Tuscany (Italian Toscana) is a region in central Italy, bordering on Latium to the south, Umbria to the east, Emilia-Romagna and Liguria to the north, and the Tyrrhenian Sea to the west. It is often regarded as among the most beautiful parts of Italy.

Tuscany was the region in which the Italian Renaissance produced its first results. The unique artistic patrimony of this region includes architecture, painting and sculpture, collected in dozens of famous museums like the Uffizi in Florence and in situ in even quite small cities.

Tuscany is also known for its wines (most famous of which are Sassicaia, Chianti, Morellino di Scansano and Brunello di Montalcino) and has 120 protected regions (natural reserves).

Notable tourist destinations in Tuscany include Florence, Pisa, Lucca, Maremma (in Grosseto province), Crete Senesi and Siena. Though it is famous for its villas, Tuscany is currently promoting "agritourism" (Agriturismo), in which visitors stay on working farms

Florence:

Florence (Firenze) (935,000 inhabitants) is the capital of the Tuscany Region.
It is a city which bustles with industry and craft, commerce and culture, art and science. Being on the main national railway lines, it is easily accessible from most important places both in Italy and abroad. The Florence "Vespucci" airport, where both national and international airlines stop, is located 5 Km. from the city centre. The main motorway, A1, connects Florence with Bologna and Milano in the North and Rome and Naples in the South.

Founded by the Romans in the first century B.C., Florence began its rebirth after the decadence of the barbaric ages, in the Carolingian period, and reached its highest pinnacles of civilization between the 11th and 15th centuries, as a free city, balancing the authority of the Emperors with that of the Popes, overcoming the unfortunate internal dispute between Guelfs and Ghibellines. In the 15th century, it came under the rule of the Medici family, who later became the Grand Dukes of Tuscany. This in fact was the period when the city was at the height of its glory in art and culture, in politics and economic power. The Grand Duchy of the Medicis was succeeded, in the 18th century, by that of the House of Lorraine, when in 1860 Tuscany became part of the Kingdom of Italy of which Florence was the capital from 1865 to 1871. In this century, the city has once more taken up its role as an important centre for culture and the arts.

Art and Culture:
Florence keeps an exceptional artistic heritage which is a marvellous evidence of its aged culture. Cimabue and Giotto, the fathers of Italian painting, lived in Florence as well as Arnolfo and Andrea Pisano, renewers of architecture and sculpture; Brunelleschi, Donatello and Masaccio forefathers of the Renaissance, Ghiberti and the Della Robbias , Filippo Lippi and Angelico ; Botticelli , Paolo Uccello and the universal genius of Leonardo and Michelangelo . Their works, together with those of many other generations of artists up to the artists of our century, are gathered in the several museums of the town : the Uffizzi, the most selected gallery in the world, the Palatina gallery with the paintings of the "Golden Ages" . The Bargello Tower with the sculptures of the Renaissance, the museum of San Marco with Angelico's works, the Academy, the chapels of the Medicis , Buonarroti' s house with the sculptures of Michelangelo , the following museums: Bardini , Horne, Stibbert, Romano, Corsini, The Gallery of Modern Art, The museum of " Opera del Duomo",the museum of Silverware and the museum of "Precious" Stones. Great monuments are the landmarks florentine artistic culture: the Baptistry with its mosaics; the Cathedral with its sculptures, the medieval churches with bands of frescoes; public as well as private palaces: Palazzo Vecchio, Palazzo Pitti, Palazzo Medici Riccardi, Palazzo Davanzati; monasteries, cloisters, refectories; the "Certosa". In the archeological museum you will find plenty of documents of Etruscan civilization.

Santa Maria Novella Train Station
Stazione Centrale di Santa Maria Novella (PHONE: 8488/888088) is Florence's main station and is centrally located. The Train Station is in the center of the city, near S. Maria Novella place. In this place there are many bus stops of the ATAF bus Lines. A lot of them crosses the center in all directions, and many ATAF bus lines stop around the station.
For detailed bus stops location and time table, ATAF on Line.
L inks:
FirenzeSantaMariaNovella.it
ATAF bus stop: ataf.net
Address:
FIRENZE S. MARIA NOVELLA STATION - piazzale della Stazione - 50123 Florence - Italy.

When traveling to Florence, be sure to avoid trains that stop only at the Campo di Marte or Rifredi stations, which are not convenient to the center.

