La Capannina di Franceschi
The incredible history of Forte dei Marmi's iconic club, from 1929 to the present day
The Capannina di Franceschi is the second longest-running venue in the world and the first in Europe. A special place, born in 1929 from Achille Franceschi's idea to clean up an old beach hut and equip it with a bar counter, crank gramophone and tables. And which still today, thanks to Gherardo Guidi, is the oldest bar in the world.
To pay tribute to this iconic place, Gruppo Editoriale has published a large-format coffee table book that tells all about this myth. The first official book dedicated to the iconic venue in Forte dei Marmi, it can be purchased on Gruppo Editoriale's website.
La Capannina Published by Gruppo Editoriale, format 25 x 34.5 cm, hardcover and 144 pages with texts in Italian and English, the volume thrives on an impressive iconographic apparatus (more than 130 photos) with exceptional documentation, made possible thanks to a long research work in many private archives.
From lesser-known photographs of how the venue was originally, to Franceschi's house records, to the summer of 2019, readers will have the opportunity to immerse themselves in a quick and fresh reading of the moments that made the history of entertainment and amusement in Italy. The volume contains a number of rarities, starting with Sugar Ray Robinson's training photo on the Capannina's parquet (the boxer was the world title holder for more than a decade), to performances by Charles Trenet and Edith Piaf.
La CapanninaAll testifying to this wonderful "invention" that transformed a small seaside resort into the capital of vacationing, as Indro Montanelli wrote, in a 1954 article.
Since 1977, the venue has been firmly in the hands of Carla and Gherardo Guidi, who have been able to enhance the history of the "Hut" by inventing the venue's big birthday parties, as well as hosting artists such as Ray Charles, Grace Jones, up to the new stars of show business. "We never wanted to change the name, nor to change the internal structure, trying to respect the style and elegance of the furnishings. For us it has always been, is and will remain La Capannina di Franceschi. And I am sure that in 10 years it will still be here with its poignant beauty." comments Grand Officer Gherardo Guidi. Under his leadership the venue met a new youth in the early 1980s thanks to the success of "Sapore di mare," a cult film of the new Italian comedy, so much so that it became one of the must-see evenings for entire generations thanks to Jerry Calà's performances.
