"The typical Tuscan landscape most famous in the world is that of plains and hills, in particular in the area around Florence and Siena, where more than in any other part one can enjoy the harmony which unites man with nature.
Here orderly cultivations of vines and olives alternate, marked by rows of Cypresses and by farm houses which give the visitor a sense of balance and unique beauty"

Villa la Pergola is located only 45 minutes from Pisa, Siena , Lucca, San Gimignano ,Volterra and Chianti area.

Pisa
Near Pisa and on the coast south of the mouth of the Arno is Marina di Pisa, a beach resort whose layout dates back to the second half of the 19th century. There are a number of Art Nouveau buildings here.
A little further along the coast is Tirrenia, a modern beach resort surrounded by extensive pine woods. On the other side of the mouth of the Arno there is the Tenuta di San Rossore, which became a regional natural park in 1979 and stretches as far as the Lago di Massaciuccoli. This park comprises 23,000 hectares of alluvial plain.
Monte Pisano (also mentioned by Dante in his Inferno), is an extension tacked onto the end of the Apuan Alps, and consists of an isolated group of high hills that divide Pisa from Lucca. Appreciated since the 18th century for its olive groves, the summit of Monte Pisano offers one of the most beautiful views in the whole of Italy. The slopes of the mountain are dotted with fortresses, convents, and other monuments of great interest, including the Certosa di Pisa, a vast complex founded in 1366 as a secluded monastery. Its moment of greatest splendour came in the 18th century, but after various ups and downs it was finally abandoned in 1969. Part of the complex houses a museum belonging to the University of Pisa devoted to the area and its natural history.
It's also worth making a visit to Vicopisano, which has a number of interesting historical buildings.
Besides fish dishes, the Pisa area also offers meat dishes like cinghiale in salmì (jugged wild boar) and bordino, a tasty country soup made with polenta, bacon, creamed beans, black cabbage, and onion.
The wide valley of the river Elsa has always been a natural communications route within Tuscany.
Even now both a railway and a highway run through the Val d'Elsa.
San Miniato is situated on three small hills controlling the main road and river network (the Arno and the Elsa).

Siena
Situated in central Tuscany, Siena was once one of the most important cities in Italy. Initially there was an Etruscan settlement here, on the route from Volterra to Arezzo.It then came under Roman rule and was declassified to minor city status. Its fortunes rose again under Lombard rule, when it was the only city on the Via Francigena between Lucca and Viterbo. It grew a lot in this period and became economically much stronger as a result of the commercial exploitation of its products. In 1200, the most important families of the city and the bankers of the Papal See started banking activity in the city. The most important sites for transactions were the urban strip along the Francigena, and in Piazza del Campo, the only large piazza in the city, which has its own particular and distinctive fascination even today.
After finally surrendering to Florence in 1559, Siena became part of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, but having constructed a fort there, the Medici neglected the city for the next two centuries, the result being that Siena slipped into a deep economic and demographic crisis.
The arrival of the railway in 1850 gave fresh stimulus to the city and to the old university, with scholars coming from all over Europe to study. The pharmaceutical industry became firmly established here and its old banking activities were revitalised.

Lucca
Lucca has a collection of artworks that have made it well-known throughout the world, and it is also called the 'city of the hundred churches', some of which are truly beautiful. Outside the city walls there is the Museo Nazionale di Villa Guinigi, where there are paintings by artists from Lucca together with valuable sculptures, items of the so-called minor arts, and sacred furnishings.
The very distinctive Piazza del Mercato, which is oval-shaped because it was built over an ancient Roman amphitheatre, is circled by an uninterrupted ring of houses. The only access to the piazza is by four pedestrian entrances.
Places of interest in the area around Lucca include the famous Ville Lucchese, which were built between the 16th and the 18th centuries on hilltops, mainly in proximity to the supplies of water that were needed for the spectacular fountains in their gardens. These villas share a particular concern for aesthetics, both in terms of the buildings themselves and the parks they overlook. Another shared feature is the mixed Tuscan and Doric order of architecture, and the use of plaster and stone together.
The renowned Tuscan cigar, the Toscano, is also from Lucca; hand-rolled since the 19th century, they are produced by the Manifattura Tabacchi. Thanks to a concession by the Italian state, they are now also produced in America and Argentina.
Lucca include a wide area that extends from the Apuan Alps to the Garfagnana and reaches as far as the coastal strip of Versilia.
The countryside around Lucca produces a high-quality (and world famous) olive oil that is highly aromatic and easy to digest.
Besides the well-known Tuscan gastronomic specialties, in Lucca it is also possible to sample Buccellato, a sweet ring-shaped cake made according to a 15th century recipe; its name derives from the fact that its shape is reminiscent of a buccina, a Roman trumpet with a round-coiled shape

