Tuscany · Lucca
Pietrasanta
The marble-processing town under the Apuan Alps, worked by Michelangelo, Henry Moore, Joan Miró and Fernando Botero.
By Peter Benei
Written about. No. 3.
We’ve tried
What we got up to
Restaurants, walks, swims: the things we actually did in Pietrasanta, each with the piece we wrote about it.
The best trippa in Versilia, in the room I'd bring her to: Trattoria Gatto Nero.
The vongole and the worldview behind it at Trattoria da Carlino, Tonfano.
The tordello, the meat-stuffed pasta that is Versilia telling you it isn't Lucca.
Erbe, the bitter boiled greens that make a kilo of rare beef sit like a virtue.
The letter
Pietrasanta got its letter. One town at a time, free. The photo, the food, the festa.
Visiting
- Best time
- May–Sep
- By car
- 41 min from Pisa
- By train
- Station in the comune
- Population
- 22,743
- J12°
- F13°
- M14°
- A17°
- M21°
- J25°
- J28°
- A29°
- S25°
- O21°
- N16°
- D13°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. The sea is warmest in August at 28° and coldest in February at 12°. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Going to the sea? How to find the free beaches in Italy.
Why come
Pietrasanta sits at the foot of the Apuan Alps, two kilometers from the Tyrrhenian, close enough to the quarries behind it and the coast in front of it that stone and sea both shape the town. It was founded in 1255 by Guiscardo da Pietrasanta, the Milanese podestà of Lucca, below the older fortress that already stood on the hill, and it grew through the fifteenth century into the processing center for marble cut from the mountains at its back. The centro storico, where the studi and foundries still work, sits inland; the beachfront with its pinewood park lies on the coast, a separate register of the same town, one built for stone and one for summer.
Michelangelo arrived in the early 1500s to work the local stone, and Henry Moore, Joan Miró and Damien Hirst followed in the twentieth century, drawn by the same studios and foundries that cut marble for the Duomo's façade centuries earlier. The Mariani foundry on the outskirts now casts work for sculptors who order remotely from New York and Beijing. What began as a quarry town for one church has become a place where the working of stone, not the display of it, is the thing on view.
How to get there
From Pisa (PSA), about 50 min by car.
Genoa (GOA) is about 1 h 49 min away.
By car from the center of Pisa 41 min or Florence 1 h 27 min.
There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.
Coming from Pisa, Florence or Genoa?
Coming by train into Livorno Centrale? Pietrasanta is about 42 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Pisa airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Duomo di San Martino
White-marble façade on the collegiate church, first documented in 1223, enlarged in 1330 and made a collegiate church in 1387. It faces the square that still functions as the town's civic center.
Piazza Duomo
Main square with the Marzocco column celebrating Florence's 1513 reacquisition and a statue of Grand Duke Leopold by Vincenzo Santini.
Museo dei Bozzetti
Civic museum holding 700 plaster models and clay sketches from sculptors who have worked in the local studios since the 1960s, a record of process rather than finished work.
Studi e Fonderie
Active sculptor studios and bronze foundries in the centro storico, including the Mariani foundry where Botero cast his Pietrasanta bronzes.
Marina di Pietrasanta
Three-kilometer Versilia beachfront with Bandiera Blu status and the pinewood Versiliana park where the summer literary festival runs.
From the guides
Where to eat
Not our picks, but places the guides put their name to: a Michelin star, a Gambero Rosso fork, a Slow Food snail, a Michelin Key for the hotels. Worth a table, a counter, or a night when you pass through.
FilippoRistorante
Filippo has two Gambero Rosso forks (82/100) and a spot in the Michelin Guide.
La MartinaticaRistorante
La Martinatica holds one Gambero Rosso fork (79/100) and a spot in the Michelin Guide.
PeposoTrattoria
Two Gambero Rosso prawns for Peposo, and a Slow Food snail.
6 more places the guides name in Pietrasanta
AlexRistorante
Alex holds a spot in the Michelin Guide.
Da GigiRistorante
A Gambero Rosso listing, at Da Gigi.
L'Enoteca MarcucciWine Bar
Three Gambero Rosso bottles, at L'Enoteca Marcucci.
Osteria StappasogniTrattoria
Osteria Stappasogni holds two Gambero Rosso prawns.
ParadisRistorante
Paradis holds one Gambero Rosso fork (79/100).
SementisBistrot
Sementis holds two Gambero Rosso tables.
Before you sit down: how to order at a restaurant, how to spot a tourist trap, what aperitivo is and how the Italian bar works.
Living here
Could you live here?
Pietrasanta meets 1 of our 2 rules for a small town.
- 22,743 people, above our sweet spot of 5,000 to 20,000: big enough that it can split into neighborhoods.
- Viareggio, a city of 60,618, is 22 min by car. Closer than our 30 to 60 minutes: handy for everything, so check the town still keeps a life of its own.
- A station of its own. Trains are the overlooked way to get around Italy: no parking, straight into the center.
The rules come from our series Where to Move in Italy, written from the places we have lived: Part 1, The End of the Road · Part 2, The Small Town · Part 3, The City · Part 4, The Postcard · Part 5, The Other Half. The towns we would pick are in Part 6, The Best Towns.
