Italy Country Guide - Tuscany
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Tuscany is the most well known Italian region, famous for its art, history and evocative
landscapes. Strategically placed in the centre of Italy, it stretches over the slope
of the Apennines and reaches the Tyrrhenian Sea.
Tuscany is the most well known Italian region, famous for its art, history and evocative
landscapes. Strategically placed in the centre of Italy, it stretches over the slope
of the Apennines and reaches the Tyrrhenian Sea. The Tuscan landscape, mainly mountainous
and hilly, is one of the most representative images of Italy in the world, but the
region also has a plane (the Maremma), long sandy beaches and headlands as well
as the small enchanting islands of the Tuscan archipelago.
Florence is the capital of Tuscany and one of the pearls of Italy, its wonderful
masterpieces and great works of architecture enriching the everyday life of what
is now also a vibrant modern city. One of the most important collections of paintings
in the world can be found in the Uffizi Gallery and other magnificent paintings
can be seen in the Gallery of Palazzo Pitti, hosting among others Tiziano’s and
Raffaello’s masterpieces. The city is famous for its Duomo, the Baptistry and many
other wonderful churches, for Piazza della Signoria, Palazzo Vecchio and Ponte Vecchio,
where you can still find fifteenth-century shops. Other important cities in the
region are Siena, Pisa, Arezzo, Pistoia, Lucca, Livorno, Grosseto, Massa Carrara.
In addition to art, Tuscany offers outstanding natural settings, such as the Na
tional Park of the Argentario
and the Isola d’ Elba. In the countryside, among the vineyards and olive groves,
are wonderful villages and castles, a reminder of Tuscan life in the Middle Ages.
The northern area of Tuscany is heavily populated and dominated by industry and
intensive agriculture. There around Pisa and Livorno lies the heart of the region’s
economy.
Cooking in this region is regarded as an art form. With an emphasis on fresh, seasonal
ingredients and straightforward preparations, it is no wonder that Tuscan food has
become popular around the world. Beef, pork and poultry are regarded as being of
the highest quality. Tuscan olive oil is excellent for cooking and also simply drizzled
on delicious bread to prepare bruschetta, which is a regional speciality. Other
famous dishes are bean-based preparations, like Minestra di Fagioli, a simple vegetable
and bread soup, La Ribollita, and a two-inch-thick slab of beef cooked on a wood
fire called the Bistecca alla Fiorentina.
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