The Roman period is attested by the important remains of the Teatro di Vallebona which date back to the Augustan period, the Baths and an enormous rectangular water cistern.
The Middle Ages are not only visible in its urban structure but too in its buildings, its house-towers and churches: the Palazzo dei Priorio, a 13th century building, the Palazzo Pretorio, with its crenellated Tower of the Little Pig, the pair of towers of Buonparenti and Bonaguidi family, the house-towers of Toscano family, the Cathedral (12th century), the Baptistry (13th century) streaked with Volterran stone, the conventual Church of San Francesco with its adjacent chapel of the Croce di Giorno, the Church of San Michele) and of San Alessandro.
Apart from its monuments, its art and history, Volterra also offers a magnificent view of the gentle undulating hills of the surrounding landscape abruptly interrupted in the West by the Balze (crags). |
| |
 |
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. |
|
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. |
|
|
 |
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. |
|
FIRENZE
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.
Many are the monuments and the masterpieces to visit, such as Giotto's Tower begun by Giotto in 1334, the Pitti Palace begun from an original design by Brunelleschi in the second half of 1400, the courtyard of Ammannati, Buonarroti house which has some paintings of Michelangelo, Forte di Belvedere that dates from the end of 1500. The Uffizi Palace begun by Vasari in 1560, Loggia della Signoria begun in1376 from an original design by Arcagno and Palazzo Vecchio built between 1293 and 1314.
|
 |
|
