31/03/2015
Livorno Leghorn Livorno, the Tuscan gateway to the Mediterranean Sea, is crossed by canals and situated by the seaside. Livorno was defined as an "ideal town" during the Italian Renaissance. Today, it reveals its history through the structure of its neighbourhoods, crossed by canals and surrounded by fortified town walls, through the tangle of its streets, which embroider the town's Venice district, and through the Medici Port characteristically overlooked by towers and fortresses leading to the town centre. Designed by the architect Bernardo Buontalenti at the end of the 16th century, Livorno underwent a period of great town planning expansion at the end of the 17th century. Near the defensive pile of the Old Fortress, a new fortress, together with the town-walls and the system of navigable canals, was then built. After Pisa's silting up, distance from the sea and loss of dominance, Livorno took over as the main port in Tuscany.