Central Italy Travel Guide — Things to Do, Food & Hotels
geographic region of Italy
About Central Italy
This region of Italy was settled very early. Quite a number of the more beautiful towns in what are now Tuscany, Umbria and Lazio started their existence as Etruscan hill cities. Later, the ancient Romans, from their base in Rome, expanded into the Etruscan lands and conquered these cities. As part ofMedieval and Renaissance Italy, the Tuscan cities ofFlorence,SienaandPisavied for power and a monopoly over European trade with Asia. Most of the rest of this area was under the control of the Pope as part of the Papal States, except for most ofAbruzzo, which was part of the Kingdom of Naples and then the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, initially under the control of France and then for hundreds of years prior to Italian unification, under the control of Spain. In historical terms, Florence is se
Central Italy Travel Guide Sections
Our comprehensive guide covers 13 sections including: