Florence and Tuscany

Tuscany is in the central-western part of Italy on the Tyrrhenian Sea. It gets its name from an Etruscan tribe that settled about three thousand years ago. It has belonged to the Romans, the Lombards, and the Franks.

More than four hundred years ago, Tuscany became a major European center under the Medici more than four hundred years ago. As a result, it is undoubtedly one of Italy's top tourist destinations as well as an ideal place for your villa when you hit it big, huge.

Florence is the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance and the administrative center of Tuscany. It is one of Italy's top tourist destinations, whose sites of interest are too numerous to list here. Siena and Pisa are two other major tourist destinations.

Tuscany is a center of industrial production, particularly metallurgy, chemicals, and textiles. Given the region's importance as an international art center for centuries, don't be surprised that it is an excellent place to appreciate and purchase fashion, jewelry, leather goods, marble, and other beauty items. Florence is the home of the house of Gucci.

Tuscany produces a wide variety of cereals, olives, vegetables, and fruit. But not only vegetarians eat well. It is home to cattle, horses, pigs, and poultry. One local specialty is the wild boar. On the coast, sea food is abundant.

Tuscany devotes over fifty thousand acres to grapevines; it ranks 4th among the 20 Italian regions. Its total annual wine production is about 58 million gallons, giving it 8th. About 70% of the wine production is red or rose', leaving 30% for white. The region produces 44 DOC wines. DOC stands for Denomina-zone di Origine Controllata, translated as Denomination of Controlled Origin, presumably a high-quality wine and 7 DOCG white wines. The G in DOCG stands for Garantita, but there is, in fact, no guarantee that such wines are truly superior. The region produces 9 DOCG wines. Tuscany also produces Super Tuscan wines, which may not have a prestigious classification but are outstanding.

This guide covers a visit to Florence and to Tuscany: the cities covered include Fiesole, Arezzo, Cortona, Chiusi, the Chianti region, Siena, Volterra, San Gimignano, Pisa, Carrara, Massa, the Versilia, Lucca, Pistoia, Montepulciano, Pienza, Grosseto, Massa Marittima, and Monte Argentario.

There are extensive descriptions and photos of the attractions.

The guide contains links to the websites of train and air travel companies.

It also has a listing of many reviews for the best-recommended