Discover Orentano: Tradition, Forests and Local History

Orentano preserves a popular tradition with the Carnevale dei Bambini di Orentano, which is kept alive through the cooperation of local residents. For you, this community-supported form of traditional culture offers a good introduction to a place whose character can also be explored through its landscape, architectural history and archaeological evidence.

Festivals and Sweet Local Culture

In August, the Sagra del Bigné takes place on the occasion of the patron saint’s festival of San Lorenzo. The “Dolcione” was created in 1987; pastry chefs from Orentano use sugar, butter, eggs and flour to make sculptures that bear the designation “Guinness record sculptures.” On 11 August, the day after San Lorenzo, San Lorenzino takes place: this tradition includes a communal picnic in the forest at the Fonte del Sasso. The custom, which has existed for more than a century, was revived in the 1980s and is now kept alive through the San Lorenzino festival.

Circular Trail and Cerbaie Forests

The Grande Anello di Orentano is a nearly 20-kilometre circular trail marked with arrows in the CAI style. The route length and markings provide you with an objective basis for assessing your time outdoors and your own exertion.

The Fonte del Sasso is a spring in the Cerbaie forests towards Seradigo. It was designated a natural biotope in 1997. This connects a specific forest landscape with a traditional custom, as the communal San Lorenzino picnic takes place at the spring.

Church and Historic Village Character

The Chiesa di San Lorenzo Martire has medieval origins. The present building was rebuilt between 1569 and 1580, when it was dedicated to Saint Lawrence, and extended in 1838. The white bell tower stands beside the façade. The villagers built it by hand over a period of thirty years from white stone blocks transported through the marshland.

A walk through Le corti di Orentano conveys what the village looked like in the past. In this way, the former village landscape complements the architectural history of the Chiesa di San Lorenzo Martire with another perspective on the local past.

Archaeology at the Former Lago di Bientina

The Museo archeologico di Orentano is an archaeological museum. Using original materials, graphic representations and true-to-scale reconstructions, it illustrates the history and characteristics of settlement in the former lake basin of Lago di Bientina from the Palaeolithic to the Middle Ages. Finds associated with Orentano include objects made of wood and stone, ceramics, metal objects and coins, as well as the remains of a Roman bridge and a medieval canoe used for travelling on Lago di Bientina.

To the overarching travel overview: Pisa.