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Livorno & Etruscan Coast Guide Italy
Places and charm
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Venezia Nuova
The charming quarter filled with canals, islands and bridges, many from the 17th century, which was designed in the same century to house the mercantile class. The network of streets and canals was designed so that goods could be easily transported to and from the nearby port. The dwellings of the quarter perfectly met the trade and living needs, and concealed elegant buildings divided into apartments, which contained warehouses on the first floor. These buildings can be best seen in the centrally located Via Borra, one of the prettiest streets of the city. Venezia Nuova was seriously damaged during WWII. It is currently home to the Effetto Venezia every summer, the biggest event of the city.
Fossi Medicei
Is a large moat which was built at the beginning of the 17th century around the walls of the city designed by Buontalenti half a century earlier. Work began in 1601 and was completed in a few years, integrating it in the defensive system of the city. It seems that 5000 peasants and 2000 slaves worked on it.
Piazza della Repubblica
With its characteristic oval shape, is actually a large bridge. The square was built above a section of canal which surrounded the Medici city ramparts to connect the old city and new city. The architect Bettarini designed an impressive vault 20 meters long, which the square covers, to cross the Fosso Reale.
Mercato delle Vettovaglie
A majestic covered market built at the end of the 19th century in Neoclassical and Art Nouveau style. A large hall opens in the interior, almost one hundred meters long, with a central entrance and four side entrances. The steel eaves sits on pilasters connected to large arches with Baroque brackets. The building has ninety-two cellars while the warehouses are located above the many workshops (more than 180).
Seafront
A pretty 9 kilometer route stretches from the port of Livorno, flanking beaches and rocky cliffs leading to the town of Antignano: it is the 19th century Viale Italia, a boulevard flanked by palm and tamarisk trees, beach concessions, Art Nouveau villas and characteristic kiosks which are perfect for a stop. The most famous stretch is Terrazza Mascagni, an elegant outlook built in the 1920's with a lovely view over the sea and the islands of the Tuscan Archipelago. Many of the beach concessions bathed by the sea were already famous in the 19th century, including the Scoglio della Regina and Pancaldi, which frequently hosted the royal family and Acquaviva.
Casini di Ardenza
Along Viale Italia, after the horse track, is an 1844 Neoclassical complex composed of thirteen buildings laid out in a horseshoe. The architect Giuseppe Cappellini used the Royal Crescent in Bath for inspiration. The Casini were built to rent apartments to wealthy tourists who, between the 19th and 20th centuries, made Livorno the privileged spot for their vacations.
Go to directories of the Web Sites
Photos courtesy of: APT Costa degli Etruschi and Comune di Livorno
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