Around Lucca

A brief history of Lucca ...

Lucca has a very ancient foundation, which dates back beyond the Christian era, but it is difficult to say whether or Ligurian array Etruscan, as of course is very partial data documenting the discovery of one or the other hypothesis. However, it was certainly a Roman colony and a careful visitor will find some items simply walking through the streets, if it goes away Fillungo, starting from Piazza San Frediano and continues more or less straight up to Via S. Girolamo, has no know the route the ancient route of the thistle as the Romans called the way from north to south that cut their towns. Likewise, if the current reaches the gate of St. Gervasio Porta S. Donato, has traveled the decumanus, that is the road that ran through the town from east to west. The structure and the print order of the Roman city soon merged with the forms and organization of Christianity Lucca later through a "season" Lombard and Carolingian period, during which assumed a privileged role and a degree of importance: capital of Tuscia, an important road junction, early commercial center and home to a brand. This leads to that time that we put, for brevity and clarity, approximately between 1050 and 1300, during which, as in other cities of Lucca, a new accountability on the part of the community gave rise to a process innovative urban development and trade. Born in this way the municipality, Lucca and became established as an autonomous city-state, building a new circle of walls because the urban area has expanded, growing businesses and population, they erect new buildings. In recent decades, in 1200 the number of citizens of Lucca is between 10,000 and 20,000 units and it is estimated that within a century have been built 700 new houses, churches and noble towers. The emperors often visit the city, granting a series of important awards, such as confirming the right to coin money, and the joint is strengthened by finding a balance between its own needs and those imperial. Bloom during the thirteenth century many craft and trade guilds of the Arts, for they had formed part of the exchange, notaries, bakeries, doctors, apothecaries, the silk manufacturers and many other categories. The main aims of the various corporations were to regulate and protect the exercise of the profession and determine the wages. At the same time we find the city divided into five parts corresponding to the doors of St. Donat, St. Peter, St. Gervase, and Borgo San Frediano. Behind the walls were the suburbs, in turn surrounded by a flat and fertile land called the Six Mile, and the county seat over six miles was divided into eleven districts, known as vicarious. Later the old division in five urban areas was replaced by a new division into three parts, or terzieri, who called Third St. Paulinus, St. Martin and St. Saviour. The contrasts with Pisa, which is the nearest city, and the struggle to expand and dominate the countryside are a constant feature of political life in the city. In this and other difficulties the common organization of the government giving itself responds elastic in the sense that it is ready to change its institutions meet individual needs that arise. However, the institutions remain essentially the same over the centuries and underlying political order are the Board of Elders, the General Council or the Major and Minor Council or the people, accompanied of course by many other bodies and committees, these nurses . These three councils are competing in both the legislative work that the executive, while the administration of criminal justice was proper to Podesta, a judiciary that much important in medieval times, it is rather devoid of many of its prerogatives after the fourteenth century. Unlike other Italian cities, only two times during its history Lucca knows the phenomenon of worship: the first from 1316 to 1328 by Castruccio Castracani Antelminelli, a leader in time become almost legendary, it just came to power implements expansionary policies to expand the boundaries of Lucca.

