Tuscany
Tuscany is the fifth largest region in Italy. It stretches over the western side of the Apennines and includes the islands of the Tuscan archipelago.
It is bounded by the Apennines to the north and east and by the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Its land area is about 9, 000 square miles.
Florence is the capital of the region. Its main river is the Arno, on which Florence and Pisa are located.
THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT
Tuscany has a varied and complex morphology; ranges of mountains and hills alternate with strips of plains, scattered in an apparently irregular distribution. The Apennines are in the north and in the east while the Apuane Alps are in the northwest.
Tuscany has more woodland than any other Italian region. There are tall forest trees providing timber for building. Tuscany has mineral deposits. There are seams of cinnabar, iron, lead, zinc, alabaster and lignite. The main natural parks are the Natural Park of Maremma and the Natural Park of San Rossore near Pisa.
SAN ROSSORE PARK We suggest you visit San Rossore Park, which is an amazing place immersed in nature. It is part of Migliarino , San Rossore and Massaciuccoli Natural Park, which covers about 24,000 hectares in the provinces of Pisa and Lucca.
This natural park is situated along the coast from Viareggio to Leghorn.
The easiest way to explore the vast woods of the natural reserve of San Rossore Migliarino Park is on board a horse coach.
During the tour you can admire pinewoods, meadows, rivers, lakes, ponds and pathways leading to the beach and …
…you can reach Marina di Vecchiano, a seaside resort in the province of Lucca. When you arrive there you can get off the coach and spend an hour on a beautiful sandy beach.
Our tour guide will give you information about the oldest trees, the particular vegetation and all the wild animals living in the park, such as wild boars, squirrels, hares, and owls.
San Rossore Estate, which was a Medici game reserve, then owned by Italian kings and the President of the Italian Republic, is also known for its hippodrome, where races take place every year.
You can also enjoy guided park tours on a small train, on foot or by bike or by boat along the River Arno. Here you can have a picnic and play all kinds of sports or simply rest under the big pine trees!
THE VIA FRANCIGENA
THE VIA FRANCIGENA
The Via Francigena has been the pilgrimage route to Rome since the Middle Ages. It was used not only by simple pilgrims, but also by Kings, Popes and Princes.
Inns, hospitals, monasteries, boroughs and castles were built along its path, therefore it became an important trade and cultural route.
PILGRIMAGE THROUGH THE AGES During the Middle Ages, the Via Francigena was an important pilgrimage route, not a single road, although it included several possible routes that changed over the centuries. “All roads leads to Rome, you know!”.
The Via Francigena, unlike ancient Roman roads, connected abbeys and not cities, linking the sacred places of the Christian world.
Nowadays the official route is divided into 79 stages and begins in Canterbury , continues in France, Switzerland and Italy and ends in Rome.
It is 2,000 km long and crosses seven Italian regions - Valle d'Aosta, Piedmont, Lombardy, Emilia Romagna, Liguria, Tuscany and Latium and 140 municipalities, with a total of 44 stages in Italy.
Today the Via Francigena is also a journey through the Italian landscape, which changes greatly:
• from the pastures of the Aosta Valley to the industrial and agricultural plains of Piedmont, • from the Po River to the rolling hills of EmiliaRomagna, • from the harshness of northern Tuscany to the sweetness of the Crete Senesi and the enchantment of the volcanic lakes of Latium.
This journey makes modern pilgrims really understand the landscape, the past and the present.
The journey turns into a gradual immersion in the roots of our culture, in which changes in the landscape, small and great works of art, the people we meet along the road, make us understand the essence of our heritage.
In San Miniato the Via Francigena passes through the old town centre and touches the old borough of San Genesio at the foot of the hill, which was chosen by Popes, Emperors and Bishops to host councils in ancient times.
From the top of the Tower of Frederick II, which is the symbol of San Miniato, visitors can see the point where the Via Francigena meets the Roman road that runs from Pisa to Florence.
The landscape is enchanting and is dotted with olive groves, vineyards, orchards, tobacco mills, old boroughs, ancient churches, amazing castles and Medici villas.
You can reach the Pieve of Coiano ,the Pieve in Chianni, which is now a hostel, roadhouses and a water supply in Calenzano.
You can also reach Montaione and San Vivaldo.
I.T. “CATTANEO” SAN MINIATO (PISA) ITALY ERASMUS PLUS GROUP ANNO SCOLASTICO 2021-2022 Teachers : Mila Nuti Maria Beatrice Bianucci