Pietrasanta is a town and comune on the coast of northern Tuscany in Italy, in the province of Lucca. Pietrasanta is part of Versilia, on the last foothills of the Apuan Alps, about 32 kilometres (20 mi) north of Pisa. The town is located 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) off the coast, where the frazione of Marina di Pietrasanta is located.
Forte dei Marmi (Italian: [ˈfɔrte dei ˈmarmi]) is a sea town and comune in the province of Lucca, in northern Tuscany (Italy). It is the birthplace of Paola Ruffo di Calabria, Queen of the Belgians from 1993 to 2013.
Tourism is the principal activity of Forte dei Marmi's citizens. The population of the town, amounting to some 7,700, nearly triples during the summer, because of the hundreds of tourists who mainly come from Florence, Milan, Germany, and Russia. Forte dei Marmi is one of the major destinations which attract the Italian upper class.
The city contains a gate built in a former bog, a historical artifact that relates to strategic planning by the ancient Roman army.
In Italian Forte dei Marmi means "Fort of the marbles". The town takes its name from the fortress that rises in the middle of the main square, built under Grand Duke Peter Leopold, who was to become Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor, in 1788. The fortress was built to defend the coast from outer attacks, but in the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century it became the place where the marble quarried from the Alpi Apuane (they are the same mountains of the famous marble of Carrara) was stocked before being sent to the pier for shipping.
Forte dei Marmi's field hockey team is in the Italian A-league.
Main square of Pietrasanta.
It lies on the main road and rail link from Pisa to Genova, just north of Viareggio.
The town has Roman origins and part of the Roman wall still exists.
The medieval town was founded in 1255 upon the pre-existing "Rocca di Sala" fortress of the Lombards by Luca Guiscardo da Pietrasanta, from whom it got its name. Pietrasanta was at its height a part of the Republic of Genoa (1316-1328). The town is first mentioned in 1331 in records of Genoa, when it became a part of the Lucca along with the river port of Motrone, and was held until 1430. At that time it passed back to Genoa until 1484, when it was annexed to the Medici held seigniory of Florence.
In 1494, Charles VIII of France took control of the town. It remained a Luccan town again until Pope Leo X, a member of the Medici family, gave Pietrasanta back to his family.
The town suffered a long period of decline during the 17th and 18th centuries, partially due to malaria. In 1841, Grand Duke Leopold II of Tuscany promoted several reconstruction projects (including the building of schools specially created to teach carving skills, and the reopening of the once famous quarries).
The town then became the capital of the Capitanato di Pietrasanta, which included the towns of Forte dei Marmi, Seravezza and Stazzema (this region became the historical heart of Versilia). The town joined the newly unified Italian Kingdom in 1861.
Pietrasanta ist eine italienische Kleinstadt mit 23.542 Einwohnern
Pietrasanta liegt etwa 30 km nördlich von Pisa am Fuße der Apuanischen Alpen. Der am Meer gelegene Ortsteil Marina di Pietrasanta ist ein bekanntes Seebad. Mauerreste weisen auf eine Besiedlung bereits in römischer Zeit hin. Als Gründungsjahr der Stadt gilt das Jahr 1255, als der Mailänder Guiscardo Pietrasanta, Namensgeber des Ortes, zu Füßen einer bereits bestehenden lombardischen Festung eine Siedlung errichten ließ. Im Mittelalter wechselte die Herrschaft mehrmals zwischen den Stadtstaaten von Genua, Lucca und Florenz. Nach einem Schiedsverfahren kam durch Beschluss von Papst Leo X. aus dem Hause Medici im Jahr 1513 Pietrasanta und sein Gebiet mit dem Hafen von Motrone - damals der einzige in der Versilia - an Florenz, unter dessen Herrschaft es bis zur Einheit Italiens blieb.[2] Im 17. und 18. Jahrhundert folgte, unter anderem bedingt durch die Malaria, eine Periode des Niedergangs.
Leopold II., Großherzog der Toskana und Erzherzog von Österreich, förderte im 19. Jahrhundert den Wiederaufbau und schuf durch die Errichtung von Schulen für Steinmetze die wirtschaftliche Grundlage für den Wiederaufstieg zur früheren Bedeutung als Stadt des Marmors.
Zum Gemeindegebiet gehören die Ortsteile Capezzano Monte, Capriglia, Strettoia (Montiscendi), Traversagna (Pollino), Vecchiuccio, Vallecchia, Solaio, Vitoio, Castello, Valdicastello, Crociale (Ponte Rosso), Africa (Pisanica), Macelli, Osterietta und Marina di Pietrasanta (Fiumetto, Tonfano, Motrone, Focette).