Livorno (Tuscany)

Livorno is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of Tuscany. It was founded in 1017 as a coastal fortress to defend Pisa that, at that time, was one of the four Maritime Republics in Italy. During the Middle Ages, Livorno belonged to Genoa and then to Florence: the evidence of those times is a couple of towers and the wall inside the Fortezza Vecchia (Old Fort), later built in the sixteenth century. The main attractions of the city are: the Terrazza Mascagni, named after the great composer Pietro Mascagni, the Four Moors statue, the Fortezza Vecchia and the Fortezza Nuova. In the city center, there is the Quartiere Venezia, set for "Effetto Venezia", a festival featuring shows, food and wine events, traditional markets that takes place every year in July.