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"Florentia",
the florid, was the name given by the
Romans to this small settlement located
at the foot of the ancient Etruscan Fiesole
and founded in the first century BC. Despite
the internal struggles, first between
rival families and then between the Guelfs
(loyal to the Pope) and the Ghibellines
(loyal to the Emperor), from the thirteenth
century onwards it began to flourish as
a city of art, culture and international
trading, reaching its zenith in the fifteenth
century under the
Signoria of Cosimo and Lorenzo de
Medici. The territory of Florence is the
guardian of an exceptional art heritage,
a splendid testimony to its history and
secular civilization from Fiesole with
its Roman Theater to the hills of Chianti
with its parish churches, endless itineraries
may in fact be followed through the country
side, offering a variety of different
themes and high-quality content, both
of cultural value and of environmental
naturalistic interest.
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