Nearby Cities

Lucca

Lucca is the capital of the province of the same name in northwestern Tuscany. With approximately 85,000 inhabitants, Lucca is situated in a broad alluvial plain, 19 meters above sea level, near the Serchio River, between the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines, the Tyrrhenian Coast and the Pisan hills. It is an important city for art and traditional culture, presenting a vital historic center of extraordinary value, which has conserved almost intact the thick urban network of houses, towers, medieval churches, Renaissance palaces and 19th-century piazzas. Lucca today is a flowering commercial and industrial center and an important area for the paper, chemical, metal mechanic, textile and agricultural (olive and wine) industries.

Montecatini

This is home to one of the most popular and best-known thermal spas in Italy. It is situated in the Nievole Valley at the foot of the Pistoia Apennines. The curative properties of its waters have been known since the Middle Ages. The town began as a small spa at the end of the eighteenth century and grew to its present size in recent times. The waters which come from the various thermal and subthermal springs are divided into three types: “strong” water (from the Tamerici and Torretta springs) which is purgative, “medium” water (from the Regina spring) which is laxative, and “weak” water (from the Tettuccio and Rinfresco springs) which is diuretic. They are mostly used for drinking but also for bathing, mud baths and inhalation. You can visit the neoclassical parish church built by Cambray-Digny in 1824, the park on which the art nouveau Excelsior baths are built, the eighteenth century Leopoldine baths and the luxurious Tettuccio establishment.

Livorno (Leghorn)

A modern city in the Tuscan province with the same name, Livorno faces the Tyrrhenian coast, to the south of the Arno plain. A popular city of ancient maritime tradition, today it is also an important industrial center, with refineries, shipyards, chemical plants, food and metal mechanics. Above all, it is one of the largest ports of the Tyrrhenian Sea. Many tourists, who are also attracted by the original and picturesque historic center, visit the beautiful coastline.

Pisa

The city of Pisa, situated in Italy's Tuscany Region about 80 kilometres from Florence, is a beautiful city with a long and eventful history. It was an important naval base for the Romans and in the middle ages remained an important port with its own navy, during which time it gained control of the islands of Corsica, Sicily and Sardinia in addition to controlling all the Tuscan coast from Portovenere to Civitavecchia.

During the Renaissance, Pisa belonged to the Ghibelline faction, which supported the Holy Roman emperors against the papacy. The opposing faction known as the Guelphs were led by Florence. Pisa fell twice to Florence, first in 1494 and then again in 1509 after having temporarily regained its freedom.

Today, the population of the city is approaching 100,000 people. It is no longer located on the sea but the magic of its nautical past is captured within its historic buildings and monuments. The principal landmarks of Pisa are grouped in the area of the Piazza del Duomo (Cathedral Square) and include the cathedral, the baptistery, and the famous leaning tower of Pisa.

Florence

Florence (Firenze in Italian), beautiful in its own right, is the world's premier treasury of Renaissance art and architecture. Once a world commercial center, now its main business is tourism. Walk through its small winding streets, and you walk in the footsteps of such giants as Dante, Da Vinci, Michelangelo and Brunelleschi. If there were one city that exemplifies the artistic achievements of the Renaissance, Florence is it!

Florence lies along the banks of the Arno River. The area surrounding the city is renowned for olive oil and wind production. It has been said the Renaissance had its beginning in the city. Florence is associated with the likes of Machievellia, Michelangelo, Dante, and of course the Medici Family. Florence brings in millions of travelers each and every year who come to visit world class art museums, view impressive architecture, and enjoy Italian hospitality.

It has been said by many that not a city in Italy can match Florence's stupefying artistic wealth. On seemingly every street and in every building there are important paintings and sculptures. Florence is unique and incomparable, much of this due to the fact that an astonishingly high percentage of the great artists of the Renaissance lived and worked here.