In the Tuscany region, west-central Italy

 “Life offers you a thousand chances ... all you have to do is take one.”

― Frances Mayes, Under the Tuscan Sun
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(in west-central Italy) The Tuscany region, which covers 8,877 square miles (~22,992 sq km), was originally settled by Etruscans around 1000 BCE, Tuscany came under Roman rule in the 3rd century BCE. It was a Lombard duchy by the 6th century CE. It comprised several independent city-states in the 12th–13th centuries, which were later united under the Medici family of Florence. Tuscany passed to the house of Lorraine in 1737 and to Sardinia and the Kingdom of Italy in the 1860s. The region was severely damaged in World War II, and by floods in 1966. Its mineral resources include the world-famous Carrara marble. Its agricultural products include olives, olive oil, wines, and livestock. Tourism is important at its historical centers, including Florence and Pisa.

+ Tuscany was the driving force of the Italian Renaissance, a time when Tuscan cities were rivals, until Florence prevailed. Most of the area now known as Tuscany was in ancient times the region inhabited by the Etruscans, which was at the heart of the Etruscan civilization, a great pre-Roman civilization. Towns like Volterra and Arezzo, south of Pisa, still contain Etruscan remains. Later it was called Tuscia, and now it is Tuscany. With a temperate climate, Tuscany is the most wooded Italian region, with poplars, cypress trees, and pinewoods. The capital of Tuscany is Florence, or Firenze in Italian, one of the world’s great cities of art.

+ Besides Florence, other historical places in the region include Siena, Pisa, Lucca, Arezzo, and San Gimignano. Tuscany'’s main seaport city is Leghorn. In the northwest of the region, near the Ligurian Riviera and Cinque Terre, is Versilia, comprising a riviera with renowned and fashionable seaside resorts, the most important of which is Viareggio, and a pleasant rolling hinterland. Versilia is close to the majestic peaks of the Apuan Alps. Next to Versilia and sorrounded by mountains is Garfagnana, the valley of the upper Serchio River, which flows through Lucca. Further north is Lunigiana, with important Roman remains in the town of Luni.

+ The Mugello, the valley of the upper Sieve River, is between Florence and the Appennines, while the Valdarno is the valley of the upper Arno River which, flowing entirely in Tuscany, has its source in the Mount Falterona and flows first through Florence, and then Pisa. The Arno’s mouth marks the boundary between the Ligurian Sea, north, and the Tyrrhenian Sea, south -- the two arms of the Mediterranean along the west coast of Italy. In southern Tuscany, Maremma is a vast rural region which stretches along the coast. The southern Tuscan coastline is especially beautiful, rich with cliffs, rocks, and promontories. Punta Ala and the peninsula of Monte Argentario are the most upmarket: main resorts on the latter are Porto Santo Stefano, facing north of the promontory, and Porto Ercole, facing south.