|
Elegant
and refined Viareggio is one of the more famous coast resorts in
Versilia and a tourist destination known all over the world. It is an
amusement-centre, the country of the
Carnival
and of the night-refinement with its advanced anf first-rate
night-clubs
and premises. The night lights make room for a lively and coloured
landscape in summer and for wonderful sunsets and tranquillity in winter.
Anyway Viareggio is always the right place to visit as it displays,
during every season, different kinds of tourist attractions. The
historical traditions are scanty: its name derives
|
|
|
from the tower in Via Regia, which was
built during the XVth century by the inhabitants of
Lucca. In that
period, once the Burlamacca's outlet had been make in working order, the arbour become lively and trading was set going. Anyway the real
industrial growth starts only some centuries later and was based mostly
on shipyards. The sea, the big ally of the inhabitants of Viareggio,
|
|
constituted
the starting-point to build the fishermen's boats. The development and
growing of the town have caused that, nowadays, yachts and posh boats
are designed and built in the same shipyards. Anyhow tourism is still Viareggio' strenght: you only have to note that in the beginning of the
20th century the bathing huts reached already 3000 units, to see the neverending development of this tourist resort . The landscape is unique
thanks either to the greenery of the hills, the pinewoods, the blue sea
and the carnival which enlivens this town every year through a long
parade. Custom, actuality and policy are the targets of the organizers'
imagination.
|
|
|
The
carnival was born in 1873 and is as famous as the Rio carnival. Another
important local tradition is the Literature Award (created in 1929 by Leonida Rapaci) still following the development of our literature. The
architecture in Viareggio is not very interesting due to its mogenious
art-nouveau style designed by the architect Belluomini and to the
ceramics by Galileo and Chino Chini. It's worth visiting Matilde's tower
and Shelley Square where you can see a bust representing the poet.
|
The Coast