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Lonely on a
hill (that has its boundless view from the Appennini up to
the Tyrrhenian sea), stern and peaceful at once, this town
has a particular glamour that is
different from the others.
Once you reach its threshold, you will be impressed by the mighty wall, both
of the Medieval times and Etruscan ones, where there are many gates.
The most famous of them is Porta dell'Arco Etrusco
(the gate of Etruscan Arch). Indoors you will find remembrances of the severe
town of Volterra during the Medieval times. All this is helpful for us to understand
the charming of its beauty. |
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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.
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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.
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| 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. |
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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.
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