Original subtitles

(upbeat music)

- Our journey begins

in the magnificent town of Assisi,

birthplace of St. Francis

and home to his extraordinary basilica.

Crossing into Tuscany, we pass its famous vineyards,

which, for thousands of years,

have produced some of the world's greatest wine.

This takes us to the beautiful medieval city of Siena,

with its extraordinary gothic architecture

and ancient horse race.

And on to San Gimignano, a small hilltop town

famous for its soaring towers.

Passing through the breathtaking Tuscan landscape,

we reach Lucca,

an intriguing blend of medieval architecture

and modern living.

Finally, we reach Florence,

the cradle of the Renaissance,

one of the world's great cities

and the birthplace of art and ideas

that have defined Europe for hundreds of years.

Nestled in the rolling hills of Umbria,

is the small town of Assisi,

the birthplace of St. Francis.

St. Francis was the son of a nobleman

who, in the early 13th century,

left behind his wealth to pursue a life

of preaching, penance, and poverty.

While the basilica was under construction,

St. Francis' body was buried secretly

in an underground crypt.

The exact location was forgotten until 1818

when the tomb was rediscovered.

Today, it's open to the public.

Built in medieval times,

Assisi has been almost entirely untouched

by modern architecture.

The town's buildings have a warm, pink hue.

This comes from the local limestone quarried nearby.

With its extraordinary monuments, statues, and buildings,

Assisi is now an important destination for tourists

and pilgrims from around the world.

Continuing our journey,

we cross Lake Trasimeno

on the border between Umbria and Tuscany.

The largest island here is Isola Polvese.

It's home to several medieval buildings

including the Monastery of San Secondo,

the Church of San Julian,

and the ruins of a 14th century castle.

Today, Polvese is a model of environmental sustainability.

Its feels and wetland marshes

making it a center for eco-tourism.

Also in Lake Trasimeno,

is Castiglione del Lago.

Once, this was an island,

but as the town grew, the gap with the shore

was slowly reclaimed and built on.

The town is overlooked by the mighty Fortress of the Lion.

Built in the 13th century,

its shape was designed to give it strategic control

over the entire lake.

Crossing into Tuscany,

we discover the source of its most celebrated produce,

its vineyards.

Grapes have been grown here for thousands of years.

Today, these vines produce one of Italy's classic reds,

Vino Nobile di Montepulciano.

The wine has long been a favorite for everyone

from popes to poets.

Sadly, we can't stop.

Instead we continue to the beautiful Tuscan town of Pienza.

Though small, the influence of this place

has been felt across the world.

Rebuilt by Pope Pius II as an ideal town,

this is the first conurbation built along

Renaissance principles of humanism.

A community planned for citizens rich and poor.

Next we find the hilltop town of Montalcino.

With views over the valleys of Tuscany,

this picturesque place was once a rich center

for manufacturing.

Its wealth built these beautiful medieval churches,

abbeys, and monuments.

But this mighty, scarred fortress

reveals it was the scene of bitter fighting

between rival city-states, Sienna and Florence.

Once the town finally fell to Florence,

Montalcino's fortunes fell with it.

It went into a decline that lasted for centuries.

Today though, the town has risen again

as the producer of its renowned wine,

Brunello di Montalcino.

We now move through the Crete Senesi.

This means Senesi clays.

The clay was left behind millions of years ago

from a time when this entire area lay beneath the sea.

Today, the distinctive brown and gray soil

give the landscape a strange, lunar appearance

and make it fertile ground for the production

of the white truffles for which it's famous.

Our journey now takes us onwards

to one of the jewels of Tuscany,

Siena.

At the heart of this magnificent city

is the Piazza del Campo,

perhaps the finest medieval square in Europe.

Once a marketplace, this slopping, shell-shaped piazza

is lined with grand palaces,

and today, cafes,

above which rises the Torre del Mangia,

part of the Palazzo Pubblico,

the People's Palace.

It was built to be exactly the same height

as Siena's Cathedral

to show that the church and the state

were equal in power.

Over 100 meters tall

with 500 steps to climb,

it is a popular and exhausting spot for sight-seers.

The Piazza is also the setting

for the world's most famous horse race, the Palio.

It's held twice a year before packed crowds.

Ten local jockeys wearing medieval clothes

ride bareback as they circle the piazza only three times.

The entire race is over in under 90 seconds.

But that doesn't stop it being competitive and violent.

Jockeys can push, pull, and hit

other riders and their horses to stop them winning.

Given this level of aggression,

it's perhaps surprising that the only prize

is a painted, silk banner.

