Versilia
Encyclopedia
The Versilia is a part of Tuscany
Tuscany
Tuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....

 in the north-western province of Lucca
Lucca
Lucca is a city and comune in Tuscany, central Italy, situated on the river Serchio in a fertile plainnear the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Lucca...

, and is named after the Versilia river.
Known for fashionable Riviera resorts, it consists of numerous clubs that are frequented by local celebrities.

Geography

The most famous and populated part of this area is Viareggio
Viareggio
Viareggio is a city and comune located in northern Tuscany, Italy, on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea. With a population of over 64,000 it is the main centre of the northern Tuscan Riviera known as Versilia, and the second largest city within the Province of Lucca.It is known as a seaside resort...

, which extends along the coastline and is at the foot of the Apuan Alps, traveling from South to North, beginning at Stazzema and up to Marina di Massa.

The coastal shelf is sandy sloping gradually into the Ligurian Sea, which stretches from the ligurian coast up to the Piombino promontory, and not from the Tyrrhenian Sea as mistakenly believed, whose name has replaced the historic nomination, The Tuscan Sea.

History

In Roman times the Versilia was known as Fosse Papiriane and was a large swamp between Pisa
Pisa
Pisa is a city in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the right bank of the mouth of the River Arno on the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa...

 and Massa, and between the sea and the Apuan Alps. He was touched dalla Via Emilia Scauri, and crossed by the Via Aurelia
Via Aurelia
The Via Aurelia was a Roman road in Italy constructed around the year 241 BC. The project was undertaken by C. Aurelius Cotta, who at that time was censor...

.

During the medieval era through the inside, along the South-East North-West, by Via Francigena
Via Francigena
The Via Francigena is an ancient road between Rome and Canterbury, passing through England, France, Switzerland and Italy. In mediaeval times it was an important road and pilgrimage route...

.

Historical Versilia

The so-called "Historical Versilia" consists exclusively of four common places: Pietrasanta
Pietrasanta
Pietrasanta is a town and comune on the coast of northern Tuscany in Italy, in the province of Lucca. Pietrasanta is part of Versilia, on the last foothills of the Apuan Alps, about 32 km north of Pisa...

, Forte dei Marmi
Forte dei Marmi
Forte dei Marmi is a sea town and comune in the province of Lucca, in northern Tuscany . It is the birthplace of Paola Ruffo di Calabria, Queen of the Belgians....

, Seravezza and Stazzema
Stazzema
Stazzema is a comune in the Province of Lucca in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 80 km northwest of Florence and about 25 km northwest of Lucca.-Geography:...

. The latter two, because the land is located mainly on hills and mountains of the Apuan Alps, are the so-called "Alta Versilia” or Upper Versilia. From the geographical point of view the "Historical Versilia" extending from the north Cinquale valley to the south Motrone valley, and coincides with what was the Capitanato di Pietrasanta.

A major literary figure who attended the Versilia at the beginning of the 20th century was Gabriele D'Annunzio
Gabriele D'Annunzio
Gabriele D'Annunzio or d'Annunzio was an Italian poet, journalist, novelist, and dramatist...

, who had built a huge villa in the pine forest around Pietrasanta. The poet spent there the last years of his life, composing the most famous verses of Alcyone and Francesca da Rimini.

Climate

The climate of the Versilia coast is mild, but all things considered, given the position close to the Alps
Alps
The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....

, is greatly influenced by the humid Atlantic currents that contrast with the nearby mountain, bringing abundant rainfall, mostly concentrated in the half-seasons.
During the summer, the humidity is very high, with values between 60 and 80%. This encourages the proliferation of mosquitoes, contrasted by the reclamation of marshes, which are finished by the beginning of the season.

See also

  • Alpi Apuane
    Alpi Apuane
    The Alpi Apuane are a mountain range in northern Tuscany, Italy, part of the Apennine Mountains. They are included between the valleys of the Serchio and Magra rivers, and, to north-west, the Garfagnana and Lunigiana...

  • Viareggio
    Viareggio
    Viareggio is a city and comune located in northern Tuscany, Italy, on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea. With a population of over 64,000 it is the main centre of the northern Tuscan Riviera known as Versilia, and the second largest city within the Province of Lucca.It is known as a seaside resort...

  • Camaiore
    Camaiore
    Camaiore is a town and comune of 31,503 inhabitants within the province of Lucca, Tuscany, Italy. It stretches from the Alps to the east, to the plains and the coast of Versilia to the west.-Morphology:...

  • Pietrasanta
    Pietrasanta
    Pietrasanta is a town and comune on the coast of northern Tuscany in Italy, in the province of Lucca. Pietrasanta is part of Versilia, on the last foothills of the Apuan Alps, about 32 km north of Pisa...

  • Massarosa
    Massarosa
    Massarosa is a town and comune in the province of Lucca, Tuscany, Italy.-Frazioni:3191 People live in Stiava as of December 31, 2004. 1564 Of them are men, 1627 women. In the centre of the village is a local supermarket, a bakery and a few other shops. There is also a small church dedicated to the...

  • Seravezza
  • Stazzema
    Stazzema
    Stazzema is a comune in the Province of Lucca in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 80 km northwest of Florence and about 25 km northwest of Lucca.-Geography:...

  • Forte dei Marmi
    Forte dei Marmi
    Forte dei Marmi is a sea town and comune in the province of Lucca, in northern Tuscany . It is the birthplace of Paola Ruffo di Calabria, Queen of the Belgians....

  • Volegno
    Volegno
    Volegno is a hamlet in the province of Lucca, Tuscany, central Italy, administratively a frazione of the comune of Stazzema. Located at 450 m over the sea level in the Alpi Apuane Regional Park, it has some 50 inhabitants....


Sources

  • Diamondo Scalabrella: Vita eroica di Guiscardo da Pietrasanta, Tip. Cooperativa Pietrasanta, 1964, pag. 72.
  • Mario Lopes Pegna: Versilia ignota, Editoriale Toscana, Florence, 1958.

External links


Tourism in Versilia
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