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Toscana
Living in Italy
- Toscana
A few interesting facts about Toscana
In Tuscany there is a sword in the stone: that of the Cistercian abbey of San Galgano, in the province of Siena. The sword belonged to Galgano Guidotti, who in 1100 was an intrepid knight but also devoted to the good life. When he converted (as the legend goes) he drove his sword into the rock, to use it as a cross for prayers. No one has been able to remove it since.
Maremma hosts a small Jerusalem (so called because of the presence of a Jewish population) with a very special appearance: it is dug out of tuff. It is Pitigliano, in the province of Grosseto. The architecture of the place speaks of a lost time, with narrow streets and alleyways, a wonderful De Medici aqueduct and a view of the town from the belvedere in front of the Sanctuary of the Madonna delle Grazie. These are memories that cannot be forgotten by those who choose to visit this village.
In Tuscany, there is much more than the leaning tower of Pisa.In fact, Tuscan imagination has also given life to the Guinigi Tower in Lucca (with trees on its top), Giotto's amazing bell tower in Florence, the legendary Torre del Mangia in Siena, the towers of San Gimignano (there were 72 of them in past centuries!), the Meloria Tower on the shallows west of Livorno, the watchtowers of Serravalle Pistoiese and the Tower of Catilina in Pistoia (which, according to legend, houses the remains of the Roman commander under its foundations).
