Florence is "the city of the art" par excellence, because it has been the birthplace of the Renaissance, during the XV-XVI century; its historic center has been declared World Heritage Site by the UNESCO in 1982, due to the great value of the architectural, pictorial and sculptural monuments placed there.
Florence and its surroundings were included among the stops of the Grand Tour, the travel that English aristocrats made through the Continent in order to perfect their classic studies.
Sesto Fiorentino, placed on the slopes of Monte Morello, is known for the "Manifattura di Doccia", one of the first porcelain plants in Europe, founded by Marquis Ginori in 1735.
Nearby there is Fiesole, the birthplace of Florence, according to the poet Valéry, founded by the Etruscans, according to Dante; Boccaccio's Decameron is set here.
Not too far from Fiesole, there are Mugello and Valdisieve areas.
Bagno a Ripoli was an ancient thermal area, visited by Florentine noblemen: for this reason elegant residences for the high bourgeoisie were built in the past.
Do not forget to visit the Medici's villas in Castello, the historic center of Certaldo, composed by tower-houses and battlemented walls, were the poet Boccaccio was born; the boundary walls and the "Ospedale di Sant'Antonio" in Lastra a Signa, both projected by Brunelleschi.
Scandicci, Campi Bisenzio, Vinci... are towns bound to the fates of Florence and endowed with unmistakable charme!
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