Villas in Tuscany & Umbria Since 1998

Pisa
The history of Pisa has got its roots in the 5th century B.C., when Pisa was an Etruscan settlement, that faced the sea. In the 2nd century B.C. the Romans built Portus Pisanus. After the end of the Roman Empire, this was a port town of great importance for the Gothes, the Longobards and the Carolingians too. A further development transformed Pisa, in the 11th century, into one of the most powerful Italian Maritime Republics, together with Genoa, Venice and Amalfi.
Pisa was also protagonist of a large offensive against Arab pirates in southern Italy, in Corsica, in Sardinia and along the African coast; successively, after the first Crusade, its rays of action extended also to the East. The military activities were interwoven with that of the merchants who, in the course of the XI and XII centuries, along the tracks of the Crusades, created a large network of colonies and bases with Florentine trade.
During the Middle Ages the buildings that made Pisa famous were begun: the Duomo, the cathedral’s bell tower and the well known Leaning Tower.
The richness that Pisa gained in this period allowed it to found some colonies in North Africa, in South Spain and on the southern coast of Lesser Asia.
The decline of the Maritime republic began in 1284, when it was defeated by Genoa and became more visible, because of the sanding up of the port.
The Medici family ruled over Lucca from 1406 and so this town flourished again.In 1472 they re-established the university, which was declining, and brought new prestige to the ancient centre. Pisa is also the birthplace of Galileo Galilei, an astronomer, physicist, mathematician and the founder of the experimental method.

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