Some sights to see ...
... take a stroll in Lucca, maybe even late at night, and carried away by the many influences that inspires all who, by chance or good reason, are: discover a beautiful city enclosed within the walls, palaces also impressive compared to the small historical center, an incredible amount of churches, traces of Roman and early medieval views fascinating, in a word, a fascinating city.
Here's a short list of monuments:
Porta San Donato - Piazzale Verdi - Palazzo Pfanner - the city walls - P. ZZA AMPHITHEATRE - San Frediano - P. ZZA CITADEL - Piazza San Michele - TOWER GUINIGI - MUSEUM GUINIGI-via del Battistero - St. Martin's Cathedral - ... ....
THE TOWN OF CAPANNORI Province of Lucca
Fortifications, towers and medieval castles, Renaissance villas alternated with elegant, refined design
The vast territory of the municipality Capannori extends between the Plateau of Pizzorne Mountains Pisa and Lucca plain formed by the drainage of Lake Bientina. The hills around the capital are dotted with fortifications, towers and medieval castles, Renaissance villas alternated with elegant and refined design. Built at an altitude that makes it possible to grow olives and grapes, fortified sites were not only military garrisons but true villages based on agriculture.
Many of the castles of Capannori are mentioned in the chronicles of the fifteenth-century manuscript of the historian John Sercambi. Among the castles had to be repaired for the advance Pisa to Lucca, the historic task of the church indicates, the fortress of St. Andrew, the Castle of San Giusto to Vorno of Guam, the castle of Monaco, while among those destroyed in 1313 by Uguccione Faggiola leader of Pisa, castles reminiscent of Mission of Vorno, Castelvecchio Nozzano
The Tuscan countryside a paradise
Places to savor slowly between art and culture
Heaven and earth, meadows and vineyards, churches and villages that emerge like islands in all its glory, this is the Tuscan countryside. There are many roads to travel in ancient landscapes that still tell the story of the territory. Each of these will take you to enchanted places. Only Tuscany can also include a historical, artistic and environmental heritage of great interest to explore on hiking trails, horse trails or paths for bikers will lead you to discover art, culture and traditional flavors
THE TUSCANY MONTAGAN, DIVING IN NATURE
Trekking, medieval villages and authentic flavors
Walking along the paths leading into the mountains of the Apuan Alps, riding on horse trails of Mount Amiata or join a rich diversity of spirituality of the forests of Casentino, are experiences that leave a mark. The Tuscan mountains fails to satisfy the taste of every visitor, and then once known remains forever in my heart.
Sport is the protagonist and the choice for active people is vast: trekking, horse riding, mountain-biking, climbing, paragliding down to caving expeditions.
If you want quiet, relaxation and a moment of detachment from the bustle of everyday life in medieval villages there are opportunities for gentle walks alternate with visits to churches and small museums.
Do not miss the opportunity to taste the typical dishes: recipes farmers are absolutely amazing, try it. It is also possible to meet shopkeepers, elderly teachers, carpenters, blacksmiths, artisans who work with technical details that are still handed down from generation to generation.

IN TUSCANY, SEA BLUE ALL YEAR
A journey through the most beautiful coast of the Mediterranean
Many, many enchanting landscapes alternate along 500 km of coastline to discover, among rocks and sand, clear waters and charming atmosphere framed by lush Mediterranean. In Tuscany, is the sea all year round mild climate even in the cooler seasons, entertainment, cuisine and sports. Plus, the uniqueness of being able to "plunge" in history and art of the region, reaching quickly from any coastal villages and historic castles, city of art and jewels of the hinterland.
Tuscany The sea is perfect for everyone who wants to relax in comfort to those who want to sport even on holiday, golfing or windsurfing, sailing or canoeing to diving but mainly thanks to the thriving underwater and the presence of numerous wrecks to explore.
The Tuscan beaches are ideal for families, couples and groups of friends, thanks to the many faces of places that animate the coast by the sophistication of famous places like Forte dei Marmi, Versilia, to fishing towns like Castiglioncello on Etruscan Coast. And the coast from north to south, offers a great variety of landscapes: lakes and dunes, hidden coves and cliffs, wide sandy beaches and romantic bays hidden by lush pine forests, but also events and art exhibitions, festivals and culinary events underlying the coast throughout the year.
Terme in Tuscany, UNFORGETTABLE EXPERIENCE
An oasis of wellness and relaxation where you can find themselves
Close your eyes and remove everything: work, traffic, air pollution, stress. A desire of many in a modern society marked by ever-faster pace and more pressing needs. A desire that Tuscany can turn into reality as they know more than 2 million tourists every year choose this region to escape the everyday worries and anxieties and spend some time relaxing in one of the spas on our territory.
Land of natural wonders, treasures of art and culinary delights, Tuscany has long been known for the many rich sources of natural elements, springs whose waters, after digging through the rocks, see the sunlight, creating wonderful pools natural to dive into, regenerate and restore the balance between fitness and inner peace.
What is spa tourism in the new millennium and Tuscany in Italy, is one of the most sought after spa tourism, with the highest number of properties in 39 establishments. In these new temples of health, including luxury hotels and spas innovative and professional, Tuscany is able to offer a wide range of treatments designed to satisfy an increasingly demanding clientele. Characteristics which have enabled the Tuscan spa to be today, the spearhead of Italian thermal
CITY 'ART: THE TEN PEARLS OF TUSCANY
The most incredible city of art and traditions.The discovery of a rich artistic heritage. Here's where to go and what to see: monuments, and treasures of incomparable beauty

