Florence- capital city of the Tuscany region, with the municipal territory extends for 3,514 square kilometres and is one of country's most important and historic cities. Florence has a population of 374,500 inhabitants, spreads on the banks of the river Arno, on Italy's northwest coast. The glory of Florence is big, the city is one of Italy's most atmospheric and pleasant, late-medieval centre that contributed so much to the cultural and political development of Europe. It leads the quiet dignified life of a regional capital, and constantly visit by tourists. Its streets could almost beguile you into thinking you've walked into a former age, because he has not changed greatly since the 16th century. Florence was founded as a colony of the Etruscan city of Fiesole in about 200 BC, than by the Romans was named "Florentia", the florid one,in 59 BC and it was a settlement for retired Roman soldiers. In the early Middle Ages, Fiesole was more powerful than Florence in the valle... Read more

Barberino Val d'Elsa is a middle aged town ideally situated half-way between Florence (32km) and Siena (35km), amongst vineyards and olive groves, in the heart of the famous Chianti area, at 400 metres above sea level. The town has a population of 4000 inhabitants and a surface of 65,83 square kilometers. Barberino Val D'Elsa is an ancient and very well preserved medieval town, the landscape is beautiful and typical of the Tuscan countryside, once a time a strategic military base to separate the two powers of the Florentine League and the Senese one. The first historical mention of the town (it was originally a castle and then it became a town) name of Barberino goes back to 1054, but the community draws its official origins from the 1202, the period when Semifonte, Florence's rival town, was destroyed. In the following century the town was already under the jurisdiction of the city of Florence, that surrounded it with walls and defended it with a military garrison. Later the town b... Read more

The city of Cortona is located in the south of Arezzo province, Tuscany, partly on the plain and partly hilly, with the municipal territory extends for 342,00 square kilometres. Cortona is a wonderful medieval town, it stands on a buttress which reaches the height of 600 metres above the sea level, with population around 23,000 inhabitants. It has the landscape that you can enjoy from there surrounds Valdichiana, the extinct volcanoes on Mount Amiata and Mount Cetona as well as the brightness of Lake Trasimeno. This small town is characterized by the ruins of its Etruscan past, surrounded by flagged streets, ancient fortified walls, and the general impression given by the architecture is of stone. Cortona was in origin and Umbran city, then conquered and enlarged by the Etruscans to become one of the most powerful city-states among the Etruscan confederacy together with Perugia and Arezzo. Evidence of its strategic position would be the extensive perimeter of its walls, the tom... Read more

San Casciano in Val di Pesa is a small town on top of a hill to the south of Florence, 15km, in the direction of Siena, 40km, one full of historic monuments. San Casciano in Val di Pesa has a population of 16.000 inhabitants and it rises 310 metres above the sea level. Since Roman times it was a post station on the hill just before the descent to Florence begins. The earliest written documentation dates back to 1043. The town was under Florentine rule from 1272 and because of the strategic importance that San Casciano held, and its proximity to Florence, it was frequently devastated. The well populated town was general quarters of the troops of Arrigo VII in 1312-13, while the city walls were built in 1355 and strengthened in the 16th century under Cosimo I. Since the first half of the 15th century, once the Tuscany state was strongly under the Medici family, San Casciano cemented its league with Florence and suddenly town gates were pulled down as well as bastions and to... Read more

San Gimignano, a town with around 7,000 inhabitants that rises on a hill 334m above sea level, is certainly one of the most charming and interesting towns of Tuscany. The town dominating the Elsa Valley with its towers, it’s also called "City of Beautiful Towers", and is one of the best preserved medieval towns in Tuscany. A town of Etruscan origins, developed between the 9th and the 12th century, thanks to the "Via Francigena" the trading and pilgrim's route that connected Rome to the most important towns of Europe. This gave rise to its great prosperity at that time, soon became home of a flourishing market and was embellished by beautiful palaces and by the famous towers. In 1199 it became a free municipality and fought against the Bishops of Volterra and the surrounding municipalities. Later on the town was divided into two factions one headed by the Ardinghelli family - Guelphs and the other by the Salvucci family - Ghibellines. After the fights between Ghibellines and Gue... Read more

