In programme we have the presentation of the following books: “Dante Alighieri - tutte le opere” with Marco Malvaldi (15/09); “Il posto degli uomini - Dante in purgatorio, dove andremo tutti” with Aldo Cazzullo (16/09); “Danteide - viaggio tentato nel cervello del poeta” with Piero Trellini (18/09); “Vite Sognate del Vasari” with Enzo Fileno Carabba (20/09); “L’invenzione degli italiani - Dove ti porta il cuore” with Marcello Fois (22/09). 
All the above initiatives will take place at 6.30 pm in the Santa Croce Cenacolo.

Also for “Aspettando Genius Loci”, we propose an interesting cycle of guided visits, which this year will broaden the horizon to places in the metropolitan area linked to the figure of Francis and Franciscanism: from Santa Croce to the parish church of San Leonino at Rignano, from Pelago to the parish church of San Giovanni a Rèmole at Pontassieve.  They are very suggestive places, off the classic visitor routes, that are worth getting to know through the free guided tours scheduled from 15th to the 22nd of September.

The entrance to the “Genius Loci” event, taking place from the 22nd to the 24th of September is free and subject to availability.  

Booking for the Genius Loci events is obligatory and can be carried out from the 10th of September on the website eventbrite.it.

Access to Santa Croce for the events and the presentations will be allowed only to holders of a Green Pass.

In order to offer a wider participation than the availability onsite, Controradio will hold a live radio transmission (FM 93.6 - 98.9) and streaming on controradio.it and through the Controradio Firenze app.

LITERARY MEETINGS

Entrance is free; we advise making a reservation through the Santa Croce online ticket office: click here to see the calendar and book.

GUIDED VISITS

The guided visits are free and available to a limited number of participants. Booking is obligatory. All the visits are in italian language.

• The power of images: the message of Francis (inside the Santa Croce monumental complex, Florence)
  Thursday 16th and Saturday 18th September, at 11.00 a.m.
  A visit that reveals secrets and particular details of the representation of the Franciscan message in the work of the Santa Croce artists.
• Countryside and devotion (Rignano, Pieve di San Leonino)
  Saturday 18th at 3 p.m. and Sunday the 19th September at 4 p.m.
  A visit to the ancient parish church of San Leonino, located on the Cassia Vetus, Roman road. Information and bookings: cultura@comunerignano.it | www.chiantivaldarno.it
  Tel. 055 8347833 - 055 8347827
• The streets of Francis in the heart of Pelago (Pelago)
  Wednesday 15th and Thursday 16th September at 3 p.m.
  Discovering Pelago, a fortified village in the Valdisieve area, that has thousand-year history and held a strategic role throughout the Middle Ages located on the Via di Francesco.
  Information and reservations: ecomuseomontagnafiorentina@gmail.com | Tel. 370 3253330
• La Pieve church of San Giovanni a Rèmole (Pontassieve)
  Wednesday the 15th of  September at 10 a.m. and Friday the 17th September at 12 noon. 
  La Pieve di San Giovanni a Rèmole was mentioned as far back as 955 and boasts a characteristic architecture and important works of art that we will discover in this special visit.
  Information and reservations: cultura@comune.pontassieve.fi.it | www.comune.pontassieve