The Charm of Tuscany

Über das Reiseziel: Florence is as vital and beautiful today as when its wool and silk merchants and bankers revolutionized the economy of 13th century Tuscany, and the art of Dante and Michelangelo stunned the world. Florence was the centre of the Italian Renaissance. The fruits of the city’s rebirth are still evident in its seemingly endless array of museums, churches and palazzi. With its historic centre classified as a UNESCO World Heritage site, the Duomo, the elegant and beautiful cathedral, dominates the city and is an unmistakable reference point in your wanderings. The River Arno, which cuts through the oldest part of the city, is crowned with the Ponte Vecchio bridge lined with shops and held up by stilts. Dating back to the 14th century, it is the only bridge that survived attacks during WWII. Standing by the river at night, when the city is illuminated with a myriad twinkling lights, is unforgettable. But more remains of Florence’s incomparable heritage than stones and paint, the city’s indomitable spirit has also survived the centuries, ensuring Florentine life today its liveliness and sophistication.

Über das Reiseziel: The city of Pisa once rivalled Genoa and Venice as a maritime power, emulated Padua and Perugia as a university town, and developed a distinctive style of Romanesque architecture. Today, the city draws its fame from an architectural project gone terribly wrong and relies on the tide of tourists who flow into the city every day. The most important monuments are concentrated in the piazza del Duomo. The baptistery, cathedral, Leaning Tower, and Camposanto shine like carved ivory, rising out of a broad expanse of emerald green grass. The duomo contains Giovanni Pisano’s masterful pulpit, with its violently dramatic Gothic reliefs. You can make your unbalanced way to the top of the Torre Pendente, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, from which local boy Galileo Galilei dropped a variety of objects in his attempt to understand gravity. Education has fuelled the local economy since the 1400s, and students from across Italy still compete for places in its elite university and research schools and help keep a vibrant and affordable cafe and bar scene. This metropolis of a hundred thousand inhabitants is much more than a tower, is a city full of art and history.

Über das Reiseziel: Die kleine Stadt San Gimignano hat auch einen mittelalterlichen Ursprung und zeigt ihre spektakuläre Mauer, liegt auf den Hügeln der Toskana, das Dorf liegt nur 35 Autominuten von Siena und Florenz entfernt, so dass jeder Tourist, der daran gedacht hat, in eine der beiden Städte zu gehen, an den Wundern dieses Dorfes vorbeikommen kann. Seit 1990 erklärte die UNESCO das historische Zentrum von San Gimignano zum Kulturerbe der Menschheit, das vor allem durch seine mittelalterliche Architektur, insbesondere für seine Türme, sehr besonders. Es stellt sich auch heraus, dass das Dorf ein Wallfahrtsort für Menschen war, die auf dem Weg nach Rom waren.