Arezzo
Bright hill town in eastern Tuscany, Arezzo boasts ancient origins. Lucumonies was a major Etruscan and later Roman city of strategic importance. It was a center of flourishing business, and many valuable monuments among which we mention the amphitheater with its considerable remains. Famous were its foundries and factories artistic vases red paint (called coral vases) which spread technology throughout the Roman world.
In medieval Arezzo was a free city that often prevailed in the interests of the Ghibellines, in rivalry with nearby Florence. After the rout of Campaldino (1289), his fortune was compromised and, despite some recovery in the Tarlati eventually succumbed and became Florentine (1384). As such, he joined with the rest of Tuscany, the Medici Grand Duchy.
Arezzo is located on a hill at the edge of flood plain formed by the Arno. At its peak emerge Cathedral, the Municipal Palace and the Medici Fortress, from which branch out like a fan, down to the gates and location, the main roads. The highest part of the city retains a strong medieval aspect which still stand back fine architectural examples. The part of the city that reaches out to the plain has a modern and lively.

Florence
Florence keeps an exceptional artistic heritage, splendid testimony to its secular civilization. Lived in Florence Cimabue and Giotto, the fathers of Italian painting as Arnolfo and Andrea Pisano, renovators of architecture and sculpture, Brunelleschi, Donatello and Masaccio forefathers of the Renaissance, Ghiberti and the Della Robbia, Filippo Lippi and Angelico, Botticelli and Paolo Bird, and the universal geniuses Leonardo and Michelangelo.
Their works - with those of many other generations of artists up to the masters of our century - are collected in many museums, the Uffizi, the most selected gallery in the world, the Palatina gallery with the paintings of the "golden age "Provost, with the sculptures of the Renaissance, the Museo di San Marco with Angelico's works, the Academy, the Medici Chapels and the Casa Buonarroti, with the sculptures of Michelangelo, the following museums: Bardini, Horne, Stibbert Romano, Corsini, the Gallery of Modern Art, the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, the Silver, delle Pietre Dure.
Great monuments are the landmarks florentine artistic culture: the Baptistry with its mosaics, the Duomo with its sculptures, the medieval churches with bands of frescoes; the public and private buildings - the Palazzo Vecchio, Palazzo Pitti, Palazzo Medici-Riccardi Davanzati Palace, cloisters and monasteries, convents and coteries, and the Certosa. The Etruscan civilization in the Archaeological Museum extensive documentation.

Grosseto
In the modern city grid you draw the historical center, closed dall'esagono green ramparts Francis I did renew (1574).
The survivors of Roselle, former Etruscan Saracen after the devastation of 935, were repaired here in plain Ombrone a dozen kilometers from the sea. The luck of the place followed the alternating predominance of reclamation and malaria, won in this century. Siena was stably city from 1336, which yielded only to the Medici in 1559, after Montalcino. The market town of Tuscany, fervently farm.
To visit the Cathedral of end '200, the Archaeological Museum and art, the walls and the Church of San Francesco, near the Natural Park of Maremma and the Etruscan ruins of Roselle.

Livorno
"Ideal City" of the Italian Renaissance, Livorno reveals its history in the districts crossed by canals and surrounded by fortified walls, in the tangle of roads that embroider the district of Venice, the port Medici, dominated by towers and fortresses, which wedges in center. Designed by Bernard Buontalenti the late sixteenth century, Livorno sees the end of the seventeenth century, a strong urban expansion.
At the Old Fortress, a grandiose complex built to protect the harbor, flanked by the New Fortress, the walls, perimeter channel, navigable by boat that draws the city. The neighborhood of Venice retains the original architectural and urban characteristics: a dense network of canals which once linked the port to the warehouses, foundations, water, roads and alleys, palaces.
Livorno grew lively and open in the '700 and '800 reveals itself in neoclassical buildings, parks lined to center to host major museums and cultural institutions in liberty-style villas overlooking the sea, the impressive market provisions. The city has a cosmopolitan history and soul. Crossroads of the world, home to the origins of distant and different communities that have settled here, retains traces of each of these communities: churches, synagogues, gardens.
Livorno is a land of painters and musicians: Amedeo Modigliani, Giovanni Fattori and the school Macchiaioli, Pietro Mascagni were born here, scoring, with their works, the artistic world.
Important cultural institutions like the Museum are places of Giovanni Fattori Exhibitions of painting permanent and temporary exhibitions of international prestige. The museum collects memorabilia Mascagna, testimonies, documents the life and works of the great musician and his works are repeated in the opera season every year is organized by the Theatre Tradition of Livorno.
A feature collection of votive offerings, mostly seafaring character, is located in Montenero, Livorno hills, attached to the shrine dedicated to Our Lady of Grace, the patron saint of Tuscany and the destination of an ongoing pilgrimage.

