LIVORNO

Livorno, founded by the Medici family, grand dukes of Tuscany, as the 'ideal city', is recognizable by the imposing sight of the bastions of the Old Fortress (Fortezza Vecchia), overlooking the port. The Darsena Medicea, ancient pier of an inviting city, is a lively place to meet up and to stop off.

The Tuscan landscape starts from Livorno and opens up towards the Mediterranean sea with which it has a century old historical, commercial and cultural bond. The sea reaches deep into the historical quarters of the city through a series of canals called Canali Medicei making Livorno the only Tuscan city encircled by the Mediterranean.

Its history, traditions, culture, intense sunsets, clear fragrant air, water sports, local cuisine all tell a story of the relationship between Livorno and the sea. The first seaside bathing stations in Europe began to emerge here in the 1800s together with the notion of seaside holidays. Precious treasures from the sea can be seen at the Natural History Museum and Aquarium.

Original features of the New Venice quarter, built in the 1600s, are still evident today. The Medici canals are particularly striking; a tight web of navigable canals that connected warehouses and merchants houses. They have their foundations and entrances in the water, just like in Venice, which lead into large rooms where they used to store goods.

Walking along via Borra you can admire the elegant architecture. The neighbourhood is rich in religious and public buildings like the Bottini dell'olio, which are beautiful vaulted warehouses for preserving oil, built in the 1700s, or like the Piazza della Repubblica which is still admired today for its unusual construction which is actually a very large bridge that covers a long stretch of the navigable canal.

MONTENERO

Montenero and its famous Santuario are found just barely south of Livorno. Montenero gets its name from a dark past when the hillside was seen as a sinister and damned place.

Another story also tells of an apparition by a pastor in the 14th century. He claimed to have seen an apparition of the Madonna. (Today one can still visit the splendid chapel that glorifies this very apparition.

After that miraculous episode, the inhabitants of the area built the Santuario in Montenero in honor of the Holy Virgin. After centuries of changes, like that of the bell tower addition in 1820, we arrive to its present day aspect. Apart from its worshippers, the Santuario is also visited for its many works of art like the marble altar, the Crucifixion and its beautiful ceiling of gold finished in 1600.

The marvelous panorama from the Santuario opens into a typical Tuscan valley that slopes gently to the sea. In remote times the Montenero hills were a useful and natural reference point for sailors, who often had their lives saved by the sight of them. In a sign of appreciation to the Madonna, many of the sailors donated minor works of art to the Santuario.

PISA

Pisa is set in a wide floodplain (4 m. above sea level) few kilometres far from the Tyrrhenian coast and it stretches in the two bank of the river Arno.

Pisa is among the main cultural city of Italy. It keeps a rich artistic heritage with its original Medieval reworking of Islamic, Lombard and local influences.

It is to note the wonderful Duomo and the leaning tower, a monument discussed and known as one of the seven wonders of the world.

It is a chief town of a province of Tuscany and an archiepiscopal see. Nowadays it is above all a university and research town.

SIENA


Siena always attracts many tourists for its wonderful monuments and its numerous masterpieces to visit in its museums. Some great artists were born in Siena and among them it is to remind Duccio di Boninsegna and Nicola Pisano, who worked on the greatest masterpiece in Siena: the Duomo.

In narrow and winding lanes, in museums and in the quarter oratorios you may hear Palio propitiatory chants that recall the ancient customs and modern allegories. In the evening, on the other side, the patter of soles on the desert paving contrasts to the peace of the green valleys surrounded by the walls by its ancient administrators, for centuries till today.

In the town you may admire many masterpieces such as the Duomo, set in the Campo, Siena's red-bricked main square and the wonderful landscape of Facciatone, the hall of Pellegrinaio in Santa Maria della Scala, the Piccolomini library, the prestigious Accademy Chigiana and the wide rooms in Fortezza Medicea, that hides the rarest wines in Siena, in Tuscany and in the peninsula.

FLORENCE

Florence stands in a pleasant valley surrounded by hills and crossed by the river Arno. This city is rich in monuments, historical buildings, galleries and museums, expressing all its magnificence of its ancient civilization.

Its world famous promenade along its monuments up to the wonderful Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge) is lined with characteristic goldsmith's shops.

LUCCA

Lucca is a charming Tuscany city of arts with its numerous attractions. You will go to visit the witness of its prestigious past and enjoy its several amusements in a hearted and happy place.

It is 20 Km. North-East away from Pisa, 60 Km West away from Florence, near the beach resort of Viareggio: indeed Lucca is worthy of a visit…

VOLTERRA

Lonely on a hill (that has its boundless view from the Appennini up to the Tyrrhenian sea), stern and peaceful at once, this town has a particular glamour that is different from the others.
Once you reach its threshold, you will be impressed by the mighty wall, both of the Medieval times and Etruscan ones, where there are many gates.

The most famous of them is Porta dell'Arco Etrusco (the gate of Etruscan Arch). Indoors you will find remembrances of the severe town of Volterra during the Medieval times. All this is helpful for us to understand the charming of its beauty.

SAN GIMIGNANO

The 15 medieval towers (a reminder of the 72 towers that used to rise during the period of greatest splendor) announce from far away the town's magnificence.

The amazement continues after entering one of the town gates, that open in the double enclosed wall, and walking up the silent streets flanked with ancient buildings.

The streets unexpectedly lead into three squares on the summit of the town, where the severe medieval buildings that surround them may be admired.