Amerigo Vespucci Airport

Arezzo:

It has an area of 3,235 sq km², and a total population of 323,288.

A charming hilly town in the east of Tuscany, Arezzo boasts ancient origins. It was one of the greatest etruscan "Lucumonie" succesively it became a Roman town having a strategic position. It was an important centre for economic activities and for its oustanding monuments , such as the Amphitheatre with numerous ruins. Famous for its foundries and the artistic manufactures of red-painted vases (the so called coral vases) which spread all over the Roman world. In the Middle Age, Arezzo was a free city-state where the Ghibellina supporters often prevail in an atmosphere of friction with nearby Florence. After the rout of Campaldino (1289) its fortunes were low and apart from a brief period under the Tartari, it definetely yielded to Florentine domination (1384) and became part of Medicean Granducato. Arezzo is set on a hill above the plain made up of the floods from Arno river. In the upper part of the town you can find the Cathedral, the Town Hall, the Medici Fortress, from which the main streets branch off towards the lower part as far as the gates. The upper part of the town maintains its medieval aspect even if we can find later architectonic monuments.

The Piazza Grande is a wonderful Medieval square, famous for its antiques market and overlooked by several impressive historic buildings, as the church of Santa Maria della Pieve and the Loggiato del Vasari, the home Vasari built for himself in 1540.

Grosseto:

It has an area of 4,504 sq km², and a total population of 211,000.

In the grid of the modern town you can find the old town centre surrounded by the green "Hexagon" of the ramparts which Francesco I renewed (1574). After the ravage of the Saracen in 935 the survivors from Roselle, an etruscan town, took shelter here, on the plain of Ombrone river a dozen of kilometres away from the sea. The fortune of the place followed the frequent alternation between land drainage and malaria which has been defeated in our century. Since 1336 Siena owned the town which surrendered to the Medicis only in 1559, after Montalcino. Grosseto is the chief town and market of "Tuscan Maremma", it is essentially based on agricolture. You can visit The Cathedral built at the end of 1200, the "Art and Archeological Museum", the Walls and the church of St.Francis, in the surroundings there is the Natural Park of Maremma and the Etruscan ruins of Roselle.

Maremma is the name of the area in the province of Grosseto, one of the least populated areas in Italy which hosts the Parco Naturale dell’Uccellina. Cities on the coast at Punta Ala, Cala Martina and, of course, Castiglione della Pescaia, (with the castle Rocca Aragonese) are ideal for spending your holiday.

Livorno:

Livorno has an area of 1,211 sq km², and a total population of 327,000.

Livorno was defined as an "ideal town" at the Renaissance time. Nowadays it reveals its history through its neighbourhoods, crossed by canals and surrounded by fortified town-walls, through the tangle of its streets, which embroider the town's Venice district, and through the Medici Port characteristically overlooked by towers and fortresses leading to the town centre. Designed by the architect Bernardo Buontalenti at the end of the 16th century, Livorno underwent a period of great town planning expansion at the end of the 17th century. Near the defensive pile of the Old Fortress, a new fortress, together with the town-walls and the system of navigable canals, was then built.
Nowadays the Venice district preserves most of its original town planning and architectural features such as the bridges, the narrow lanes, the noblemen's houses and a dense network of canals which once linked the port to its storehouses. In the 18th and 19th centuries Livorno, by then grown up and open to the world, had a lively appearance marked by neo-classical buildings, town parks housing important museums and cultural institutions, Liberty villas with sea views, the market. The town has a cosmopolitan soul and a history of its own. Once it was a cross-roads for the world and home to foreign communities the past existence of which is still witnessed by churches, synagogues and gardens.
Livorno is the birthplace of painters and composers: Amedeo Modigliani, Giovanni Fattori and the Macchiaioli school and Pietro Mascagni. They influenced the development of art all over the world. Important cultural institutions like the town museum Museo Civico Giovanni Fattori are the setting for permanent and temporary painting exhibitions on an international scale. The town museum Museo Mascagnano houses memorabilia, documents and operas by the great composer Pietro Mascagni. Every year some of his operas are traditionally played during the lyric music season, which is organised by the Traditional Theatre of Livorno. Up in the hills the Sanctuary of Montenero, which is dedicated to Our Lady of the Graces, the patron saint of Tuscany, is a fixed destination for pilgrims. It is famous for the adjacent gallery, decorated with ex-voti mainly connected to stories of miraculous sea rescue.

