Firenze | Arezzo | Grosseto | Livorno | Lucca | Versilia |
Massa Carrara | Pisa | Pistoia | Prato | Siena |
Isola d'Elba |Versilia | Garfagnana | Montecatini Terme
Viareggio | Lido di Camaiore | Marina di Pietrasanta|


The pre-Etruscan history of the area in the late Bronze and Iron ages parallels that of the early Greeks.[1] The Tuscan area was inhabited by peoples of the so-called Apennine culture in the late second millennium BC (roughly 1350–1150 BC) who had trading relationships with the Minoan and Mycenaean civilisations in the Aegean Sea.[1] Following this the Villanovan culture (1100–700 BC) came about which saw Tuscany, and the rest of Etruria, taken over by chiefdoms (as was also the case at this time in France and the Aegean after the collapse of Mycenae and Troy).[1] City-states developed in the late Villanovan (again paralleling Greece and the Aegean) before Orientalization occurred and the Etruscan civilisation rose.
Etruscans
Castiglioncello near Rosignano Marittimo, each little town owns an Etruscan Museum.The Etruscans were the first major civilization in this region of Italy; large enough to lay down a transport infrastructure, implement agriculture and mining, and produce vivid art.
The people who formed the civilisation lived in the area (called Etruria) well into prehistory.
The civilisation grew to fill the area between the rivers Arno and Tiber from the eighth century BC, reaching their peak during the seventh and sixth centuries BC, and finally ceded all power and territory to the Romans by the first century BC.
Throughout their existence, they lost territory to the surrounding civilisations of Greece, Carthage and Gaul.
Despite being described as distinct in its manners and customs by contemporary Greeks, the cultures of Greece, and later Rome, influenced the civilisation to a great extent and this increasing lack of cultural distinction, including the adoption of the Etruscan upper class by the Romans,was one of the reasons for its eventual demise.
Romans
Soon after absorbing Etruria, Rome established the cities of Lucca, Pisa, Siena, and Florence, endowed the area with new technologies and development, and ensured peace.
These developments included extensions of the existing transport infrastructure, introduction of aqueducts and sewers, and the construction of many buildings, both public and private.
The Roman civilization finally collapsed in the fifth century AD and the region was left by the Goths, and others, without control. In the sixth century, the Longobards arrived and designated Lucca their capital.
The medieval period
With pilgrims travelling along the Via Francigena between Rome and France came wealth and development during the mediæval period.
The food and shelter needed by these travellers fuelled the growth of new communities around churches and taverns.The conflict between the Guelphs and Ghibellines, factions supporting, respectively, the Papacy and the Holy Roman Empire in central and northern Italy during the 12th and 13th centuries, split the Tuscan people.
These two factors gave rise to several powerful and rich communes in Tuscany: Arezzo, Florence, Lucca, Pisa, and Siena. The balance between these communes were ensured by the assets they held; Pisa, a port; Siena, banking; and Lucca, banking and silk.By the renaissance, however, Florence succeeded in becoming the cultural capital of Tuscany and ensured a bright, and peaceful, future for the region.