Versilia is a land rich in varied and breathtaking natural landscapes but it is not only this peculiar aspect that makes it known, appreciated and visited by tourists from all over the world. It is in fact a particularly important area also from a historical, cultural and artistic point of view: the 7 municipalities that make it are characterized by works of art and ancient buildings perfectly preserved and cared for, that take us back in time and allow us to retrace ages and far and fascinating events. 

At an artistic and especially architectural level it is certainly the ART NOUVEAU STYLE, also called LIBERTY, which arouses more interest in visitors and those who want to discover and know the territory in its many facets.

It all began when the Italian builders and artists of the early twentieth century, intrigued and somehow enchanted by the spread of this new style from abroad, begin to build villas, houses and buildings faithfully and meticulously reproducing the characteristics that make this artistic current recognizable and distinguishable from the others.

In Viareggio, a city so beautiful to be called "The Pearl of the Tyrrhenian Sea", the painter-ceramist Galileo Chini and the engineer Alfredo Belluomini give life to a series of Art Nouveau villas that today have become municipal houses such as Villa Argentina or hotels such as the Grand Hotel Royal and the Grand Hotel Principe di Piemonte. Other Art Nouveau buildings are also considered true symbols of the seaside resort, such as the Gran Caffè Margherita, located on the Promenade, in which today there is an elegant café, a restaurant and an immense library or the Cinema Eden, in the past very important theater where national and international companies have performed.

Moving from Viareggio towards Lido di Camaiore you can admire other works of the same style as the Club I Pini, wonderful period residence where lived Galileo Chini and where you can still see the frescoes he made, or the Villa Ariston, former manor house of the Rolandi Ricci Family, which hosted famous people such as Gabriele D'Annunzio, Marlene Dietrich, Eleonora Duse and Giacomo Puccini.

Continuing in the direction of Massarosa we find Villa Ginori, very dear to Giacomo Puccini, who used to relax in the rooms where he composed the verses of his operas.

All the listed works are included in an itinerary that can be explored alone or together with a tourist guide that will explain and deepen all the most interesting aspects of the route.

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