November or December are not the months, which come to mind for visiting a seaside resort, like Viareggio. However, in this period, logically there are not many visitors, so the lovers of architecture have all the space to enjoy in peace the beach pavilions, the”Stabilimenti Balneari”. Most of them were built in the roaring twenties of last century in the so called Liberty style.

Viareggio is already a famous seaside resort since the early 19th century, known as the “Pearl of the Tyrrhenian Sea”. It has beaches of very fine sand and marinas, surrounded by pine wood forests. You can shop on the long boulevards lined with palm trees and oleander bushes.

The city, which spreads out over the coast of Versilia, is bounded in the south by the Burlamacca canal and in the north by a trench, which separates Viareggio from Lido di Camaiore. The name is derived from the “Castrum de via Regia”, the fortress on the seashore that was built in 1172 in order to defend the coast and surrounding territory.

The first beach pavilions were opened in 1828; the “Nereo” and the “Dori”. They were the first bathing establishments in Italy, with strictly separate bathing for men and women. At the beginning of the 20th century Viareggio became the destination for the privileged and aristocrats. This period was of major importance for the city, which boomed and nowadays you can still feel that atmosphere. Most of the pavilions nowadays were built in the style of this time, the Liberty style, but soon adapted to new upcoming streams, like “Art Deco” and “de Stijl”. Visit the “Bucintoro”,”Nuova Italia”, “Mare”, “Abetone” and “Diva” in this time of year and you know, what we mean. It’s extraordinary, that Agatha Christie didn’t write a story called; “Murder in Viareggio”.

Liberty-style is a style, in interior and exterior decorating, which especially found fertile ground in Italy. It is similar to “Art Nouveau” or “Jugendstil”, but gives more detailed attention to floral decorations. Named after the famous shop in London, founded by Arthur Lasenby Liberty.

Liberty got world fame, because of his printed (block-printed by hand) and dyed fabrics with very subtle flower designs and pastel colours. In Italy it became very popular and was named; “Stile Floreale” or “Stile Inglese”. Nowadays, if we talk about a “Liberty print”, we mean a multicoloured pattern of small floral motifs.

Today, the beaches are completely equipped with everything a modern tourist can wish for. The current bathing establishments look after the parts of beach assigned to them, and have provided them with swimming pools, bars, restaurants, and different sports facilities.

The marina and port of Viareggio was inaugurated in 1913 by King Victor Emmanuel III. Some of the most prestigious cruising yachts of the world were built at the wharves of Viareggio. (and till do so!) Since then, it has been continually enlarged until reaching its current size, which makes the mooring of over thousand pleasure boats possible. Quality services and advanced technology make the Viareggio marina one of the most sophisticated in the Mediterranean.

Viareggio is a great place for food and shopping, there are many pizzerias and trattorias, with a local cuisine, of course with a lot of fish dishes. “Cacciucco”, the typical Viareggion fish soup, you will find on any menu. A lot of Italian designers have opened beautiful boutiques, especially along the “Passeggiata”, which is considered the city’s place to see and to be seen. You also will find a lot of nice and funny shops around the “Piazzone” (large square) where the central market is located.

During the year, there are many events in Viareggio (and surroundings) and some of them belong to the cultural heritage of Italy. The Carnival of Viareggio* is one of kind in carnival celebration and it is not only famous in Italy, but all over the world. It originated in 1873 with a parade of masquerades along the Via Regia, the main road of the city. The first floats were made of wood and canvas and began to parade along the seaside boulevards in the twenties of the last century. Later they were made out of papier mâché, so they became lighter and easier to manoeuvre, enabling them to become large and imposing, just the way they are today. In 1931, Uberto Bonetti, a painter from Viareggio, created Burlamacco*, who became the official mask-character of the Carnival.

Events

Viareggio Il Carnevale

The place where the floats are built nowadays is known as the Cittadella del Carnevale. It was inaugurated in 2001 and has the size of a small airport. This is a multipurpose structure consisting of sixteen hangars and a building in which the papier mâché school and the Carnival Museum are located. During the summer months, its amazing square becomes an open-air theatre and a place for important events such as the Festival Teatro Canzone and the Cittadella Jazz & More festival. The awards ceremony for the Premio Letterario Viareggio-Rèpaci, one of the most important Italian literary prizes, also takes place in the summer. Many more events are hold over here.

Puccini Festival

In Torre del Lago, a quaint town of almost 11,000 inhabitants close to Viareggio, the Festival Puccini, an annual opera festival (with more than 40000 visitors each year!) is held in its open-air theatre, a short distance from the Villa Mausoleum where opera composer Giacomo Puccini lived and worked. He is buried in a small chapel inside the Villa.

How to reach Viareggio

Viareggio with its 60.000 inhabitants is easy to reach from both the most important cities of Tuscany and the rest of Italy.

By car

A11 (“Firenze/Mare”) A12 (“Genova-Rosignano”)

By train

Lines: Ventimiglia - Torino - Genova - Pisa –Roma. Milano - Livorno. Viareggio - Lucca - Montecatini - Pistoia - Prato -Firenze.

By air

The nearest airports are the “G. Galileo” Airport in Pisa (22 km) and the “A. Vespucci” Airport in Florence (95 km).

By boat

The tourist port of Viareggio is one of the best-equipped ports in Italy

For more information

• Viareggio Il Carnevale
• Puccini Festival
• Comune Viareggio