- Population 22,743, down 5.4% since 2015
- Nearest city Viareggio, 22 min drive
- Train station in the comune
- Nearest national health service hospital Camaiore, 8 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €2,950 to €4,400 per m² to buy, €8.50 to €11.10 per m² a month to rent
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- Commuter belt
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 58% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 3, low hazard
- Pisa airport (PSA), 50 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Florence, 1 h 27 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
6% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Romania, Albania and Morocco, against 9% across Italy. 165 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly France, Germany and the United States. There are 336 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 43% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Lucca province ranks 58th of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Camaiore, 8 km as the crow flies. It has a children's emergency room too. The nearest major one is in Pisa, 33 km away. The nearest IB school is International School of Florence, 86 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is Bilingual School Lucca, 25 km away.
Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.
Taxes
A home that is not your main one pays 1.06% a year in property tax, charged on the cadastral value rather than the price. A main home pays none unless it is in a luxury category. The town adds 0.75% to your income tax, with nothing due on income under €14,500. 7% pensioner tax: this town is not in a qualifying area.
Information, not tax advice. Confirm with a professional.
What it costs
The average household in Tuscany spends about €2,410 a month, €540 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €770 a year for water, on the Tuscany average. In Lucca, the provincial capital, in September 2026, an espresso cost €1.30 and a meal in a pizzeria €10.85.
Climate and risk
It is in climate zone D, on a scale from A, the warmest, to F, the coldest, and heating may run from November 1 to April 15, up to 12 hours a day, unless the mayor changes it. 5% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods, 15% in a high or medium one. 5% live in a zone rated high or very high for landslides.
These shares cover the whole comune, not any one street. Check an address on IdroGEO.
Moving from abroad? Which visa you need. Sources: ISTAT, the Ministry of Health, ISPRA, the Finance Ministry, the Ministry of Enterprise, Poste Italiane, the comuni, the IB, International Schools Database, Il Sole 24 Ore, Cittadinanzattiva.
Known for
MARBLE SCULPTURE
Working center for marble sculpture since the fifteenth century, with over a dozen active studi inside the centro storico.
BOTERO
Fernando Botero bought a house here in 1983, became an honorary citizen in 2001, and held an 80-work town-wide exhibition in 2012.
MARINA DI PIETRASANTA
Three-kilometer Bandiera Blu beach with the Versiliana pinewood and a summer cultural festival running since 1980.
Common questions
- What is Pietrasanta known for?
- Pietrasanta is the marble-processing town under the Apuan Alps, worked by Michelangelo, Henry Moore, Joan Miró and Fernando Botero.
- Where is Pietrasanta?
- Pietrasanta is a comune in the province of Lucca, in Tuscany, at 14 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Pietrasanta?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Pisa (PSA), about 50 min by car.
- Can you get to Pietrasanta without a car?
- Yes. There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive by train.
- How long is the drive from Pisa to Pietrasanta?
- About 41 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Pietrasanta?
- Best in May–Sep. August is the warmest month, averaging 29 degrees, and December the wettest, with about 16 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Pietrasanta?
- Seravezza, Carrara and Pompei.
- How many people live in Pietrasanta?
- 22,743 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Pietrasanta a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Pietrasanta is a small town that meets 1 of our 2 rules. The nearest city, Viareggio, is 22 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Camaiore, 8 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 58% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 14 m
- Population: 22,743
- Surface area: 41.6 km²
These figures were compiled from public directories: ISTAT, OpenStreetMap and Wikidata, and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.
The ranked lists
Lists Pietrasanta appears in
- The 6 best towns with a serious restaurant in the province of LuccaLucca provinceserious restaurant6 towns · smallest 4,402 residents
- The best beach towns within 90 minutes of PisaNear Pisaclean beachwithin 90 min6 towns · smallest 6,666 residents · closest 29 min away
- The best coastal towns within 90 minutes of FlorenceNear Florencecoastalwithin 90 min6 towns · smallest 6,666 residents · closest 78 min away
- The best towns with a serious restaurant that sit on a walking route within 90 minutes of PisaNear Pisaon a walking routewithin 90 minserious restaurant6 towns · smallest 21,768 residents · closest 34 min away
- The best coastal towns you can reach by train within 90 minutes of PisaNear Pisacoastalby trainwithin 90 min7 towns · smallest 1,287 residents · closest 29 min away
- The 8 best towns you can reach by train in the province of LuccaLucca provinceby train8 towns · smallest 4,402 residents
Near here, with a letter
- Written about. No. 71.
Stazzema
Province: Lucca
A mountain commune of seventeen hamlets in the Apuan Alps, site of the August 1944 Sant'Anna massacre and Italy's National Park of Peace.
7 km away
- Written about. No. 5.
Forte dei Marmi
Province: Lucca
The Versilia luxury beach built around an eighteenth-century marble-loading fort, with 99 bagni concessions and a Wednesday market that draws Milan.
11 min by car
- Written about. No. 2.
Camaiore
Province: Lucca
The Versilia commune that runs from the mountains to the sea, a Roman Campus Maior on the Via Francigena with a beach at its western end.
19 min by car
The letter
Pietrasanta got its letter. One town at a time, free. The photo, the food, the festa.
Paid plans, the moving year and the books are on the membership page.