Visit Montecatini Spa

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visit montecatini spa

HOLIDAY TUSCANY

VISIT MONTECATINI TERME TUSCANY

MONTECATINI TERME AND MONTECATINI ALTO
To arrive in Montecatini Terme signifies a stop in the Spa capital of Tuscany.  The majority of the buildings are Liberty style, can be seen individually in the Palazzo Comunale, the Excelsior cinema, the Padiglione Tamerici and the Thermal establishments, all restored to that period.  By car or by using the funicular, you arrive at Montecatini Alto, the first nucleus of the area arranged on the hill 229 metres high, which dominates the Spa town.  Initially in unique Montecatini, the Spas were marsh (it was probably already known that the waters had curative properties). The Castello had a notable important strategy and in 1300 was scene of epic battles between the Guelphs and Ghibellines, resulting with the victory and domination of the Fiorentines that continued until the end of 1554, when the Sienese occupied Montecatini thanks to a stratagem.  The fury of Cosimo de’ Medici accused the Montecatinese of treason, so pulled down the castle.  After having regained it,  ordered his soldiers to “ransack and then demolish Montecatini to the ground”.  So within days it was totally devastated, leaving only a few things standing, three convents and two palaces.
Today, other than enjoying the fantastic panorama with views not to miss, Montecatini Alto remains resting on a fortress, with a small paved square with various towers.   Worth a look is the convent of
Santa Maria a Ripa, the Romanesque church of San Pietro and the adjacent museum.

MONTECATINI TERME: further information
Montecatini Terme saw the dawning in 1530, initiating to contain in baths the stagnant waters at the foot of the Castello.  The old antique thermal baths became establishments thanks to the Grand Duke Leopoldo, who reclaimed the area as marshland which infested the plain and between 1773 and 1779 constructed the Tettuccio Establishment, the Regina and the Leopoldine, and saw the birth of a small village at the foot of the hill.  This village in 1905 became “Bagni di Montecatini” and then Montecatini Terme.
Starting from 1900 the small town became a tourist centre to an international stature, where it was easy to encounter personalities like Verdi, Beniamino Gigli and Pirandello. The large hotels of
Montecatini, which in the 1920s saw the development of the enviable Liberty style, actors, singers, politicians and sheiks spent time here and today it is looking to bring back the town to its antique splendour.

AN ABSOULTE VISIT NOT TO MISS

The Butterfly House and Pinocchio Park
Pinocchio Park cannot be anywhere else but Collodi, where the antique village has been for more than a century, with its characteristic waterfall of houses that go from the top of the hill stopping behind  Villa Garzoni with its 17th Century scenic Garden.
visit tuscanyPinocchi Park
visit tuscanyButterfly House Collodi
visit tuscanyVilla Garzoni Garden