Fiesole
2009
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2021
Wonderful summer views of the Tuscan hills
2021
Spectacular sunset over the Apuan Alps
2008
Prato, Castle of the Emperor
The fort of the Alberti di Prato once stood on the site where the present castle is located, which was almost completely razed to the ground in 1107 during the siege of the troops of Matilde di Canossa; in its place another palace, called "Palazzolo", was rebuilt to house the nuncios of the emperors Arrigo VI of Svevia and Otto IV of Brunswick (of which two towers remain, those without battlements, which until 1767-68 had about the double the current height); the area affected by the Castle has always been strategic, so much so that there are documents dating back to 1035 which testify to the presence of an older "palatium"; this building was the nucleus of Castrum Prati, the village that stood upstream of the building which also possessed an ancient parish church (Santa Maria in Castello, which no longer exists). The commission for the construction was given by Frederick II to Riccardo da Lentini, probably starting from 1240. The castle, originally tangent to the second walls (XII century), was partially surrounded by a moat and connected to the Albertian prisons from which definition " of the prisons "the nearby Marian shrine took its name. It has eight towers and has inherent, as for the Castel del Monte, various symbolic aspects, both in the structure and in the portal. Once completed it should have been used as an important garrison of the empire, testifying to the presence of the emperor on the possessions of the north. However, its construction was interrupted around 1250, due to the premature death of the emperor, and the unfinished structure was later used for many other purposes. During the fourteenth century, under the Florentine dominion, the castle was connected to the third circle of walls by a covered corridor called "Corridore del Cassero" (ie: corridor of the castle) or more simply Cassero. In this way the Florentine troops could easily enter the city from outside the walls using a protected passage.
2021
San Miniato. Views on a summer day with clouds
San Miniato is an Italian municipality in Tuscany. The historic center of the city is located in a strategic position on a hill halfway between Florence and Pisa.
2021
Fucecchio, Tuscany. Corsini Park. The fortified towers.
Fucecchio. Corsini Park. The fortified towers. Dominated by the majesty of the "Torre grossa", the park is home to the high "Middle Tower" and the smaller "Pagliaiola".
2021
Fucecchio. Franciscan Convent of the Virgin
It was built in the early seventeenth century. Instead of a small sixteenth-century oratory, a church and a convent were built, which in the mid-seventeenth century became a Franciscan.
2021
Lucca, Tuscany. The church of San Giusto
The church of San Giusto is a church in Lucca located in the square of the same name. The current building, built on a previous one, dates back to the second half of the 12th century.
2021
Calci. The Charterhouse of Val Graziosa
The Certosa della Val Graziosa di Calci, commonly known as the Certosa di Pisa or also the Certosa di Calci, is located in the province of Pisa, in the municipality of Calci, in a flat area on the slopes of the Pisan mountains called "Val Graziosa".
2021
Fucecchio. Panorama from the lookout of the city
Fucecchio is an Italian town of 23,076 inhabitants in the metropolitan city of Florence in Tuscany, in the lower Valdarno.
2007
Siena
Siena is an Italian town of 53 818 inhabitants, the capital of the province of the same name in Tuscany. The city is universally known for its huge historical, artistic and landscape heritage and for its substantial stylistic unity of medieval urban furniture, as well as for the famous Palio. In 1995 its historic center was included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city is home to the Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, founded in 1472 and therefore the oldest bank in business as well as the longest-running in the world.