Pinocchio Park in Collodi: where the world’s most beloved fairy tale comes to life

Between art, nature, historical installations and interactive exhibits, a journey into the Tuscan heart of Carlo Collodi’s puppet

“Centuries ago there lived— / – A king! – my little readers will say immediately. / No, children, you are mistaken. Once upon a time there was a piece of wood.” This is how the story of Pinocchio, the world’s most famous puppet, begins. Pinocchio is a character closely linked to Florence and, more generally, to Tuscany. Carlo Collodi, born Carlo Lorenzini, was in fact born in Florence on 24 November 1826, but grew up in Collodi, a small village between Pistoia and Lucca, from which he took the pen name under which he wrote, in 1881, The Adventures of Pinocchio, initially published in installments in Ferdinando Martini’s Giornale per i bambini and then in its entirety in 1883 by publisher Felice Paggi of Florence. Thirty years passed before a French critic recognized its greatness, and only in 1937 Benedetto Croce called it an absolute masterpiece, albeit within the “minor” genre of children’s literature. Since then, the work has been published in 187 editions and translated into 260 languages and dialects.

Why Pinocchio is closely linked to Tuscany

The Adventures of Pinocchio, or simply Pinocchio, as it became known thanks to the 1940 Walt Disney animated film, is a strange and fantastical story, especially when read by adults, full of surreal and symbolic imagery, as well as ironic and refined Tuscan idioms. Initially the author did not intend to write a children’s story. Pinocchio, whose name came from the Fonte del Pinocchio near Colle Val d’Elsa in the Middle Ages, was originally a marionette who met a tragic end by hanging for his missteps. The tale was later revised and refined, giving us the masterpiece we know today – a novel that captivates children because they see themselves in Pinocchio, a character who remains timeless and vibrant, who makes many mistakes and learns while navigating the adult world.

The author, like his novel, is a lively and restless character, prone to insubordination. The eldest son of a large family (of ten children, six died in infancy), Carlo lived in Castello, on the outskirts of Florence, with the family of his brother Paolo, then director of the Ginori factory in Doccia, where he became a journalist and writer with a witty disposition. Consequently the tale winds through the Florentine neighborhoods of Castello, Peretola, Osmannoro and Sesto Fiorentino, most likely during the era of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, as indicated by references to quattrini and zecchini. Constant references to the sea, which has always been absent from those areas, may stem from the fact that where the Peretola airport runway now stands, the land was marshy until the early 1930s, often prone to flooding.

Roberto Benigni, however, chose to shoot the 2002 film in Castelfalfi, struck by the beauty of the landscape, the vastness of the open spaces and its resistance to the passage of time. Wearing a white pointed hat and a short jacket above the knees, Benigni often worked late into the evening to take advantage of the play of natural light and shadow on the hills, the plowed fields and the many farmhouses. There was a buzz on set every day: Benigni, his crew, the actors – a caravan of two hundred people – kilometers of cables, lights, trucks and various equipment. On 1 January 2019 Benigni returned to the set of Pinocchio, playing Geppetto, with director Matteo Garrone. Some scenes from the new film were shot in the Sienese countryside near Sinalunga.

Carlo Collodi, however, attended elementary school in Collodi, where his mother worked as a maid for the illustrious Tuscan family of the Garzoni Venturi – whose estate in Collodi remained one of little Carlo’s fondest memories.

Discovering Pinocchio Park in Collodi

It was in Collodi, in the province of Pistoia, that the Pinocchio Park was created. The park’s origins are documented in official records: in 1953, a national competition was launched for an artistic and architectural project dedicated to the puppet; in 1956, the original core was completed with Pinocchio and the Fairy by Emilio Greco and the Piazzetta dei Mosaici by Venturino Venturi, within a layout designed by architects Renato Baldi and Lionello De Luigi.

In 1962 the Carlo Collodi National Foundation was established. According to the Municipality of Pescia, this institutional decision helped the park evolve into a permanent cultural institution, an initiative that also supports its role as a tourist and commercial attraction.

