Livorno in western Tuscany

A 75 km drive north west from Volterra took us to Livorno, a port city on the west coast of Tuscany and facing the Ligurian Sea. We had never been to Livorno, and what a wonderful surprise it was. It is known for its sea food, Renaissance era fortifications and modern harbour. The city was designed as an 'ideal city' by the Medici.

Our first impressions were of a modern city with huge piazzas and lots of enormous statues.

We saw some large street art and very little graffiti.

 In the planning of the ideal city designers from Venice were called in to design a 'Little Venice' to aid the merchants with their trade. In the 1580s Livorno was declared a Free Port.

Today the canals are filled with pleasure boats.

Venezia Nuova  retains much of its original planning, including the Fortress, Fortezza  Nuova and Santa Caterina church. Both can be seen in this photo below.

The Cathedral Church of San Francesco was extensively damaged during the war, as was a large part of the city. As a result the cathedral has a more modern look than its original founding date. The baptismal font was one piece of the original church that was not destroyed.

The church of Santa Caterina di Siena, mentioned above, is an octagonal church dating from 1720. It has a large dome but interestingly the exterior was left in an unfinished state.

The old fortress, Fortezza Vecchia, is a 14th c. castle built upon a medieval fort at the port. It faces the harbour and opens onto the canals of Venezia Nuova.

The port hosts yachts from across the world, cruise ships and cargo.

Lunch was a cone of mixed fried seafood  - delicious.

We walked a long way along the harbour, seeing the many developments taking place and the many uses the Livorno people make of their waterfront position.

The old and the new - a wooden boat being restored in the front, a huge cruise ship behind.

Terrazzo Mascagni promenade is the city's newest gathering place. A spectacular space in black and white.

 

Livorno is a city of pasticceria and coffee shops, a stunning Via Grande that offers high class shopping, colonades, respectful traffic, great granita and a clean and open appearance.

We both felt it would be a very liveable city despite its 160,000 population.