UNESCO SITES
Awarded the title of Unesco World Heritage sites, these treasures offer unique experiences you do not want to miss.
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Florence
The entire historic center of Florence, the regional capital, is on UNESCO’s list, and it was also the first Tuscan site to be added in 1982.
Including Florence’s 600 years of extraordinary artistic activity, the 13th-century cathedral (Santa Maria del Fiore), the Church of Santa Croce, the Uffizi and the Pitti Palace. UNESCO is the “symbol of the Renaissance,” a place to see world-class art and architecture by masters like Michelangelo, Botticelli, Brunelleschi, and Giotto.
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Pisa
Pisa was the second Tuscan site to be added to UNESCO's World Heritage Sites with its Piazza del Duomo which houses a group of monuments known the world over.
the scene of Galileo Galilei's experiments, represents the architectural perfection of the Pisan Romanesque style, a combination of classical, early Christian, Lombard and oriental motifs. The monuments that overlook here, the Duomo, the famous Leaning Tower, the Baptistery and the Camposanto, are of a beauty and whiteness that leave you breathless. The monumental complex is one of the most iconic and visited in Tuscany.
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Siena
The embodiment of a medieval city, internationally renowned for its Palio, an ancient tradition that takes place twice a year.
Siena boasts urban and artistic structures that can be considered some of the most beautiful expressions of architecture. The Campo with the shell shaped square, the center of the city, and the Cathedral, are some of the most important masterpieces of Tuscan artists.
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San Gimignano
South towards Siena, we find a place that although small and quaint contains within itself the essence of Tuscany.
Simply elegant and sophisticated, San Gimignano is a perfect combination of local art and architecture, harmonizing perfectly with the surrounding enchanting landscape. The medieval towers that proudly stand out against the town’s skyline definitely make this place one of a kind.
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Pienza
Siena and driving along some of the more panoramic routes of Tuscany, amidst the amazing landscape of the Orcia Valley, we find Pienza.
The hometown of Enea Silvio Piccolomini later Pope Pius II. Thanks to Pope Pius II, Pienza became one of the first places in Italy to enact Renaissance architectural projects, like Palazzo Piccolomini. This "summer home" was built in 1459 according to the humanist concept of ideal building for an ideal city.
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Val d'orcia
The Orcia Valley was proclaimed a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2004.
Located in southern Tuscany, the Orcia Valley or Val d'Orcia is definitely a one of a kind landscape: if you’ve never been there, take a postcard from Tuscany and you’ll quite certainly find the Val d'Orcia represented through its gentle rolling hills that seem to disappear in the horizon with an elegant succession of soft colors, from green to ochre and brown and rows of cypress trees.
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The Medici Villas and Gardens
Last to be added to the UNESCO World Heritage sites in 2013 were the 12 Medici villas and 2 gardens hat you can find not too far from Florence. These were Renaissance-era summer residences and hunting lodges for the powerful Medici family, most of which can be visited for free and are home to important works from Renaissance artists.
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Garfagnana
Garfagnana is like saying nature. A treasure chest enclosed between the Apuan Alps and the Apennines and crossed by the Serchio river. Discover an incredible and rare location with its cultural and natural integrity. It is a scenario that you do not expect, there are revelations of nature such as the Orrido di Botri, the canyon of Tuscany carved by the waters of streams that flow into this prehistoric fissure.
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Montecatini Terme
The eighth wonder, proclaimed a UNESCO site in 2021 as part of the transnational serial site "The Great Spa Towns of Europe", is Montecatini. Representative of the important European thermal phenomenon active from 1700 until the thirties of the twentieth century, with its historic spas and its jewels of Art Nouveau architecture.