Published in 1883, The Adventures of Pinocchio was written by Florentine writer Carlo Lorenzini, better known by the pen name Carlo Collodi.

It’s interesting to notice how Guillermo Del Toro’s new stop-motion fantasy, Pinocchio is set in Italy and not in a mountain landscape as in the Disney version, linking the story to its roots: Italy, and more precisely Tuscany.

New research reveals how the story of Pinocchio has deep roots in reality: the place where the story is set, for example, researchers say could be the Tuscan village of San Miniato Basso, which is midway between Pisa and Florence. The village’s original name was actually “Pinocchio”, according to historical evidence, and it changed in 1924.

Another legend says that Collodi had the habit while writing his masterpiece, to sit under the Witches’ Oak, a majestic 600 years old common oak, located in a quaint village of the Tuscan countryside not far from Lucca. The oak tree has been part of the novel in many famous scenes, for example, when Pinocchio meets the Cat and the Fox.

Pinocchio is indeed a truly Tuscan figure, rooted in Tuscan language and landscape.

The more we know about Collodi’s favorite places and the real people he met there, the more we can understand his inspirations behind Pinocchio when we read the original version.

If we want to trace Collodi’s footsteps, we will also need to remember Via Taddea in Florence city center, where he was born, Palazzo Ginori where his brother Paolo lived, and the town of Castello with its countryside, where his family spent many summers.

Even his pen name, Collodi, refers to the name of the village where his mother was born.

As said, Pinocchio is deeply rooted in places the author knew very well, and in a precise historical moment.

That’s why Pinocchio is told to be more than just the story of a wooden puppet, and it will continue to be an iconic book to read for generations to come.