Alongside panforte, they are among Siena’s sweets that best represent the city. Just thinking about their orange and vanilla scent, s...

The Florentine beefsteak is the undisputed queen of Tuscany’s gastronomy. Including the bone, and strictly cooked in ‘blood’ (i.e...

There is no doubt that Tuscany is a land of inventors. Just think of Leonardo da Vinci! Ferdinando Innocenti is also one of them. Do yo...

Now that Mojito and Moscow Mule are all the rage as aperitifs, there are classic cocktails that have stood the test of time and moods. ...

If you are in Tuscany you might happen to eat a ufo. Do you know what that means? Don't worry, little green men and extraterrestrials i...

Brigidini…so tasty, who hasn’t heard of them? Their sweet scent pervades the air of any countryside fair or festival. They immediat...

Near Pistoia, to be precise only 12 km from the enchanting medieval city center, there is an equally charming village: Castagno di Pite...

Pomaia is a small village in the Municipality of Santa Luce in Pisa and here, among the hills, is the largest Buddhist center in E...

Torta coi ‘bischeri’ is typical of San Giuliano Terme, in the province of Pisa. Just look at the photo to get an idea of how sweet ...

In order to explain this term, we’ll give you a simple example: do you recall when, during a school exam, your leg would shake rhythm...

'A glass bottle, round and thick, without a base, with a covering of swamp weed that surrounds the body and forms its base...’: even ...

Volterra is often referred to as a ‘gem of stone’. In fact, everything is built with this material: roads, buildings and tower...

Pistoia comfits are a real delicacy even if, when you see them, they look a bit funny! They are white and have a very particular shape:...

There is an invisible town in Tuscany. Its name is Lucchio and it is perched high over the valley of the River Lima, one of the tributa...

Since the construction works started for the new trams, whenever people from Florence have to go somewhere, they use the expression ‘...

If reading this made you think of aliens, sorry you are off the track. We are not talking about the "little green men" who are sometime...

‘Whoever comes to Lucca and doesn’t eat buccellato can’t say they have been there’: this is what a traditional saying in Lucca ...

‘Ci ceni?’ It might sound like a generic question that would usually require at least two clarifications: where and when. But there...

Carrara marble is a precious material known for its beauty all over the world. Even Michelangelo fell in love with it, not only because...

Cacciucco is one of the most famous Tuscan dishes. Who doesn't know the tasty fish soup typical of Livorno? What few people know, howev...

In the splendid Island of Elba, there are many wonderful beaches and the one called Le Ghiaie is just one of these paradises. It is clo...

David Bowie, the charismatic Thin White Duke, has surely played the stages of Tuscany on many occasions during concerts and festivals. ...

Do you remember when Giorgio Panariello played as the character with the raincoat that came on stage holding his mobile phone and sayin...

Do you know where the smallest theater in the world is? According to the Guinness World Records Book you have to go to Vetriano, a smal...

The ghost of Lucida Mansi is one of the most famous in Tuscany, so much so that she is one of the main characters wandering around Borg...

‘Viva la pa-pa-pappa col po-po-po-po-po-po-pomodoro, Ah viva la pa-pa-pappa che è un capo-po-po-po-polavoro, Viva la pa-pappa pa-ppa...

We Tuscans love to emphasize that our region, but above all Florence, is the cradle of the Italian language. Moreover, we also have pro...

Among the illustrious presences that have helped make Tuscany a great region, we could not fail to include the great architect Giovanni...

At about 10 km from Livorno, on a hill from which you can enjoy a splendid view of the city, but sometimes even Pisa and the Island of ...

We are not mistaken! We know very well that when talking about Saint Anthony one immediately thinks of Padua! But we are talking about ...

Do you know which is the symbol of Tuscany is? It is Pegasus, the mythical winged horse depicted in silver and inserted, as usually hap...

Pomona is the Etruscan goddess of fertility, who represents Mother Nature, life itself, the ideal of a serene and idyllic rural world. ...

The surname Ginori is known worldwide as a synonym of style, class and elegance. Do you know where the first factory producing this com...