Arezzo is one of the wealthiest and largest cities in the interior of Tuscany, located in central Italy, a hub for various industries, capital of the province of the same name. With approx. 91,600 inhabitants Arezzo rises 296 meters above the sea level, town is set on a steep hill rising from the floodplain of the Arno. Arezzo is about 80 km south-east of Florence. The city’s history began with Etruscans; Arezzo was one of the twelve most important Etruscan cities, the famous Chimaera of Arezzo, now in Florence, was found here. It was conquered by the Romans in the 3rd century BC, as Arretium the city flourished in the days of the Roman Empire; it had a great importance as a military station, well-known in particular for its metal pottery manufactures, the characteristic Arezzo ware. During the Christian age, Arezzo becomes an Episcopal seat: it is one of the few cities whose succession of bishops is known by name without interruption to the present day. ... Read more

Fiesole is a town and comune of Firenze province in the Italian region of Tuscany, it is situated on a hill overlooking the Arno and Mugnone valleys just 9 km northeast of Florence. Fiesole has a population of 14.000 inhabitants and a surface of 42,11 square kilometers, it rises 295 metres above the sea level. The town perched on a hill, its a real roof over the city of Florence, and a good place to visit to escape the heat and crowds of the town centre. Fiesole is of Etruscan origin, as may be seen from the remains of its ancient walls, they dated around 6 century B.C. But the first recorded mention on the town dates to 283 B.C. when the town, then known as Faesulae, was conquered by the Romans. As Faesulae, it was an important Etruscan town, its geographical position made the town a strategic centre for the control of communication lines between the southern and northern Etruscan region and it was used as rampart against invasions. From 90 B.C. the Etruscan city was tur... Read more

Every 3rd of October, many Tuscans go to church and burn a candle for the Blessed Angelo of Borgo di San Sepolcro; Angelo Scarpetti entered the Augustinian Order around 1254. He spent some time in England where he preached and founded several Augustinian friaries. On one occasion Angelo found it necessary to reprimand a man with a bad reputation, the man became angry and attempted to strike Angelo. The moment he raised his arm against Angelo, it suddenly became paralyzed. It took Angelo's prayers to restore motion to the frozen arm. Another story tells us about a falsely accused man sentenced to death, which appealed to Angelo and requested his prayers. After the hanging the members of the confraternity went to retrieve the condemned man's body and were stunned to find the man alive. He explained that as he hung on the rope he experienced a vision of Angelo upholding him, keeping the rope from killing him. Angelo was characterized by his exceptional humility and childlike innoce... Read more

Lucca is a city in Tuscany, situated on the river Serchio in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Lucca with 86,000 inhabitants. Lucca was founded by the Etruscans and became a Roman colony in 180 BC. In the 10th and 11th centuries Lucca was the capital of the feudal margraviate of Tuscany, more or less independent but owing nominal allegiance to the Holy Roman Emperor. A free since 1162, Lucca reached its moment of greatest splendor between the 13th and 14th centuries, thanks to the right to coin money, intense mercantile and banking activity and above all the production and sale of that most precious of all fabrics, silk, which it exported all over the world. Lucca is known as "the city of a hundred churches"; during the period of the Longobards many citizens converted to Catholicism and built churches in the Romanesque style to celebrate their new faith, many of which have remained fully intact today. Lucca was the largest It... Read more

One of the important periods in cultural European history is of course the Italian Renaissance. In the 15th and 16th century under the rule of the Medici family Italy and especially Florence and surrounding areas came to great blossom. The Medici originated from the Mugello district and many of their residences can be found here. Their roots seem to lie in Campiano, a hamlet in the Municipality of Barberino di Mugello. They left the Mugello with traces of their economic and political power, which is shown in many pieces of art, but also and maybe even more in the whole infrastructure of as well their Florence as their Mugello estates. What you experience here is the result of an enlightened patronage so widespread that it is clearly visible in the geometrical division of the lands. Look at the canalization of the waters, the design of the farm houses, manors and churches and the harmonious distribution of the settlements. It is like a finely woven network, overlooking its lands... Read more