FLORENCE

ITALY

Remember the halcyon days of your last holiday in Tuscany; enjoying a long alfresco lunch, the exuberant flow of good wine and conversation followed by a siesta, when the cypresses cast long shadows over the hillside'' This sense of conviviality, which is part of La Dolce Vita, is as much of a draw and a source of inspiration as the country’s rich cultural and artistic heritage. Moreover, here are some of the most romantic places to stay in Europe, be it a seventeenth century villa hotel on the shores of one of the northern lakes, the luxurious cocoon of your quarters on the Orient-Express or the cool exoticism of a converted monastery hotel in the country’s deep south.

Italy is the country of great diversity. With a landscape that includes, the rumbling volcano of Mount Etna in Sicily, the mist-hazed hills and lush valleys in Tuscany, a breathtaking coast that is Amalfi and sun-baked beaches of Sardinia. A chic culture of designer boutiques, restaurants and cafes can easily be found in every city but it is the islands of Capri, Sicily and Sardinia, which have the reputation as a playground for the rich and famous thanks to their sophistication and style.

The country’s immense history can be seen at every turn, from world famous architectural attractions to inspiring Roman ruins. From the Amalfi coast visit the site of Pompeii, a whole town buried beneath the lava of Mount Vesuvius in the first century or Taormina’s Greek Theatre – which hosts the annual Arts and Film Festival, while majestic and hypnotic ruins litter the island of Sardinia.

The documented history of Florence begins in 59 BC with the establishment by Julius Caesar of a settlement of Roman veterans called Florentia. The Romans built a castrum with the main streets, the cardo and the decumanus, intersecting where the Piazza della Repubblica is now located. The layout of the camp is still discernable in the distribution of the streets in the city centre. Florentia was situated on the Via Cassia, the main route between Rome and the North, at a ford - later a bridge - across the Arno. This advantageous location allowed the Roman settlement to expand into an important commercial town. The Emperor Diocletian made Florentia capital of the province of Tuscia in the 3rd century AD.