Archive for 'History'

The Renaissance was a magical time in history between the 14th and 17th centuries; full of creativity, innovation and learning. It was a period of huge change that bridged the time between the turbulent Middle Ages and the modern day.

Tourists could spend a delightful stay at a vacation rental in Florence where they could tour around the birth city of this cultural revival!

Renaissance means ‘Re-birth’ and was indeed a perfect term to describe the great efforts Italy put in to revive their status and recitation after the fall of the Empire.

This majestic civilisation once ruled over much of Europe and huge advancements had been made in medicine, science, art and governing structures during its reign.     Read More

In the 19th century, a famous bandit called Domenico Tiburzi thrived in the Maremma area of Tuscany! Many poems and stories were inspired by glorious accounts of his adventures whereby he defied the authorities and built himself a reputation as a Robin Hood style outlaw.

The authorities branded him as an evil criminal and accused him of twenty murders and numerous counts of theft and disruption of the peace but he was loved by many of the laypeople for this defiance. He spent years defending the poor, stealing food and money to give to them, being arrested and then escaping to continue on his adventurous life!

But this carefree lifestyle was not to last forever for Tiburzi. A trap was set to catch him after a family he sought shelter from, the Franci family, informed the Carabinieri, the Italian military police, of his whereabouts.     Read More

Giorgio Vasari was born in Arezzo, Tuscany in July 1511. He grew up with a keen interest in the arts and had quite a talent for painting, writing, architectural design and history research. In 1529 he travelled to Rome where he studied the masters of the Renaissance.

Those wishing to stay and explore the areas where Vasari was born and lived in later life can choose from a lovely range of vacation rentals in Arezzo or last minute holiday deals in Florence.

Vasari was inspired by the sheer wealth of talent that was harvested and blossomed during the Age of Enlightenment and worked as a painter with good success for quite some time. But he began to take an even greater interest in designing buildings and so began his next career!     Read More

Who hasn’t heard of the great Galileo Galilei? He was a mathematician, physicist and philosopher but was probably most famous for his astronomical discoveries. In 1615 he fiercely advocated the Copernican system which correctly stated that that the Earth and other planets orbited the sun, opposing the Catholic belief that the sun and other planets orbited Earth. The leaders of the Church accused him of heresy and ordered him to remain under house arrest for the rest of his days. He died nine years later.

His legacy has lived on and today he is popularly known as ‘The father of modern physics’ and ‘the father of modern astronomy’ His contributions to the fields of science and mathematics have been outstanding and he will be forever cherished as one of the world’s greatest minds.

Galilei Galileo was born in Pisa in 1564 and there are many fascinating landmarks here erected in his honour. If you're holidaying in Pisa during your next vacation to Tuscany then you should certainly take a few hours to walk in the footsteps of this great man!     Read More