Florence & Tuscany

 

For centuries Italy has attracted visitors in search of culture and romance and there are few countries that can rival its renowned Classical origins, its art, music, architecture, scenery, food and wine. As home to the Roman Empire, the Renaissance, the Roman Catholic Church and the Vatican, its contribution to the arts surpasses that of any other nation. Tuscany embodies much that Italy is famous for, possessing more historical monuments than any other country, let alone province, on earth. Its cities, Florence, Siena and Pisa, together with smaller towns and medieval villages like Lucca and San Gimignano, house some of the world’s finest artistic treasures. Combine this with the haunting beauty of the local countryside, an enviable climate, one of the world’s great cuisines, and of course, with the Italians themselves, and you have all the ingredients for a superb holiday.

Florence defies description, arguably the finest city of the Renaissance and often described as the most beautiful city in Italy. Browning sighed over its idyllic charms and E.M. Forster described it in "A Room with a View" as the perfect antidote to Anglo-Saxon life. It owes its wealth to the commercial explosion that emerged after the dark ages when wool and other textile industries, backed by some of the very first international banks, turned Florence into one of the world’s richest cities. Political power was in the hands of just a few families, in particular, the Medici, who married into most European royal families, including our own. Florence thus became the cultural and intellectual heart of the continent: architects, artists and sculptors flocked here and, finding work from the nouveau riche, eager to spend on themselves and the city, were soon busy filling the churches and palaces to bursting point with some of the world’s most outstanding works. Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Titian plus countless others, created many of the masterpieces now on display in the Uffizi, one of the world’s greatest galleries.

Then there is the city of Pisa, famous for its leaning tower, one of the world’s most photographed buildings but the city is much more than this. The tower itself is situated in a complex of ecclesiastical buildings, as remarkable today as they must have seemed to the medieval pilgrims on their way to Rome. Nowhere in Italy do the three principal buildings, namely the cathedral, baptistry and bell tower, blend together with such harmony with a lovely contrast between their intricate stonework and the gentle surrounding countryside. Next we visit San Gimignano one of the best preserved medieval villages you will find anywhere in Europe, famous for its immense stone towers, dramatically rising upwards, creating its unique skyline.

Siena is the other great Tuscan city enclosed behind vast defensive walls, dominating the surrounding countryside like the fortress it is. It is wonderfully unique, yet is simultaneously a collection of parishes whose rivalries are still in evidence today during the Palio, the famous horse race, where seemingly the only rules are that there do not seem to be any! However, Siena is quite outstanding and has arguably the most gracious square, the Campo, in the world and, to be fair, when you see it, backed by the soaring Campanile, it is hard to disagree.

For centuries Italy has attracted visitors in search of culture and romance and there are few countries that can rival its renowned Classical origins, its art, music, architecture, scenery, food and wine. As home to the Roman Empire, the Renaissance, the Roman Catholic Church and the Vatican, its contribution to the arts surpasses that of any other nation. Tuscany embodies much that Italy is famous for, possessing more historical monuments than any other country, let alone province, on earth. Its cities, Florence, Siena and Pisa, together with smaller towns and medieval villages like Lucca and San Gimignano, house some of the world’s finest artistic treasures. Combine this with the haunting beauty of the local countryside, an enviable climate, one of the world’s great cuisines, and of course, with the Italians themselves, and you have all the ingredients for a superb holiday.

Florence defies description, arguably the finest city of the Renaissance and often described as the most beautiful city in Italy. Browning sighed over its idyllic charms and E.M. Forster described it in "A Room with a View" as the perfect antidote to Anglo-Saxon life. It owes its wealth to the commercial explosion that emerged after the dark ages when wool and other textile industries, backed by some of the very first international banks, turned Florence into one of the world’s richest cities. Political power was in the hands of just a few families, in particular, the Medici, who married into most European royal families, including our own. Florence thus became the cultural and intellectual heart of the continent: architects, artists and sculptors flocked here and, finding work from the nouveau riche, eager to spend on themselves and the city, were soon busy filling the churches and palaces to bursting point with some of the world’s most outstanding works. Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Titian plus countless others, created many of the masterpieces now on display in the Uffizi, one of the world’s greatest galleries.

Then there is the city of Pisa, famous for its leaning tower, one of the world’s most photographed buildings but the city is much more than this. The tower itself is situated in a complex of ecclesiastical buildings, as remarkable today as they must have seemed to the medieval pilgrims on their way to Rome. Nowhere in Italy do the three principal buildings, namely the cathedral, baptistry and bell tower, blend together with such harmony with a lovely contrast between their intricate stonework and the gentle surrounding countryside. Next we visit San Gimignano one of the best preserved medieval villages you will find anywhere in Europe, famous for its immense stone towers, dramatically rising upwards, creating its unique skyline.

Siena is the other great Tuscan city enclosed behind vast defensive walls, dominating the surrounding countryside like the fortress it is. It is wonderfully unique, yet is simultaneously a collection of parishes whose rivalries are still in evidence today during the Palio, the famous horse race, where seemingly the only rules are that there do not seem to be any! However, Siena is quite outstanding and has arguably the most gracious square, the Campo, in the world and, to be fair, when you see it, backed by the soaring Campanile, it is hard to disagree.

Supplier info: Riviera Travel

Since their inception 25 years ago, Riviera Travel have endeavoured to exceed the expectations of the discerning traveller, on their fascinating and innovative European and Worldwide escorted tours.

They have passion for quality and looking after all their guests in the most personal manner possible and really ‘go the extra mile'. Over the years they have received many commendations from many household names in the publishing industry. They have recently been voted by the members of one of the country's most respected consumer organisations in their biannual survey of travel companies, as one of the UK's top two Tour Operators and the most outstanding of all in terms of value for money - by some considerable margin.

Riviera Travel offers European and Worldwide Escorted Tours by Eurostar and by Air.

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