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I-Florence by Dotflorence staff is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribuzione-Non opere derivate 2.5 Italia License.
Based on a work at www.i-florence.com
Posts Tagged ‘i-florence’
A landmark en passant…
For a great number of Florentines the familiar small, walled oval hill on piazzale Donatello is little more than a roundabout.
Granted, it is a rather mysterious roundabout, higher than most, revealing peaks of elegant cypresses and glimpses of marble tombstones, but undoubtedly a landmark en passant for the modern motorist speeding along the wide viale from piazza Libertà down towards the Arno. However, this urban island, housing the originally named Cimitero Protestante di Porta a’ Pinti, described by custodian Julia Bolton Holloway as ‘a place dense with meaning, a burning glass of history,’ is a worthy destination in itself.
As an English woman living only five minutes away from the ‘English Cemetery’ and knowing embarrassingly little about it, I decided to find out more. Unbeknown to many, the cemetery is actually open for ash burials of all faiths, the most recent having taken place over Easter 2010.
» Read more…
Pisa & Lucca (tour by car )
Today your driver will pick you up directly at your accommodation for a visit to the splendid maritime city of Pisa to see the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa and more. The remote origins of Pisa and its name are lost in myth and legend but it is certain that this city had Eneolithic settlements and the presence of the Etruscans between the 6th and 3rd centuries B.C. Pisa was later Romanized and became a colony of Rome during the time of Octavianus 
Augustus in the 1st century B.C. Meanwhile the population was growing along with the development of shipbuilding and trade, thanks also to its harbor. The city expanded rapidly and soon Pisa was surrounded by a circle of walls. In 1062 the building of the Pisa cathedral was begun.
The cathedral and baptistery, the tower of Pisa, and the Campo Santo or cemetery, together form one of the most beautiful and famous building groups in the world. The “Piazza dei Miracoli” makes a perfect showplace for these exquisite examples of Romanesque architecture. » Read more…