Nearby, we find Siena's Cathedral,

the Cattedrale del Assunta.

It's one of the greatest pieces

of Gothic architecture in Italy.

Built in the 13th century

in the shape of a Latin cross,

it's best known for its ornate, Western facade

with three huge doors through which pass

more than a million visitors each year.

The cathedral is striped

with white and greenish-black marble.

These represent the symbolic colors of Siena.

Over the years,

the building has been improved and added to,

like this mural, the Coronation of the Virgin,

added in 1878.

Siena's historic importance was recognized in 1995

when the city center was created

a UNESCO World Heritage site.

A few miles to the north

is the spectacular walled town, Monteriggioni.

Built by Siena in 1219

as a frontline in their bitter war with Florence,

this place is superbly well-preserved.

With its vast, circular walls

and six meter-high turrets,

it hasn't changed much since the times of the poet Dante,

who, in 1321, wrote,

"On its circular parapets,

"Monteriggioni crowns itself with towers."

The castle held out successfully

against the Florentines for 300 years

until, in 1554, the castle's commander,

Captain Bernardino Zeti, betrayed Siena

and gave the town to Florence.

Within months, Siena had fallen.

It's said here that on cold winter nights

Zeti's ghost still haunts its parapets,

his guilt making him unable to leave.

Ten miles away is San Gimignano.

It's know as the Town of Fine Towers.

But these soaring structures

are for social, not military, purpose.

In the 12th century, San Gimignano

was one of the wealthiest in the region

selling wine and saffron in its many markets.

With its thick town walls,

its merchants had only one way to build

to show off their wealth, up.

At one point the town's towers numbered over 70.

Today, 14 still remain

still giving magnificent views across the Elsa Valley.

These remaining ones

are admired by millions of tourists each year.

And since 1990, the town has been recognized

a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Our journey now leads us to the city of Lucca.

Famous for its wine, luxurious villas,

and as the birthplace of opera composer Puccini,

it's an intriguing blend of the modern and the medieval.

Once a Roman town,

Lucca is encircled by this extraordinary green space,

the former city walls.

Built in the 17th century,

these have long lost their military importance,

but the people have preserved them

as a pedestrian promenade.

Today, they are the perfect place

to stroll, cycle, and enjoy a gelato.

Lucca gives us glimpses of its Roman past,

such as here in the town's iconic, oval piazza.

Once, this was the Roman Amphitheater

where gladiators fought.

It was rebuilt as the town's marketplace in the middle ages.

Nearby, the Church of San Michele in Foro

stands where once stood the Roman forum.

Built between the 11th and 14th centuries,

it has a spectacular marble facade

crowned with a statue showing the Archangel Michael

slaying a dragon.

Legend has it that so long as St. Michael

stays on top of the church,

Lucca is safe.

This aqueduct may well look like a well-preserved Roman one,

but isn't.

It is, in fact, the work of Lorenzo Nottolini in 1822

and named after him.

His neoclassical structure

is an extraordinary piece of engineering,

over three kilometers long and 12 meters high.

A few miles east is the opulent Villa Mansi.

It was built by Italian Muzio Oddi

who had designed Lucca's city walls

in the late 16th century.

But the villa's owners, the fashionable Cenami family,

had lived in Paris and insisted

he follow the architectural trends of France.

So this Italian villa and its magnificent gardens

are in the French Mannerist style.

It is said that the beautiful Lucida Mansi who lived here

sold her soul to the Devil for 30 years of beauty.

On her 30th birthday, she was collected by a carriage

that burst into flames and disappeared.

Nearby Villa Torrigiani is also the handiwork of Muzio Oddi.

With its long avenue lined with magnificent cypress trees,

it's one of the regions most imposing villas.

Its gardens were commissioned by Nicolao Santini,

ambassador to the court of the French Sun King, Louis XIV.

This section, called the Garden of Flora,

is crammed with secret alcoves,

grottos, niches, and hidden fountains,

and built to feel like the setting of a fairy tale.

Today, the villa is stilled lived in

by the descendants of Nicolao Santini.

The hillside town of Collodi

is also associated with a fairy story,

the story of Pinocchio.

The writer used the pen name Collodi,

taken from the name of this, his childhood home.

And it's thought that the tale,

set in rural Tuscany, may well have been inspired

by this very countryside.

Today, the town celebrates its famous wooden resident

in its Pinocchio Park.

Below Collodi is Villa Garzoni and its famous gardens.

Laid out in the Baroque style in 1652,

the grounds took a century to complete.

Designed to be perfectly symmetrical,

the garden features an extraordinary hydraulic system

engineered in 1793.