It is a soft fabric, with excellent thermal insulation, waterproof and wear-resistant. Is this a state-of-the-art high-tech fiber desig...

Munch's 'The Scream' is probably one of the most famous and best-known paintings in the world. It was painted in 1893 and, as the artis...

Livorno is a city that has so much to offer to those who visit it: the beautiful sea you can admire from Terrazza Mascagni, the fo...

Bernardo Buontalenti is one of the most interesting figures of the Renaissance in Florence: an eclectic person, he was an architect, pa...

Do you know what the expression ‘non avere il becco di un quattrino’ means? I am worried many of you these days have that clear in ...

In Pistoia there is a person who, at least from the point of view of his clothes, disturbs the tranquility of the provincial town. In F...

Along with the Florentine steak, peposo is certainly one of the best known and most delicious traditional Tuscan dishes. It is a succul...

Do you know who Burlamacco is? If you've been to the Carnival of Viareggio you've certainly seen him, otherwise I'll tell you all about...

Have you ever seen Roberts talcum powder? It’s the one in the green box with Art Nouveau decorations and red words. Those of you born...

Saint Minias is a highly venerated Saint in Tuscany. Evidence of this is for instance the charming village in the province of Pisa that...

The expression is not, so to speak, exactly elegant. On the other hand, the most popular ways of saying are also the most colorful. Cha...

Scotland has always been identified as the land of ghosts. It must be because there are so many castles. However, Tuscany too has its f...

You all know how tasty panforte is and probably also that that it is one of Siena’s icons. What you may not know is the story behind ...

The Toscano cigar is one of the many extraordinary things of this wonderful region. A pleasure for true connoisseurs, an ambassador of ...

These Tuscans! ‘Maledetti Toscani’, as Italians would say. Why, what have they done? It’s actually the title of a book that illus...

There are people in Florence who are a real institution. The histrionic Fabio Picchi is just one of these. You will have seen him on te...

Raise your hand, or rather, click on your mouse if you have never eaten baiocchi, macine or tegolini biscuits! As I imagined, there are...

Here we are, once again, to teach you a beautiful Tuscan lesson. This time we will focus on words that housewives in Florence use pract...

The Garfagnana area in Tuscany boasts a first place for mysteries, legends and inexplicable events: goblins, bridges built by the devil...

If you have already read other anecdotes on Tuscan expressions, you have probably understood by now that in the land of Dante there is ...

Even the great Galileo Galilei was Tuscan. He was a Pisan, to be precise, where he studied medicine before devoting himself to science....

In Italy there is a Saint to protect the workers of every profession. Santa Zita, one of the most beloved characters of Lucca, is the p...

In Tuscany we don’t have a proper dialect, but you just have to move a couple of miles to hear different ways of saying that are spec...

If you happened to visit the village of Pian degli Ontani, which is located in the Pistoia mountains near Abetone, you would discover a...

A bit like the Genova people, the Lucca inhabitants are also singled out as the stingiest in Tuscany. Since my father is from Lucca, I ...

Do you like legends like the one of the terrible Loch Ness monster? If you don’t, stop reading! If instead you love 'X-files' stories...

Siena, like many cities of ancient origins, guards some interesting mysteries. For example, did you know that a secret river flows bene...

Every year the Ministry of Food and Agriculture compiles a list containing elements that must be protected and safeguarded for their cu...

It is well known that Tuscans have a flair for pranks! Today we will tell you about one concocted as far back as 1300s! This trick, whi...

Siena in the 1300s would have provided excellent material for a beautiful animated fiction. In fact, the struggles between the most pow...

Bischero is one of the best-known Tuscan words. Calling someone a 'bischero' means describing them as a naive, good-for-nothing and not...

Even Tuscany, like any other part of the world, has its amusing collection of folk legends. These are legends that have been handed dow...

There are dishes that count as established institutions in the tradition and culture of some cities. Here, in Florence, this role is pl...

There’s an expression in Italian that goes: ‘Per un punto Martin perse la Cappa’. (literally ‘For a dot Martin lost hid hood’...