Pinocchio’s Monumental Tour

It’s well worth visiting the park, which was born from the very imagination of the fairy tale. It is, in fact, a place imbued with a strange magic – the same magic found in the book – that lies in a formula of rare simplicity: the world of fantasy knows no age. The two entrance works – Greco’s bronze sculpture and Venturi’s Piazzetta dei Mosaici – serve as a prologue, after which the route alternates between encounters in the greenery and livable scenes. The idea is to encourage adults and children to interact in front of 21 20th-century bronze and steel sculptures, in a union of art and environment. The Monumental Path continues, recounting the story’s most famous episodes through bronze sculptures by Pietro Consagra, such as the Carabiniere, under whose legs one must pass, and the Cat and the Fox, the notorious tricksters who outwit the puppet. From here, you arrive at the Blue Fairy’s House, a small cottage made of glass bottles that sparkle in the sunlight, and then on to the monumental Shark Sculpture, one of the most iconic and beloved attractions. True to Collodi’s original book, the sea monster is depicted as a massive masonry shark that spouts water at regular intervals. Visitors can enter its mouth between sharp teeth and climb onto its head for a panoramic view of the garden.

Pinocchio Interactive Museum

The most significant addition to the modern-day tour is the Pinocchio Interactive Museum, opened in 2019, which uses multimedia and hands-on games to revisit key locations from the story. Visitors help Geppetto find the log hiding Pinocchio, catch the Talking Cricket, assemble the puppet and cross the Fairy’s Forest to the Field of Miracles where they collect the gold coins.

Pinocchio’s Mechanical and Puppet Theater

Another captivating attraction is Pinocchio’s Mechanical Theater, which dates back to the interwar period. Along its perimeter, the story of Pinocchio is retold through tin characters, once movable. Inside, the station of the Butter Man has been recreated; this character persuades children to visit the Land of Toys, intending to transform them into donkeys and then sell them.

The Puppet Theater, instead, presents Pinocchio’s new adventures reimagined with puppets peeking out from behind the curtain. The show lasts 10 minutes during which children’s attention is captured by the marionette’s escapades, all in the Tuscan dialect.

Classic Carousels and Pinocchio’s Games

The park also features vintage carousels, free for children, built before 1950; two of them are still in working order and retain their original structure along with all the charm and innocence of old-fashioned fun. Children aged 3 to 12 are welcome to ride the carousels.

For the little ones’ enjoyment, in addition to the giant chessboard and the Pietro Porcinai maze, you’ll find Geppetto’s Games, an area of wooden structures where kids can let loose, the Pirate’s Cave and Pinocchio Board Game, created with ceramic tiles hand-painted by Eugenio Taccini: a reimagined traditional game where you can get involved firsthand as game pieces or by spinning the wheel that assigns points.

Museum and the Talking Cricket Hall

Two spaces that enhance the experience are the Park Museum and the Talking Cricket hall, which always host themed exhibitions on Pinocchio. Here you’ll find the Virtual Library, where all visitors can use interactive touchscreen tables to browse texts and images from editions of Pinocchio from around the world.

Adventure Courses

The park also features two adventure courses: Flying Over the River, where young visitors can swing through the air above the river in complete safety, secured by a harness and supported by a continuous steel cable that ensures safety; and Pirate Ship, a sailing ship where younger children can imagine themselves as pirates setting out to conquer hidden treasures and distant lands. There is also a distinctive suspended bridge that you can cross from one bank of the river to the other.

Butterfly House

“They say the butterfly knows only joy. It lives a single happy day and then passes away.” So said the character Medoro in Roberto Benigni’s famous 2002 film Pinocchio. This represents a poetic vision of the butterfly as a symbol of lightness, fleeting happiness and freedom from suffering. For this reason many guests pair their visit to Pinocchio Park with a stop at the Garzoni Garden, where the park’s exuberant and spontaneous character is transformed into something majestically refined. A magnificent 18th-century theater of water games and spectacles that aroused the envy of princes and kings, today the Garden is enriched by a splendid Butterfly House, home to hundreds of large, colorful butterflies native to tropical or equatorial regions. An ancient tradition holds that a visit to the Garden brings good luck to lovers. The Park and Garden are open daily from 9 a.m. until sunset. Butterflies are present from 15 March to 19 October, while during the winter months the facility operates as a tropical greenhouse and educational center for insects.

How to get to Pinocchio Park from Florence

Pinocchio Park in Collodi is about 50 minutes by car from Florence. Take the A11 Florence-Mare highway toward Pisa Nord, exit at Chiesina Uzzanese and follow the signs for Pescia then Collodi. In Collodi, there are ample paid parking lots near the park entrance. You can also reach it by train from the Firenze Santa Maria Novella station on a regional train toward Lucca/Viareggio, getting off at the Pescia station. From the Pescia station, take the shuttle or the UO3 bus to Collodi.