Libreria San Paolo (Turin)
The Libreria San Paolo is a bookshop at via della Consolata 1 bis, in Turin, part of the national network of Librerie San Paolo. In September 2026 it was the first stop of an Italian tour dedicated to exhibiting the original Pinocchio puppet, linked to the Rai and SanPaoloFilm (today Multimedia San Paolo) production of the television series "Le avventure di Pinocchio", directed by Luigi Comencini in 1972.
The exhibition of the original Pinocchio
From Thursday 17 September 2026 the bookshop hosted, until 21 September, the puppet used in the 1972 television series, kept by the Fondazione San Paolo Film. According to Luca Poncina, head of the Libreria San Paolo in Turin, it is the last surviving real puppet used in the production, since the other examples used during filming were lost due to the demands of film work.
The initiative was organised to coincide with the two-hundredth anniversary of the birth of Carlo Collodi, author of the novel "Le avventure di Pinocchio. Storia di un burattino", and with the 55th anniversary of the television series, broadcast in April 1972 on Rai's Programma Nazionale in five episodes, with Nino Manfredi as Geppetto and Andrea Balestri as Pinocchio, alongside Vittorio De Sica, Gina Lollobrigida, Franco Franchi and Ciccio Ingrassia.
Activities for children and families
During the days of the Turin exhibition the bookshop organised initiatives and activities dedicated to Pinocchio, aimed especially at children and families. Events included a public reading of Pinocchio by actress Sara D'Amario, held on Friday 18 September 2026. The events were organised, besides the Libreria San Paolo, by Musli - the Museum of the School and of the Children's Book of the Fondazione Tancredi di Barolo.
The national tour
After the stop in Turin, the puppet continued its tour to other Italian cities, with stops in Alba from 22 to 24 September, Genoa from 28 to 30 September, Milan on 7 and 8 October, Florence from 11 to 13 October and Modena from 15 to 17 October, before reaching Vicenza, Padua, Parma, Catania, Rome, Bari, Pescara and Bergamo. A day dedicated to Collodi's fairy tale is also planned for 9 October in Cinisello Balsamo, at Villa Casati Stampa.
Don Roberto Ponti, sole director of Multimedia San Paolo, and don Antonio Rizzolo, sole director of Diffusione San Paolo, stated that bringing Pinocchio to the Librerie San Paolo means rediscovering an important page in the publishing house's history, turning the preservation of memory into an occasion to meet today's public.
Turin stop of the tour of the original Pinocchio puppet (September 2026)
From 17 to 21 September 2026 the Libreria San Paolo on via della Consolata, in Turin, hosts, as the first stop of a national tour, the original wooden puppet used in the Rai television series "Le avventure di Pinocchio" directed by Luigi Comencini in 1972, on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Carlo Collodi.
Related articles: Comencini's Pinocchio Puppet on Display in Turin, The Pinocchio Puppet from Comencini's TV Series
Sources
- Quotidiano Piemontese — 17 September 2026
- la Repubblica Torino — 18 September 2026