Elves, real elves, live in Pistoia. More precisely, you find them on the mountains that overlook the city. Don’t believe us? We're no...

People who speak Tuscan dialect are known for aspirating their c’s. But this isn’t the only peculiarity and, as a matter of fact, w...

Ospedale del Ceppo undoubtedly counts among the many masterpieces that the delightful city of Pistoia has to offer. What fascinates tou...

Lanterns are now very fashionable and are used at parties and weddings. Florence, however, has always been ahead of time, so much so th...

In Tuscany, children call their father babbo - not just during childhood, but for their entire life. You might have already heard this ...

The Via Francigena was an ancient road followed by pilgrims on their way to Rome or even to the ports of Puglia to reach the Holy Land....

Near Poggibonsi, a small town between Siena and Florence in upper Val D'Elsa, there is a beautiful castle with protective walls and a m...

Borgo Ognissanti is a long road located to the west of the center of Florence, where once were also the old shops of wool producers. It...

That local proverbs and sayings often contain precious 'pearls of popular wisdom' is a well-known fact. But sometimes they can go even ...

Everyone knows that Tuscany is a treasure trove of artistic and architectural masterpieces from the past: Etruscan necropolises, mediev...

Many of you will know Montepulciano for the beauty of its historic center that has earned the town the nickname 'Pearl of the 1500s'. O...

If you like to solve puzzles... Siena Cathedral is just the right thing for you, I would say! You should know that precisely the Cathed...

Olives, cypresses and vines are what characterizes the Tuscan hilly landscape. But the olive tree that lies just outside the walls of M...

In the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore there are sculptures of many different animals and it seems that each of these, in addition t...

In Talla and surroundings people have no doubt: the inventor of the musical stave, the inventor of the music notes and also of the mode...

The Siena Palio has been known since 1200 when the Lords and the notaries of Siena were used to gambling their status and prestige by r...

It is a very ancient but still popular rite. Two large processions that meet up with a Christ on the cross in front of each one: the he...

In one of the most beautiful castles in Tuscany, there is a special guest: it is the ghost of the cruel Countess Matelda, a noble woman...

Subversive, persecuted, anarchist, homeless, dreamer: it is really difficult to define Piero Carbonetti, Tuscan bred and born and Garib...

Guido Sforza of Santa Fiora, today a beautiful village in the northwest of the Pigelleto Reserve, was an enlightened administrator. We ...

It was really her, a young woman with an Arabian name, Kinzica, of the noble Sismondi family, to save Pisa from being sacked by Saracen...

As the Italian idiom affirms, devils and bridges often travel hand in hand in legends and mysteries... Bearing these words in mind, we ...

In the picturesque medieval village of Montemerano, in the municipality of Manciano, is the ancient Church of San Giorgio, built in the...

A venerable knight and a sword stuck in the rock... Let’s be honest, the first thing that comes in mind is the Breton legend of King ...

Among the villages of Tuscany, you will surely have heard of Barga ... and you will surely have associated it with Giovanni Pascoli, th...

Just minutes from Massa Marittima you can find a genuine natural oasis, Lake Accesa, on whose shores lies an Archaeological Park. The l...

Indeed, even Garfagnana has its Area 51! A land of magic and ancient legends since time immemorial, this region has seen, from 197...

There is a small village on the Pistoia mountains, Orsigna, which had the honour of becoming Tiziano Terzani’s 'retreat'. The designa...

In Leccio, a small town in the municipality of Reggello, 30 km from Florence, there is an oriental castle, of the sort you would see in...

In the Province of Lucca and in Garfagnana, if anything of yours goes missing or if it seems to have been inexplicably moved, the local...

Even if you left school a long time ago we are convinced that every so often the nightmare of exams peeps in your nights. It is one of ...

Pietrasanta is a town in Versilia, located near Viareggio and Forte dei Marmi, famous for its beautiful beaches. What makes this place ...

The beach of Alberese is one of the wildest and most unspoilt locations of the Uccellina Park. Among the marine species that inhabit it...

We are sure you have already heard of 'finocchiona' before and perhaps you have even tried it: it is the tasty salami made with shoulde...

