The Madonnina ice house is a traditional structure in the mountains of Pistoia, situated at the entrance to the cold Reno Valley in the Le Piastre area, set in a landscape of outstanding natural beauty.
The building, which gets its name from the statue of the Virgin Mary walled into the side of the entrance, has a circular structure with a conical thatched roof of rye and three-metre-thick, dry-stone walls. The place was used until the early 1900s to conserve natural ice which was created from the water of the river Reno by using a system of weirs, canals, ponds and the winter cold.
The icehouse now houses sculptures by Leonardo Begliomini which focus on the work of the ice harvesters.
Toscana Film Commission
Via San Gallo 25 — 50129 Firenze
Phone: +39 055 2719035
Fax: +39 055 2719027
Email: staff@toscanafilmcommission.it