Lucca
Lucca, between city-states of Tuscany, is the only one to have retained its independence until 1847. Evidence of the loving care with which the nobles from Lucca who protected the freedom of "Civitas" prejudice its walls intact (XVI-XVII cent.), 4250 km from the perimeter with 10 bastions, the terraces and in part preserved.
In the medieval walled city emerge monuments of art and history of various periods, as the Roman Amphitheatre, the Basilica of San Frediano, the square and the Church of St. Michael's Cathedral St. Martin with Holy Face and the tomb of Ilaria del Carretto carved by Jacopo della Quercia, the Tower of Guinigi Fillungo street, the Palazzo Ducale in Piazza Napoleone, last evidences of the Principality of Lucca.

Massa-Carrara
Carrara, the largest and most important world center for quarrying, working and trade of marble, stands at the foot of the Apuan Alps, nestled in a valley of green hills. The city's name derives from the root "kar" (stone) and testifies to its ancient origins.
From a small peaceful village of Apuan Ligurian became commercial emporium of the Roman colony of Luni, which, first, exploited to the rich marble quarries. For its strategic position, particularly favorable natural and economic wealth for its offer from marble, was the subject of constant contention. In the middle ages suffered the domination of the Byzantines and the Lombards, and in 1235 it became a free municipality assuming the arms with the wheel that still retains. During the period of the Lords was under the Marquis Malaspina, with the Principality and Duchy Cybo under the D'Este. Finally with the plebiscite of 1859 was the Unification of Italy.

Pisa
Pisa, famous worldwide for its tower, which enhances the quartet extraordinary monument in Piazza del Duomo, boasts a long history that sees its greatest splendor during the time of the Maritime Republics. It is a treasure trove of art treasures whose Roman and Gothic churches, squares and buildings enhance the districts drawn by the Arno river and the ancient streets. Important university has maintained a record to date thanks to the many faculty and located in the Scuola Normale Superiore Piazza dei Cavalieri. Visitors to Pisa discover not only art, culture and history, but natural environments where the park Migliarino - San Rossore the coast and the Monte Pisano, build a stage of particular interest.

Pistoia
Located at the foot of the Apennines, has a pleasant mix of tourist art, history, folklore, monuments, natural, food. Among the best known of Tuscany, Pistoia shows elements of the original characterization and well worth a visit.
Lawn
Lawn Medieval art provides a historical-artistic prestige. In the historical castle of the Emperor, the only evidence of Swabian architecture in central and northern Italy, the Duomo, the Praetorian Palace, the Basilica of Santa Maria delle Carceti, the churches of St. Francis and St. Dominic valuable works of great artists as Agnolo Gaddi, Paolo Uccello, Filippo and Filippino Lippi, Donatello and other famous artists of the fourteenth century and the Renaissance.
The Museum of Wall Painting, the Museum dell'Opera del Duomo and Galleria degli Alberti show collections that reach the artistic season of the nineteenth century. The Textile Museum you can see samples of cloth from the fifth century until today. The east side with the modern buildings and the Center for the Arts Conpemporanea "Luigi Pecci" offers an important view of.

Siena
Siena, namely, quality of life without the city. The first City of Europe 's to close its center to traffic by 1966. Siena, a place of international culture, which has a University ... younger than 750 years and is home to prestigious institutions such as the 'Chigiana Academy, the University for Foreigners, the Academy of Fisiocritici and that of introns.
The city where every stone has remained unchanged over the centuries, where one breathes a 'atmosphere that you can not find anywhere else, because its people have kept alive the traditions of their fathers, such as those related to the celebration of the Palio, renewing them each year with undiminished strength and enthusiasm.