Tuscany
The view over Siena in Tuscany, Italy. One of the country's most beautiful cities – with ancient buildings and medieval walls – bustling Siena is steeped in history and culture. It is particularly famous for the annual Palio, a horse race held in the main square, the Piazza del Campo.
Region of north central Italy, on the west coast, comprising the provinces of Massa e Carrara, Arezzo, Florence, Grosseto, Livorno, Lucca, Pisa, Pistoia, Prato, and Siena; area 22,997 sq km/8,879 sq mi; population (2001 est) 3,460,800. Its capital is Florence, and cities include Pisa, Livorno, and Siena. The area is mainly agricultural, producing cereals, wine (Chianti hills), olives (Lucca) and tobacco (plain of Arno); lignite (upper Arno) and iron (Elba) are also mined, and marble quarried (Carrara, Apuan Alps). During the 14th and 15th centuries, Italy's classical literary language became based on the Tuscan dialect, after it was used by Dante Alighieri, Petrarch, and Bocaccio.
History
Tuscany was inhabited by Etruscans from around 1000
BC, ancient Etruria corresponding quite closely geographically to modern Tuscany. The region was conquered by Rome in the mid-4th century
BC. It became a Lombard duchy during the 6th–8th centuries, with Lucca as its capital, and then was under Frankish rule during the 8th–12th centuries. In medieval times the area was divided into small states, with many cities becoming free communes and some – such as Pisa, Florence, Lucca, and Siena – becoming powerful republics. These communes and republics were united under Florentine rule during the 15th–16th centuries. It became part of united Italy in 1861.
Physical The region lies mostly in the northern Apennines, but also includes the plain of the lower Arno and the Maremma, a reclaimed marshland. The chief rivers are the Arno in the north and the Ombrone in the south. Industry is concentrated along the coast at Piombino, Livorno, and Massa, and on the Arno plain in Florence, Prato, Pistoia, Lucca, and Pisa, with very little activity in the south. Tuscany contains some of Italy's most important tourist centres, such as Florence, Pisa, Siena, and Viareggio. |
Modern history Since the rise of the Medici in Florence, the region has been dominated by that city. Under the Medici, Tuscany became a grand duchy in 1569; only Lucca and the duchy of Massa and Carrara remained independent. On the extinction of the Medici in 1737, Tuscany passed to the House of Habsburg. By the Peace of Luneville in 1801 Tuscany was given to Spain, but in 1807 it was ceded to Napoleon I. On Napoleon's downfall in 1814 the Grand Duke Ferdinand III returned, and in 1848, under his son Leopold II, a constitution was granted. However, a revolution broke out, and Leopold maintained his position only with the aid of Austrian troops. In 1859 Leopold was expelled by the Florentines, and Tuscany voted to unite with the kindgom of Sardinia, becoming part of a united Italy in 1861. |
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