Viareggio - Largest municipality in Versilia with an ancient centre dating back to the 12th cent. Its name derives from the Via Regia, which joined the coast to the hinterland during the Middle Ages. The city is a renowned seaside resort, with its economy based on tourism, trade, fishing and floriculture.

It boasts an efficient tourist port containing a large number of boats. Viareggio`s shipyards are famous all over the world for the building, maintenance and repairing pleasure boats, mostly yachts. Towards the end of the 19th cent., boat building gave the inhabitants of Viareggio the idea for the construction of the first carnival floats supported by a wooden skeleton. In the course of time these became today`s artistically created papier mache floats.

Viareggio municipality also includes Torre del Lago Puccini, home to the Maestro Giacomo Puccini, where he lived and composed many of his operas. ... from “Touring Around Versilia” (Versilia, Toscana, Italia)