It's still in operation.

At the end of the garden,

two staircases lead up passed a water cascade

to a terra cotta statue of the goddess Pheme.

They are flanked by a pair of female statues

representing the two eternal rivals,

the cities of Lucca and Florence.

Once, only kings and aristocrats

could own a great villa such as this,

but Garzoni has recently been advertised for sale.

Today, it is necessary only to have 200 million dollars.

We approach now the outskirts of Florence

where we find, overlooking the city,

this spectacular Tuscan house,

the Villa Medici, La Petraia.

Originally an ancient fort,

it was redeveloped by the Medici family

at the end of the 16th century.

It's known for its beautifully designed, terraced garden.

The Medicis were one of the most important families

of Florence and the Renaissance.

They rose first as war merchants, then bankers,

to become the richest family in the world

and the rulers of Florence.

In time, they produced four popes

and married into European royalty.

But it's as patrons of the arts

that they are remembered.

Sometimes called the Godfathers of the Renaissance,

the Medicis were patrons of artists and scientists

including Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo,

Botticelli, and Galileo.

The villa is considered one of their most beautiful.

Today, it's a public museum.

From here it's a short journey to Villa di Quarto

built in the 15th century.

With Italian gardens and English-style lawn,

it hosted American writer Mark Twain in 1904

who walked and wrote in the grounds.

And from here we glimpse the cradle of the Renaissance,

the magnificent city of Florence.

Built on the site of an ancient settlement,

Florence rose under the Medici family

to lead Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries.

Through these streets walked many of the greatest thinkers,

artists, writers, and scientists in European history.

It's here that they lived, worked,

and produced their masterpieces.

The city's simple, classical architecture

is built on the Renaissance ideals they defined.

With its magnificent palaces,

churches, galleries, and cathedral,

the city is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Through the heart of Florence flows the river Arno.

The city's cathedral, Il Duomo di Firenze, is enormous;

150 meters long, 30 meters wide, and 115 meters tall.

Begun in 1296, it took almost 150 years to build.

Its dome is an extraordinary achievement.

It's the work of architect Brunelleschi.

Working centuries before science could calculate

how to build such a complex shape.

Instead he relied on intuition and a few large-scale models

to assemble 37000 tons of material

and over four million bricks.

Today, it dominates Florence's skyline.

Next to the basilica is the cathedral's baptistry.

It's one of the oldest buildings in the city,

constructed between 1059 and 1128.

It's famous for its three bronze doors

with relief sculptures.

Michelangelo admired these doors so much

that he called them the Gates of Paradise.

Visitors can climb Giotto's Campanile, or bell tower,

which gives unparalleled views of the dome

and across Florence.

Giotto was a celebrated painter

who, later in life, turned to architecture.

He began the bell tower in 1334,

but, sadly, died before it was finished.

Nearby is the Basilica of Santa Croce.

It's the largest Franciscan church in the world.

Legend has it that it was founded

by St. Francis of Assisi himself.

It's the burial place of some of Florence's

most illustrious citizens,

including Galileo, Michelangelo,

the politician, Machiavelli,

and the composer, Rossini.

Crossing the river Arno,

we find the green of the Pitti Palace

and the Boboli Gardens.

Built by the Medicis,

it's amongst the largest and most elegant

Italian gardens in the world.

With no natural water source,

a channel was built from the nearby Arno

to irrigate the plants and make the fountains flow,

including this fountain of Neptune.

Once the Medici's home

and later the palace of the Kind of Italy,

Palazzo Pitti grew over the years

to hold a vast private collection

of priceless objects and works of art.

In 1919, the palace and all of its contents

were given to the people.

Today, it houses several museums and galleries

open to the public.

From the side of the palace emerges the Vasari Corridor.

A private passageway, it runs over a kilometer

above the city.

It links the Pitti Palace

with the town's offices, the Uffizi.

The Medicis commissioned the corridor

to let them move freely about the city

without fear of attack or assassination.

It crosses the Arno, here, above the famous Ponte Vecchio.

This is the only bridge not destroyed by the Germans

as they retreated from Florence in 1944.

Today, the Vasari Corridor can be booked for private tours,

letting visitors see the 17th and 18th century masterpieces

that still hang from its walls,

including one of the world's most important collections

of self-portraits.

It ends at the Uffizi, our final destination.

This U-shaped building was once Florence's

administrative offices and its seat of power.

It was open to the public in 1765

and is now amongst the oldest and most famous

art collections in Europe

and, quite possibly, the world,

which makes this gallery,

shaped by art, power, and the history of its great city,

the perfect place to end this journey.

(upbeat music)