Pisorno (between Pisa and Livorno)

Via Pisorno represents a synthesis between the two toponyms of Pisa and Livorno and owes its name to the fact that the road is more or less equidistant between the two cities; it is located between Tirrenia and the via Livornese, skirting the American base of Camp Darby for a long stretch (although the official name of this last stretch of road is viale Mezzapiaggia).
Along its initial part, the first cinematographic establishments in Italy were born in the 1930s, even preceding Cinecittà. It was Mussolini who wanted them, considering "cinematography, the strongest weapon" to spread consent to the regime.
The rather expensive operation was also financed by the Agnelli family. In a short time the marshy and wild lands that characterized the area were reclaimed, vast areas of Mediterranean scrub and woods were cleared of vegetation and destined for urbanization, favoring the birth of a small inhabited center which was given the significant name of Tirrenia.

Among other things, the choice of the place in order to have spaces in which to make the new sound films, proved to be successful also due to the availability of environments representing a large number of possible scenarios (rivers, sea, woods, plains, hills, mountains. .. ) all in the surroundigs, and finally due to the proximity of cities such as Pisa or Livorno and, a little further away, Lucca or Florence.
This small "Italian Hollywood", which received the name of Pisorno, initially had some success, attracting not only directors and actors, but all the workers in the sector (scenographers, technicians, sound engineers, make-up artists, voice actors, tailors, electricians, carpenters... ) stimulated the expansion of Tirrenia, where in addition to the houses, hotels, cafes, shops, bathing establishments and an adequate road network were built (with a certain attention not to upset or disfigure the environment)....

Subsequently, Pisorno suffered competition from the nascent Cinecittà and during the war it was forced to stop all production and to be transformed into a large military depot by the German and then American occupiers.
The establishments were then reborn in 1961, when Carlo Ponti bought them, transforming the name into Cosmopolitan, but they were short-lived and in 1969 the closure of the Pisorno establishments and the definitive end of Hollywood in Italy were ratified.