In Calci, a few kilometers from the city is the Certosa di Pisa, a monastery which dates from the 7th and 8th Centuries and is extremely interesting from an architectural view point.
It houses National Museum which acts as the custodian for all buildings in the complex including the cells of the Carthusian monks where each one has his own garden; the pharmacy; the cloisters and a church noteworthy for its exterior facade decorated with statues and the marbles and frescos inside. The Certosa also houses the Local Natural History Museum of Pisa University with its naturalist displays covering various disciplines including the most important Italian collection of cetaceans comprised of 24 skeletons laid out in an open gallery overlooking the gardens.
It was in Pontedera in 1923 that Piaggio opened its factory to make Vespas, the scooter know all over the world and immortalized in the film “Roman Holiday” with Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn. A Piaggio Museum was recently set up in the factory with some of the most famous and unusual models produced over the years on display.
Toward the coast, the Tenuta di San Rossore is part of the nature park which joins up with Lake Massaciuccoli near Viareggio; its 4,800
hectares belong to the President of the Italian republic. Previously owned by the canons of Pisa’s Cathedral, it then passed to the Medici
family who used it as a hunting reserve. The southern part is subject to flooding and its swamps are inviting to thousands of aquatic birds. There is an information centre in the Cascine Vecchie which arranges tours of the area.