Firenze
Florence is one of the most beautiful and ancient cities in Italy and the world. The historic centre of Florence attracts millions of tourists each year and was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1982. It gave to birth many of the men who have more profoundly influenced the course of human history in every field of knowledge, art, literature and philosophy. Florence is believed to have the greatest concentration of art (in proportion to its size) in the world and it is known as the "cradle of the Renaissance" (la culla del Rinascimento) for its monuments, churches and buildings. The best-known site and crowning architectural jewel of Florence is the domed cathedral of the city, Santa Maria del Fiore, known as The Duomo. At the heart of the city there is Piazza della Signoria with Bartolomeo Ammanati's fontain of Neptune and Michelangelo's David. At the corner of the square The Uffizi, one of the most famous and important art galleries in the world, which contains works of art from Giotto, Cimabue, Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Donatello, Michelangelo, Raphael, to name but a few. You can visit also Ponte Vecchio whose most striking feature is the multitude of shops built upon its edgesFood and wine have long been an important staple of the economy. Florence is the most important city in Tuscany, one of the great wine-growing regions in the world. The province of Florence is characterized by Florence itself, the prosperous "Florentia", but the area extends from the city to the Chianti, up to Impruneta and the valley Val d'Elsa, the Valdarno the Mugello and the Florentine mountains. The province of Florence is surely one of the richest Tuscan areas, rich in nature and art. Many smaller towns lie in a wonderful, panoramic position, just a few Kilometres far from Florence, they are rich in archaeological finds, testifying to the Etruscan, Roman and medieval past of the whole area The Florentine Chianti is characterized by some wonderful estates. It is still rich in castles and fortresses, which overlook wonderful vineyards for the production of classical Chianti wine. The Florentine area of Valdarno lies just a few miles far from Florence, Siena and Arezzo,it's the ideal place for everybody, who is looking for art treasures and typical flavours of Tuscany. If you are interested in shopping rather than in art, here you will find some of Italy's most renowned fashion houses, with reasonable outlets where you can find products by Gucci, Armani, Prada and Dolce&Gabbana. The Val d'Elsa area is far from the mass tourism, it is still at the crossroads of significant routes, in the land of Certaldo, Vinci, Empoli and Castelfiorentino. This is the region where important artists like Leonardo, Boccaccio and Pontorno were born. The Mugello area is the birthplace of medieval painters like Giotto and Beato Angelico. One of the most interesting routes will lead you through valleys and hills, where a lot of ancient Medicean villas are still to be admired. The district of Mugello is well known among famous racing cyclists and motorcycle racers, thanks to the international autodrome of Mugello. The area called Florentine mountain borders the Mugello; this is the place of the world-famous forest Vallombrosa, with the millenarian abbey, by Reggello. A really surprising, natural paradise is represented by the Corella valley, by Dicomano; the Etruscans settled down in the neighbouring village Frascole. About one third of the territory by San Godenzo is included in the national nature park Foreste Casentinesi, with its waterfalls called Acquacheta and the mount Falterona, a sacred place for Etruscan people, where the river Arno springs from.
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