Lucca:

Lucca has an area of 1,773 sq km², and a total population of 372,244.

Lucca among the "State Towns" of Tuscany, is the only town which could maintain its indipendence till 1847. It is the true evidence of the loving care of the nobles from Lucca who protected the freedom of the "Civitas" with its intact Walls as a platform (XVI-XVII Cent.), having a perimeter of Km. 4250 with 10 bastions, and the terraces partly preserved. In the medieval town surronded by walls, artistic and historic monuments stand out, as the Roman Amphiteatre, The Basilica of San Frediano, The Square and the Church of St. Michele, The Cathedral of St. Martino with the "Holy face" and the Tomb of "Ilaria del Carretto" engraved by "Jacopo della Quercia", the Guinigi Tower, Fillungo Road, the Ducale Palace in Napoleon square, last evidences of the Principato of Lucca.

Massa Carrara:

Massa Carrara has an area of 1,156 sq km², and a total population of 197,652.

Carrara, the biggest and most important world centre for the excavation , working and commerce of marble, is situated at the foot of the Apuan Alps, nesteld in the middle of green hills. The name of the town comes from the root "Kar" (stone) which witnesses its ancient origin. At first it was a small village inhabited by the the peaceful tribes of Liguri and Apuani, then it became the trading centre of Luni, a colony founded by the Romans who first exploited the rich marble quarries. Because of its strategic and favourable position as well as its natural richness offered by marble, Carrara was continuosly sought after . During the Middle Age it was under Byzantine and Lombard rule and in 1235 it became a city-state having the coat of arms with the wheel that is still in use. In the age of the "Seigniory" Carrara was under the Marquisate of Malaspina then it became a Principality with the Cybo family and a Duchy with the Este family. Carrara was annexed by means of a plebiscite to the Italian Kingdom in 1859.

Pisa:

Pisa has an area of 2,444 sq km², and a total population of 384,555.

Pisa, famous all over the world for its Leaning Tower which dominates and exalts the magnificence of Piazza del Duomo, boasts a millenary history which mostly developed at the time of the Maritime Republics. Pisa is a real jewel- case with its roman and gothic churches, its squares and palaces that give splendour to the old streets and to the quarters winding along the Arno. It is one of the most important university towns thanks to its several and different faculties and the well- known "Scuola Normale" in Cavalieri Square. Sightseeing Pisa you will not only discover art, history, culture but natural environments too such as Migliarino Park, San Rossore, the Coast, Monte Pisano; all of them offer a charming scenery to the traveller.

Pistoia:

Pistoia has an area of 965 sq km², and a total population of 268,503.

Set under the Appenine mountains, Pistoia is a tourist mixture of history, art, folk traditions, monuments, nature and gastronomic specialities. Among the famous towns in Tuscany, Pistoia shows original claracteristics and it is really worth sighseeing it.
It has been defined as a "minor art centre" where the adjective minor does not aim at diminishing its importance but it means that the tourist can visit the town even in a short time.

Prato:

Prato has an area of 365 sq km², and a total population of 227,886.

Prato, offers an impressive artistic and historic itinerary from the Middle Age to the Avant-garde. In the old town centre The castle of the Emperor, the only evidence of Swabian architecture in central northern Italy, the Cathedral, Palazzo Pretorio, The Basilica of St. Maria delle Carceti, The Churches of St. Francesco and St. Domenico, keep the works of great artists as Agnolo Gaddi, Paolo Uccello, Filippo and Filippino Lippi, Donatello and other famous artists of the 13th century and of the Renaissance. The Museum of Wall Painting, The Museum of Opera del Duomo and The Gallery of the Alberti house collections including works of art of XIX century. In the Museum of Cloth you can see samples from the V century up to the present day. The east side of the town with its modern buildings and the Centre of Contemporary Art "Luigi Pecci" give an important view of Avant-garde.

Siena:

Siena has an area of 3,821 km², and a total population of 252,288.

Siena or the town with the best quality in life. The first town Concil in Europe which decided to close the streets of the centre to traffic in 1996. Siena is an international centre of culture, with a University aged 750 and great Istitutions as the Chigiana Music Accademy, the University for Foreigners, "The Accademia dei Fisiocratici"," The accedemia degli Intronati". This is the town where any single "stone" has remained unchanged over the centuries, the atmosphere is unique for everything bear witness to ancient past which is still alive in the celebrations for "Palio" taking place every year with renewed enthusiasm.