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Callers from outside the UK: (0034) 952 587 541
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NEWSLETTER
Tuscany is an enchanting region of meandering hills, ancient hillside villages, historic renaissance cities with ambient piazzas, mile after mile of vineyards and olive groves, fields of golden sun-flowers and towering cypress trees. Its landscapes exude a magical charm, rich in culture and heritage they are bathed in a unique light that has inspired artists for centuries. The warmth and hospitality of the local people and the delicious local cuisine and fine wines are just some of the pleasures that this region has in store for you.
Tuscany is the fifth largest region in Italy. Wedged deeply like a triangle in the heart of Italy, it constitutes a transitional area between the Po Delta and Liguria, which are highly industrialised, and those Italian regions, which are still principally agricultural. It stretches over the western side of the Apennines and includes the islands of the Tuscan archipelago. It lies on the sea to the west and southwest and borders with Liguria to the northwest, Emilia-Romagna to the north, the Marches and Umbria to the east, and Latium to the southeast.
The location is in the western part of the boot of Italy, north of Rome and south of Genoa. It is bounded by the Apennines to the North and East and by the Mediterranean on the West. Its land area is about 9,000 square miles. Its major cities are Florence, Pisa, Siena, Lucca, Arezzo, and Pistoia. Its major river is the Arno, on which Florence and Pisa is located.
Elegant 'Bagni di Lucca' originally known by the Romans and popular in the Middle Ages, reached the height of its fame at the beginning of the 19th century when Napoleon's sister, Eliza Bonaparte, restored the spa buildings and made this little town near Lucca a favourite destination for scholars and musicians from all over Europe.
Over the years, many illustrious visitors spent time taking the therapeutic waters of Bagni di Lucca including; Giaccamo Puccini, Shelley, Byron and Browning.
Located in a quiet and relaxing corner of Northern Tuscany with few foreign tourists, this charming village is surrounded by wooded hills and winding streams.
Today, many city dwelling Italians choose to have their second homes. There are two spas, a thermal beauty centre, and two natural steam grottos. An ideal location for total rest and relaxation!!! Also, a large communal lido where visitors can relax & swim in the thermal waters plus indoor thermal pool for year round use.
Bagni di Lucca is its composed of many separate villages, two of which are called "Ponte a Serraglio" and "La Villa". Along both of them flows a lovely mountain river called the Lima, which offers opportunities for fishing and canoeing. Excellent tennis courts are also available. There are good opportunities for Trekking and mountain bike riding on trails and paths which afford some lovely views of the valley. Parachute jumping from the peaks of the Apennines is also available in the vicinity of Bagni di Lucca.
Lucca is the most intimate and charming of Tuscany’s cities, a civilised and untroubled backwater where neither the pace of life nor the appearance of the medieval streets and squares seems to have changed over the centuries. Preserved within an oval of walls, the city is full of beautiful churches, fascinating museums and galleries, boutiques, and plenty of quiet corners and flower-decorated lanes.
Lucca is a city rich in history, founded by the Etruscans and home to more than 100 churches. It became a Roman colony in 180BC and a self-governing city during the 12th century. During this time it enjoyed a period of prosperity based on the silk trade – rivalling the silks of Byzantium.
Lucca remained an independent republic for over 500 years. Napoleon ended this in 1805 when he placed his sister, Elisa, in control of all of Tuscany. Lucca finally became part of the Italian state around 1847. The walls around Lucca remain fully intact, a testament to the long periods of peace which the city has enjoyed. Having lost their military importance they have become a pedestrian promenade. Although they were used for racing cars for several years during the 20th century.
Lucca is the birthplace of composers Francesco Geminiani, Gioseffo Guami, Luigi Boccherini, Alfredo Catalani and Giacomo Puccini. Puccini’s house ‘Casa di Puccini’ is open to the public. It is preserved in much the same way as he left it, his glasses and pen still poised on his desk where he wrote Madame Butterfly.
Each summer Lucca hosts the Summer Festival where the likes of Elton John, Simply Red, Roger Waters, Tracy Chapman, Eric Clapton and Santana play live in the Piazza Napoleon.
Abetone is a popular ski resort in the centre of Italy. The area stands at 1400 metres above the sea level, near the border between Tuscany and Emilia Romagna. Abetone is popular in both summer (for climbing) and winter months (for skiing).
Ski runs are available in four marvellous valleys:
Abetone continued: Ski facilities are as follows: 20 Kms of ski slopes, (37 ski slopes) 1 cable car, 2 cabin ways, 9 chair lifts, 15 ski-lifts, 5 ski schools, 2 cross-country slopes covered with artificial snow.
You will also find excellent authentic restaurants, a cinema, and a skating-rink in Abetone.
Pietrasanta is a small medieval town straddling the foothills of the Apuan Alps. Located just 3km from the coast the mountains and sea views blend together well.
The town has Roman origins and part of the Roman wall still stands today. It grew to importance during the 15th century, mainly due to its connection with marble. Michelangelo was the first sculptor to recognise the beauty of the local stone and picked his marble from here. Today’s artists and sculptors are drawn to Pietrasanta from all over the world. Their studios mingle with small elegant shops amongst wooden shutters and ochre washed buildings in the deep alleyways that radiate from Piazza del Duomo.
Close by, the Marina di Pietrasanta compliments the town; it has a wide beach and is where the Florentines and Milanese spend their summers by the sea.
Pisa is so closely associated with one dramatic building – the Leaning Tower – that its all too easy to overlook the city’s glorious cathedral and Baptistery, not to mention an idiosyncratic little church, an evocative medieval piazza and its trio of art filled museums.
Pisa’s Campo dei Miracoli (“Field of Miracles”) is one of the most beautiful squares in Italy, its green carpet of grass the setting for the Pisan-Romanesque gemstones of the Duomo, Bapistry, Camposanto and Campanile – that Italian icon better known as the Leaning tower – Italy’s most famous symbol.
The east end of the square is anchored by the old bishop’s palace, now home to the Duomo museum. Souvenir stalls cling like barnacles to the long south side of the square, leading to the town.
For centuries, Pisa was one of Italy’s greatest cities. An Etruscan and then a Roman colony, it prospered throughout the Middle Ages, reaching the peak of its power in the 11th-12th centuries, when its maritime prowess yielded the riches that would help finance the Leaning Tower and many other buildings. Naval defeats and the loss of its harbour to silt then led to a waning influence and after 1406, when Florence assumed control of the city, it became little more than a centre of science and learning.
Today’s visitors are denied much of the city’s former glory, however, for a great deal of the old city was destroyed by World War 2 Bombing in 1944. The great exception is the Campo dei Miracoli