Pietrasanta

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Pietrasanta

Pietrasanta is a town and comune
Comune

In Italy, the comune, is the basic administrative division of both provinces and regions, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality....
on the coast of northern Tuscany

Tuscany

Tuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of and a population of about 3.6 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence.Tuscany is known for its landscapes and its artistic legacy....
in Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia....
, in the province of Lucca

Province of Lucca

The Province of Lucca is a Provinces of Italy in the Tuscany region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Lucca.It has an area of 1,773 km?, and a total population of 372,244 ....
. Pietrasanta straddles the last foothills of the Apuan Alps. It is about 32 km north of Pisa

Pisa

Pisa is a city in Tuscany, central Italy, on the right bank of the mouth of the Arno River on the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa....
, 1 hour from Florence

Florence

Florence is the Capital city of the Italy Regions of Italy of Tuscany and of the provinces of Italy Province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany and has a population of 364,779 ....
and 1.5 hour from Genoa

Genoa

Genoa is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria. The city has a population of about 610,000 and the urban area has a population of about 900,000....
. The town is located 3 km (1.8 miles) off the coast (Marina di Pietrasanta).

History
The town has Roman

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC....
origins and part of the Roman wall still exists.

The medieval town was founded in 1255 upon the preexisting "Rocca di Sala" fortress of the Lombards

Lombards

Discussion

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Encyclopedia

Tuscany

Italy

Province of Lucca

Pisa

Pisa is a city in Tuscany, central Italy, on the right bank of the mouth of the Arno River on the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa....
, 1 hour from Florence

Florence

Genoa

History

The town has Roman

Ancient Rome

Lombards

The Lombards were a Germanic peoples originally from Northern Europe who settled in the valley of the Danube and from there invaded Byzantine Italian peninsula in 568 under the leadership of Alboin....
by Luca Guiscardo da Pietrasanta, from whom it got its name. Pietrasanta was at its height a part of the Genova city-state (1316 - 1328). The town is first mentioned in 1331 in records of Genova, when it became a part of the Lucca

Lucca

Lucca is a city in Tuscany, northern central Italy, situated on the river Serchio in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Lucca....
n state along with the river port of Motrone, and was held until 1430. At that time it passed back to Genova until 1484, when the Medici

Medici

The M?dici family was a powerful and influential Florence family from the 14th to 18th century. The family had three popes , numerous rulers of Florence and later members of the French and English royalty....
s took control of Florence

Florence

Charles VIII of France

Charles VIII, called the Affable, , was List of French monarchs from 1483 to his death. Charles was a member of the House of Valois. His invasion of Italy initiated the long series of Italian Wars which characterized the first half of the 16th century....
took control of the town. It remained a Luccan town again until Pope Leo X

Pope Leo X

Pope Leo X, born Giovanni de' Medici was Pope from 1513 to his death. He was the last non-priest to be elected Pope. He is known primarily for the sale of indulgences to reconstruct St....
gave Pietrasanta back to the Medici family.

The town suffered a long period of a decadence during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, partially due to malaria

Malaria

Malaria is a Vector -borne infectious disease caused by protozoan parasites. It is widespread in Tropics and subtropical regions, including parts of the Americas, Asia, and Africa....
. In 1841, the Granduke of Tuscany, Leopold II di Lorena

Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany

Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany, in Italian language Leopoldo Giovanni Giuseppe Francesco Ferdinando Carlo, in German language Leopold Johann Joseph Franz Ferdinand Karl , of Habsburg-Lorraine, was Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1824 until 1859....
promoted several reconstruction projects (including the building of schools specially created to teach carving skills, and the reopening of the once famous quarries), which brought back much of the town's former glory.

The town then became the 'capoluogo' (capital) of the 'Vicariato di Pietrasanta', which included the towns of Forte dei Marmi, Seravezza and Stazzema (this region became the historical heart of Versilia). Finally, with the Plebiscite, the town joined the Italian Kingdom (Regno d'Italia).

Main sights

Cathedral of St. Martin
Pietrasanta Cathedral

The Cathedral of Pietrasanta is a church in Pietrasanta, Tuscany, central Italy. It is first mentioned in 1223, and was enlarged in 1330....
(Duomo
Duomo

Duomo is a generic Italian language term for a cathedral church. The formal word for a church that is presently a cathedral is cattedrale; a Duomo may be either a present or a former cathedral ....
, 13th-14th centuries).
Church of Saint Augustine (15th century), in Romanesque
Romanesque architecture

Romanesque architecture is the term that is used to describe the architecture of Middle Ages Europe which evolved into the Gothic architecture style beginning in the 12th century....
style, now seat of art exhibitions.
The Gothic Civic Tower.
Column and Fountain of the Marzocco (16th century).
Palazzo Panichi Carli (16th century).
Palazzo Moroni (16ht century), home to the local Archaeological Museum.

The patronage of artists

The area, like most of Tuscany in general, has long enjoyed the patronage of artists. Pietrasanta grew to importance during the 15th century, mainly due to its connection with marble

Marble

Marble is a nonfoliated metamorphic rock resulting from the metamorphism of limestone, composed mostly of calcite . It is extensively used for Marble sculpture, as a architecture material, and in many other applications....
. Michelangelo

Michelangelo

Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni , commonly known as Michelangelo, was an Italian Renaissance Painting, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer....
was the first sculptor to recognize the beauty of the local stone.

Today, the Colombian painter and sculptor Fernando Botero

Fernando Botero

Fernando Botero Angulo is a Colombian neo-figurative artist, self-titled "the most Colombian of Colombian artists" early on, coming to prominence when he won the first prize at the Sal?n de Artistas Colombianos in 1959....
as well as the Polish sculptor Igor Mitoraj

Igor Mitoraj

Igor Mitoraj is a Poland artist born in Oederan, Germany.He studied painting at the Krak?w School of Art and at the Krak?w Academy of Art under Tadeusz Kantor....
, and Polish F1 driver Robert Kubica

Robert Kubica

Robert Kubica is the first Polish racing driver to compete in Formula One. From 2006 he has driven for the BMW Sauber F1 team, promoted from test driver to race driver during 2006....
have residences in the comune.

External links

(Italian)
(Italian)
(English)
ask for our Pietrasanta newsletter (English issue) about Marble, Art and Tourism at info@pietrasantaresort.com