If you would like to spend a different day, without forget history and nature, I can give you some advises.
- Pontedera. Although it seems that its origins are very old, the town is famous above all for the presence of the Piaggio Industry on the beginning dedicated to the construction of vehicles for the aeronautics, becames famous for construction of the famous Vespa. It is very interesting and fun for young and old peolple, the Piaggio Museum which is located in the oldest part of the factory, built in the twenties.
Leaving Pontedera, drive on the Vicarese road until you reach the charming Vicopisano.
- Vicopisano is a fortified village that preserves a remarkable historical heritage including twelve towers, two medieval palaces and the Rocca of Brunelleschi, open to the public with guided tours. From Vicopisano a route of the churches and of the ancient parishes of the territory starts.
- Between Pisa and Vicopisano, the view of the Torre di Caprona is striking, overlooking an underlying quarry in precarious equilibrium. The tower is what remains of an ancient castle to which is linked the name of Dante Alighieri, who in August 1289 took part in the battle for the possession of Caprona. The circumstance is quoted by him in the XXI canto of the Inferno of the Divine Comedy.
- In Calci is the beautiful Certosa Monumentale with its Museum of Natural History and Territory where there are important mineralogical collections, palaeontological and zoological.
The Certosa, founded in the fifteenth century, is a monumental monument in Baroque style consisting of a large internal courtyard and a series of buildings that surround it where the cells, gardens and environments are derived from the rule of Certosa life. Inhabited by the Carthusian monks until the seventies, it is now open to visitors. - Also interesting are Cascina and San Giuliano. The latter is not only a thermal center but also starting point for historical and architectural itineraries of great interest towards the Rocca di Ripafratta, the Romanesque churches of Rigoli and Pugnano and the Eremo di Rupecava.