Pistoia is a city full of surprises. Villa di Celle in Santomato, towards Montale, is one of them. The old villa is home to the 'Gori C...

San Vivaldo is one of the many Sacri Monti (Italian for "Sacred Mountains") that were built around the 1500s in various parts of Italy ...

San Mamiliano is one of the most fascinating and intriguing characters in ancient Tuscan history: he committed himself to spreading the...

When thinking of Tuscany, people usually have T-bone steaks and Chianti wine in mind. But in such a gourmet region sweets play an impor...

Michelangelo Merisi, known as Caravaggio, which was the town in the Province of Bergamo he came from, lived a life nothing short of adv...

Lucca seems to be particularly sought after by ghosts. Just think of Lucinda Mansi, the nobleman who in the sixteenth century apparentl...

The Church of St. John the Baptist designed by the Pistoia-born Architect Giovanni Michelucci is known to everyone as the 'The Motorway...

Chianti is not just synonymous with wine. It is also a land rich in history and of high archaeological interest, so much so that it wou...

Walking around Florence you might happen to come across strange road signs. Just that this time, Tuscan pranksters are not the ones to ...

In Florence, on the dome that rises above the Cathedral, stands the largest gnomon in Europe. If you are not lovers of astronomy, the i...

There are many different ways to get to Piazza del Duomo in Florence. Most tourists head down to Via Dei Cerretani and after passing th...

In 2001 following the alarm caused by the spread of the virus called ‘Mad cow’, Florentine steak was banned. You could eat and buy ...

Tuscany, and in particular the Chianti region, just like Scotland is full of ghosts that haunt more or less cheerfully villages and cas...

An Italian idiom says that ‘the Devil makes pots, and not lids’. Yet in Tuscany he seems to have had lots of fun even with bridges ...

In the Middle Ages, the Maremma hills were surrounded by picturesque windmills that used to grind the grain of the surrounding countrys...

That modern tennis was born in Wimbledon is a fact everyone knows; however, it isn’t as known that the term 'tennis' was used for the...

Some of you might have heard about the ‘Stendhal Syndrome', but it isn’t as well known that it is also called 'Florence Syndrome'.....

As many of you will know, especially lovers of good wine, Galletto Nero (literal black small cockerel) is the symbol of wines produced ...

If I say the word 'Pisa', what springs to mind? Let me guess ... the Tower of Pisa! Well, I’ll give you that: such a beautiful and hi...

Pisa, the city famous around the world for its Leaning Tower, houses the last mural made by US street artist Keith Haring before his de...

Florence, the 'Cradle of the Renaissance', a true treasure trove of art and culture. But beyond so much beauty, the Tuscan capital hide...

Just outside Florence, exactly in the hamlet of Grassina, there is a timeless and, sometimes, surreal place: we are talking about the F...

Lucca has always been a very rich city, as testified by its many elegant and refined palaces in the historic center. One of these is Pa...

Lucignano is a pretty medieval village in Tuscany, halfway between Siena and Arezzo. But what's so special about it in comparison to ot...

Many of you will know Caravaggio’s 'Bacchus', the wonderful painting depicting the God of wine and tipsiness, made between 1596 and 1...

Garfagnana is a land full of mysteries and legends and Christmas is no exception. On the night of 24th December, in fact, in Gorfiglian...

Certaldo Alto is a charming medieval village in Val d'Elsa known both for its ancient beauty and as the place where the Italian writer ...

Barga is a charming village in Garfagnana in the province of Lucca. There are no doubts about its beauty: it was already praised by Gio...

When you think about it, the devil in Tuscany has done a great job: he built bridges like the one in Borgo a Mozzano, he gave the name ...

If I mention Chianti, what comes to your mind? Half of you will immediately think of wine, while the remainder will be split between hi...

Every ancient village owns a more or less wide range of mysteries and legends, and Volterra is no exception. Indeed, nestled among the ...

In Tuscany there are many sanctuaries that enshrine, inside their ancient walls, legends dating back to distant times. One of these is ...