San Gimignano
San Gimignano is well-known for the production of wine Vernaccia. This is one of the most well-known white wines in Italy; golden yellow in colour and with a rich bouquet, it is suitable as an aperitif and also goes well with fish dishes. This wine has very ancient origins, and there are records of it dating back to the 13th century.
Besides traditional Sienese sweets like panforte and ricciarelli, the city also has one of its own, pinolata, which is made with cream custard and pine nuts.
In the appropriate season there are also dishes made from tasty mushrooms and aromatic truffles gathered from the nearby hills.

Places to visit:
Porta S. Giovanni, the Southern gate of the city. It is the most beautiful gate of the ancient and intact walls from the 1200s.
Piazza della Cisterna, triangular in form, slightly sloping, it has a brick herringbone surface. The important ancient palaces face onto it, among which Palazzo Razzi and Palazzo Tortoli with the cut off tower.
Torri degli Ardinghelli, 1200s twin towers erected by the same name family of merchants.
Palazzo del Podestà severe 1200s construction dominated by the Rognosa, one of the highest towers (52m) still intact today.
Palazzo del Popolo, Municipal Seat, faces on Piazza del Duomo. On the right soars the Torre Grossa (54m) from the 1300s. On the left opens a big 1300s loggia. The Palace hosts the Civic Museum where among the innumerable works of art exhibited there is an extremely rare carpet of XIV century in the form of a cross.
Museum of Sacred Art, collection of works of art and objects from the Cathedral and the churches from the San Gimignano territory.
Cathedral, basilica-collegiate dedicated to S, Maria Assunta, it was constructed around 1050 and consecrated in 1148: in Romanic style on a flight of steps dominating the Piazza del Duomo. The three nave interior was enlarged in 1460 by Giuliano da Maiano, who also constructed the famous S. Fina chapel, refined altar-tomb finely frescoed by Ghirlandaio.
S. Agostino, church completed in 1298 of Romanic Gothic form, dominates the same name piazza from the top of a flight of steps. The interior of the church preserves works by Benozzo Gozzoli and Pietro Pollaiolo.

Volterra

The zone of the Colline Metallifere (the 'metal hills') is delimited to the north by the river Cecina, to the south by the river Pecora, and stretches from the west coast at Piombino into the province of Siena in the east.
The mine diggings sometimes give the landscape a rather harsh appearance, but not far from the silver, copper, lead, and pyrites mines are beautiful woods and cultivated valleys, and as you travel towards the sea, you come across hills covered with Mediterranean macchia vegetation.
The area around Volterra offers a unique panorama: the terrain consists of strata of sand and clay that in the past caused landslides, and now that they have stabilised, have produced an extraordinary landscape of cliffs and ledges that recalls Dante's Inferno. Despite its instability, it has always been inhabited because of its valuable mineral deposits. Indeed, these hills have been exploited for their copper, silver, lead, and zinc since Etruscan times, though the principal resource in that period were the salt deposits.
Volterra also used to be a market city because of its geographical position and the many local products it had to offer. The city is also famous for the quarrying and working of alabaster, which is similar to marble. Its value was already recognized by the Etruscans and is still a significant element in the economy of the area.
Modern-day Volterra is a small city whose historic and artistic treasures and original alabaster craftsmanship attract tourists from all over the world.

Chianti area

Chianti lies between two important cities, Florence and Siena, and extends from the Arno basin to that of the Ombrone; it takes in the Valdelsa to the west, while to the east it reaches the Valdarno Superiore. Chianti has always been a wine-producing area (there is evidence of viticultural activity right back in Etruscan times), and it is worth visiting both for the unmatched beauty of its natural landscape (inextricably inter-related with the work of man) and for the many villages, castles, and farms dotted around the area..
Running through this historic territory is the Via Chiantigiana, which joins Florence and Siena. Off this main route there are innumerable roads (both asphalt and dirt roads) leading to ancient parish churches, castles, and farms.