Pescia
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It is located in a central zone between the cities Lucca and Florence, on the banks of the river of the same name.
Archaeological excavations have suggested that the Lombards built the first settlement here on the river banks. The name of the city comes in fact from the Lombardic word pehhia (cognate to Bach in German), meaning "river".
Lucca occupied and destroyed Pescia during the 13th century, but the town was quickly rebuilt. During the entire Middle Ages Florence and Lucca contended for the city, as the latter was located on the border between the two republics. In 1339, after almost ten years of war, Florence occupied it.
The economy of the town was founded on mulberry cultivation and silkworm breeding. Heavily struck by the Black Death, Pescia overcame the demographic and economic depression which had ensued only at the end of the 15th century.
At the end of the 17th century, the grand-duke of Tuscany declared Pescia "City of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany". In the 19th century, the silk production was so important that Pescia was called "the little Manchester of Tuscany". The economy of the town dropped after a commercial conflict between France and Italy (1888). The passage of Napoleon highly damaged the economy of the city, because he substituted silk with sugar beet.
Since 1925 Pesciatins found an alternative economic source in cultivating and trading flowers and olive plants (since the end of the 19th century). Bombardments during World War II caused much damage to Pescia.
Map - Pescia
Map
Country - Italy
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| Flag of Italy | |
Italy was the native place of many civilizations such as the Italic peoples and the Etruscans, while due to its central geographic location in Southern Europe and the Mediterranean, the country has also historically been home to myriad peoples and cultures, who immigrated to the peninsula throughout history. The Latins, native of central Italy, formed the Roman Kingdom in the 8th century BC, which eventually became a republic with a government of the Senate and the People. The Roman Republic initially conquered and assimilated its neighbours on the Italian peninsula, eventually expanding and conquering a large part of Europe, North Africa and Western Asia. By the first century BC, the Roman Empire emerged as the dominant power in the Mediterranean Basin and became a leading cultural, political and religious centre, inaugurating the Pax Romana, a period of more than 200 years during which Italy's law, technology, economy, art, and literature developed.
Currency / Language
| ISO | Currency | Symbol | Significant figures |
|---|---|---|---|
| EUR | Euro | € | 2 |
| ISO | Language |
|---|---|
| CA | Catalan language |
| CO | Corsican language |
| FR | French language |
| DE | German language |
| IT | Italian language |
| SC | Sardinian language |
| SL | Slovene language |