ATTRACTIONS IN TUSCANY

Tuscany is world wide know as the nicest region of Italy, with it's hills covered with vineyards and little streets driving through villages dating back more then 2000 years, here we propose to you some interesting attraction you might want to evaluate to visit during your stay at the Hotel.

Pisa

Pisa, famous all over the world for its Leaning Tower which dominates and exalts the magnificence of Piazza del Duomo, boasts a millenary history which mostly developed at the time of the Maritime Republics. Pisa is a real jewel- case with its roman and gothic churches, its squares and palaces that give splendour to the old streets and to the quarters winding along the Arno. It is one of the most important university towns thanks to its several and different faculties and the well- known "Scuola Normale" in Cavalieri Square. Sightseeing Pisa you will not only discover art, history, culture but natural environments too such as Migliarino Park, San Rossore, the Coast, Monte Pisano; all of them offer a charming scenery to the traveller.

Firenze

Florence keeps an exceptional artistic heritage which is a marvellous evidence of its aged culture. Cimabue and Giotto, the fathers of Italian painting, lived in Florence as well as Arnolfo and Andrea Pisano, renewers of architecture and sculpture; Brunelleschi, Donatello and Masaccio forefathers of the Renaissance, Ghiberti and the Della Robbias , Filippo Lippi and Angelico ; Botticelli , Paolo Uccello and the universal genius of Leonardo and Michelangelo . Their works, together with those of many other generations of artists up to the artists of our century, are gathered in the several museums of the town : the Uffizzi, the most selected gallery in the world, the Palatina gallery with the paintings of the "Golden Ages" . The Bargello Tower with the sculptures of the Renaissance, the museum of San Marco with Angelico's works, the Academy, the chapels of the Medicis , Buonarroti' s house with the sculptures of Michelangelo , the following museums: Bardini , Horne, Stibbert, Romano, Corsini, The Gallery of Modern Art, The museum of " Opera del Duomo",the museum of Silverware and the museum of "Precious" Stones. Great monuments are the landmarks florentine artistic culture: the Baptistry with its mosaics; the Cathedral with its sculptures, the medieval churches with bands of frescoes; public as well as private palaces: Palazzo Vecchio, Palazzo Pitti, Palazzo Medici Riccardi, Palazzo Davanzati; monasteries, cloisters, refectories; the "Certosa". In the archeological museum you will find plenty of documents of Etruscan civilization.

Siena

Siena or the town with the best quality in life. The first town Concil in Europe which decided to close the streets of the centre to traffic in 1996. Siena is an international centre of culture, with a University aged 750 and great Istitutions as the Chigiana Music Accademy, the University for Foreigners, "The Accademia dei Fisiocratici"," The accedemia degli Intronati". This is the town where any single "stone" has remained unchanged over the centuries, the atmosphere is unique for everything bear witness to ancient past which is still alive in the celebrations for "Palio" taking place every year with renewed enthusiasm.

Massa Carrara

Carrara, the biggest and most important world centre for the excavation , working and commerce of marble, is situated at the foot of the Apuan Alps, nesteld in the middle of green hills. The name of the town comes from the root "Kar" (stone) which witnesses its ancient origin. At first it was a small village inhabited by the the peaceful tribes of Liguri and Apuani, then it became the trading centre of Luni, a colony founded by the Romans who first exploited the rich marble quarries. Because of its strategic and favourable position as well as its natural richness offered by marble, Carrara was continuosly sought after . During the Middle Age it was under Byzantine and Lombard rule and in 1235 it became a city-state having the coat of arms with the wheel that is still in use. In the age of the "Seigniory" Carrara was under the Marquisate of Malaspina then it became a Principality with the Cybo family and a Duchy with the Este family. Carrara was annexed by means of a plebiscite to the Italian Kingdom in 1859.