Top 20 Natural Monuments in Pisa

The descent after the town of St. Luce is awesome! Good asphalt, nice curves and always full throttle.

The fountain is no longer in operation. It's a good landmark for meeting up with the group. The downside is that it prevents you from taking good photos of the fountain (it feels like there are 100 people in the photo). They say if you can see the three little noses at the same time, you're lucky.

In Pisa, there is an 18th-century fountain made of white Carrara marble, located on one side of the Piazza dei Miracoli. The fountain itself consists of a simple square base and is crowned by a sculptural group depicting three colossal putti holding the coats of arms of the primacy and the city. Most tourists stop to see it, mainly because fresh drinking water flows from the fountain, quenching thirst when visiting the square. Long despised by both public and critics, it is now enjoying unexpected popularity. The Putti Fountain is a work by Giuseppe Vaccà and Giovanni Antonio Cybei, based on a design by Giovanni Battista Tempesti. Despite initial appreciation, criticism was not long in coming compared to the aesthetic canons used up to that point. The first written judgment that has come down to us dates back to 1767, when Filippo D'Angelo, author of a handwritten

Beautiful views and white roads in the Tuscan countryside overlooking Lake Santa Luce, a natural oasis.

An oasis of peace surrounded by unspoiled nature. Perfect for walking, cycling and bird watching.

The Teatro del Silenzio is an open-air amphitheater created in 2006 thanks to Andrea Bocelli, originally from Lajatico, who convinced the municipality to create this evocative space immersed in the hilly landscape. The natural scenography is enriched by blocks of Tuscan travertine, while the stalls, dismantled during periods of inactivity, give way to an enchanting artificial lake. A unique place, where art and nature merge in a silence full of emotion.

Along the way you will come across some stony ground, also called Sassete, Pietraie or “Maoni” (local name), they are a peculiar phenomenon at our latitudes and at the modest altitudes reached by Monte Pisano, as they are typical forms of periglacial environment. These are mobile debris flows made up of angular blocks that are easily observable on the south-western side of the mountain and represent an ancient testimony of the last glacial (74,000-13,000 years ago). In the past they were certainly more extensive than the current outcrop areas. Their formation is linked to the type of rock that emerges, mainly green quartzites and white-pink quartzites, which tend to break into angular blocks and provide very little alteration material. Climatic factors have played a fundamental role in the formation of the Sassaie, which represent a degradation product by cryoclasm. Cryoclastism (from the Greek kryòs, ice and klastòs, broken) is the process of physical disintegration of a rock caused by the pressure caused by the increase in volume of water contained within the rock cracks when it freezes. The temperature range therefore favored the fracturing of quartzites, and the low humidity and low average temperature prevented a strong chemical alteration. Cryoclastism is a phenomenon more pronounced in regions of high altitude and latitude, and is usually associated with alpine, periglacial, subpolar maritime and polar climates, but it occurs wherever freeze-thaw cycles are present.

The first settlement of Guardistallo dates back to the Neolithic, according to the findings preserved at the Archaeological Museum of Florence. While on the one hand an Etruscan settlement is probable, on the other a Lombard presence is certain. The toponym derives in fact from the Germanic Wardan (guard) and Stall (place). After being subjected to the Della Gherardesca and the Pisan Republic, it ended up under Florence. In 1447 the troops of the king of Naples, Alfonso of Aragon, destroyed its houses and buildings, but that was not the only devastation that struck the town. The violent earthquake of 1846 destroyed most of the houses and the castle. The subsequent reconstruction saw the birth of the small and charming Marchionneschi Theater, wanted by the most influential local family to demonstrate the wealth of the town, renamed in the area "little Paris". Another tragedy struck Guardistallo in 1944: the Nazi army killed 63 civilians, in response to partisan actions. An oasis of peace and flavors In the surrounding area, the Monastery of Nostra Signora in Valserena is worth a visit, belonging to the nuns of the Cistercian order who for years have produced and sold cosmetics based on olive oil grown in the convent's fields. Due to its location and pleasant climate, Guardistallo is a sought-after vacation spot, from which it is easy to reach the coast and cities of art such as Pisa or Volterra. The surrounding countryside is full of olive groves that produce a prized extra virgin olive oil extracted from lazzare olives, celebrated every spring with the crogiantina festival (another name for bruschetta with oil). And speaking of festivals, a traditional event is in October with polenta, given that Guardistallo is part of the National Association of Polenta Makers of Italy.