Przewodnik Toskania - Tour Guide in Tuscany

Przewodnik Toskania - Tour Guide in Tuscany Guided Tours and day trips in Tuscany, in English, French, Italian, Polish. Food, art, museum tours.

LUKKA - WHAT TO SEE - VILLA GUINIGI MUSEUMThere are so many museums in Tuscany that you could visit a different one ever...
24/03/2026

LUKKA - WHAT TO SEE - VILLA GUINIGI MUSEUM

There are so many museums in Tuscany that you could visit a different one every weekend for years on end. This fact never ceases to amaze me.

I haven’t been to all of them yet, even though I work in the industry and have lived here for 22 years.

Most museums are not very busy, especially during the week, so you can feel as though you’re on a private tour in such places.

One such place is the former villa of the ruler of Lucca, Paolo Guinigi, where a collection of fascinating treasures is housed.

On the ground floor, there is an Etruscan and Roman section, mainly comprising tombs and fragments of architecture or necropolises found in the surrounding area.

Then there are rooms with medieval architecture: capitals, portals, pulpits and reliefs.

On the first floor, there is a collection consisting mainly of paintings from the 13th to the 18th century, plus sculptures by Tino da Camaino; the Lucca-born artist Matteo Civitali; and Jacopo della Quercia from Siena.

Lucca has ‘given birth’ to two interesting painters, Pietro Paolini and Pompeo Batoni. Seeing their works alone is worth a visit to this museum.

The museum is quite large, and the small courtyard with a garden is also worth a look.

You can buy a combined ticket with Palazzo Mansi, a museum with Baroque décor, the former home of a wealthy local family.

Admission is free on the first Sunday of every month.

📍 Museo Nazionale di Villa Guinigi
Information
http://www.luccamuseinazionali.it/it/guinigi/museo-nazionale-di-villa-guinigi

Greve in Chianti is a town that developed in the Middle Ages at the foot of Montefioralle Castle as a market town and tr...
22/03/2026

Greve in Chianti is a town that developed in the Middle Ages at the foot of Montefioralle Castle as a market town and transport hub.

That is why the main square has such a strange, elongated triangular shape.

In the square stands a sculpture by Igor Mitoraj, which I had to censor 🙈, and a statue of the 15th-century local sailor Giovanni di Verrazzano.

Under the arcades in the square are characteristic little shops selling Tuscan goods: ceramics, tablecloths, leather goods, olive wood products and cafés.

You simply must visit the Falorni butcher’s shop. Pecorino cheeses are maturing in the cellar, and in one room you’ll find prosciutto crudo; you can buy olive oil, salami, wine, pasta, balsamic vinegar, and there’s also a bar-restaurant where you can sample various local wines.

In the 19th-century Church of Santa Croce, you’ll see interesting medieval paintings and a beautiful bas-relief depicting the Holy Family by the Florentine artist Pio Fedi.

In front of the entrance stands a 4th-century baptismal font.

It’s worth visiting the Museum of Sacred Art of San Francesco to see the panoramic terrace.

You can walk uphill to Montefioralle, a 4 km round trip.

WHO INVENTED GLASSES?Do you remember the book and film *The Name of the Rose*? The story is set in 1327 in a Benedictine...
21/03/2026

WHO INVENTED GLASSES?

Do you remember the book and film *The Name of the Rose*? The story is set in 1327 in a Benedictine abbey, and the main character, William, carries a strange object with him: magnifying glasses. In the book, he talks about this invention.

It was precisely during this period that eyeglasses were invented, either in Pisa or Venice.

One of the most likely theories suggests that it was invented by a Dominican friar from Pisa, Alessandro della Spina.

Around 1290, he met his fellow friar Giordano in Pisa, who was returning from a trip to Venice, where he had met master glassmakers capable of producing magnifying lenses.

Inspired by this news, Alessandro began experiments in great secrecy, which reportedly led him to create the first eyeglasses in 1295.

In a sermon delivered at the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella in Florence in 1305, a summary of which we know thanks to some of the listeners, Giordano said that spectacles had been invented less than twenty years earlier and that he knew the person who had created them well.

However, he did not give a name...

The renowned art historian and documentary filmmaker Waldemar Januszczak identifies Pisa as the birthplace of this life-changing invention.

Of course, initially spectacles had no arms. I see that these only appeared towards the end of the 18th century.

In the photographs: the first spectacles in Tommaso di Modena’s fresco, a scene from the film *The Name of the Rose*, and a famous painting by a Flemish artist. The latter is the best; it is a self-portrait by Jean B.S. Chardin.

Today in Italy, on St Joseph’s Day, all fathers are celebrated. In Tuscany, they call their dad ‘babbo’ 💁The photo shows...
19/03/2026

Today in Italy, on St Joseph’s Day, all fathers are celebrated. In Tuscany, they call their dad ‘babbo’ 💁

The photo shows a 14th-century fresco depicting the Nativity, discovered by chance in 1999 in the Church of St Augustine in San Gimignano.

Joseph looks a bit tired and perhaps a little daunted by his new role. 😅

Indirizzo

Via Masaccio
Scandicci
50018

Orario di apertura

Lunedì 09:00 - 19:00
Martedì 09:00 - 19:00
Mercoledì 09:00 - 19:00
Giovedì 09:00 - 19:00
Venerdì 09:00 - 19:00
Sabato 09:00 - 19:00
Domenica 09:00 - 16:00

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