Bagni di Pisa (San Giuliano)
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Casa Prinni, the apartment Shelley rented from August to October of 1820, is now a bank in the tiny village of San Giuliano. Northwest of Pisa, San Giuliano is on route 12, just south of the A11 Lucca exit. It is roughly a half-block from the spa. When we took these pictures, the town was enjoying a local fair—much like the market days and fairs held in Shelley's time. Such events could be a bit distracting at times; Richard Holmes notes in Shelley: The Pursuit that during the festival of St. Bartholomew, when Shelley attempted a public reading of one of his more political odes, he was interrupted by the "loud grunting and squealing of pigs brought in for sale at the fair." When the "farmyard noises threatened to drown out the whole recitation . . . Shelley broke off his reading with a laugh" (609). |
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The house, number 4, is marked with a plaque. The spa still exists and is popular with both locals and visitors from Pisa. |
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