This week, instead of guiding you to a lesser known corner of this incredible region, we'll read from one of the pages in the big book of Tuscan history that have remained somehow stuck. Curiously enough, the stars of this remarkable story are two of the most famous people this land has ever had. Pretty much everyone knows about Leonardo da Vinci, the Renaissance man that was able to excel as a painter, scientist and inventor of fantastic machines way ahead of his time. Many also have heard of the politician who came to incarnate the maxim "the end justifies the means", Niccolò Machiavelli. Almost no one knows that these two giants of Renaissance Florence joined forces to follow an impossible dream: changing the course of the mother river of Tuscany, the Arno. While Leonardo wanted to do a massive project to make the frequent and deadly floods a thing of the past, Machiavelli had something else in mind for the talented man from Vinci: deviate the river just before Pisa to starve the city of fresh water. The story of how a possible genocide was averted by the temperamental Arno and the impact of this failure on the careers of the two men is one of the most fascinating and lesser known pages of Tuscan history.
Do you like these slightly shorter episodes? Do you have any advice or some burning question you'd like us to answer? Don't keep it to yourself! Get in touch and we'll be glad to help.
Email: podcast@larno.it
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/larno.it
Twitter: @arno_it / @WhatsupTuscany

LINKS TO SOURCES
https://www.latoscanadileonardo.it/it/luoghi/provincia-di-pisa/comune-di-pisa/pisa-e-il-progetto-per-la-deviazione-dell-arno.html
https://www.toctocfirenze.it/progetto-leonardo-vinci-per-larno/
https://www.lanazione.it/empoli/cronaca/2013/04/27/879652-monsummano-celebra-progetto-deviazione-arno-leonardo.shtml
https://www.ilgiornale.it/news/codice-vinci-anti-alluvioni-leonardo-voleva-deviare-l-arno.html
https://www.firenze1903.it/leonardo-da-vinci-il-primo-che-discorresse-sopra-il-fiume-darno-per-metterlo-in-canale-da-pisa-a-firenze/
https://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/17/books/books-of-the-times-a-river-ran-through-their-dreams.html
https://prosperousnetwork.com/2020/12/il-ghiribizzo-di-leonardo-da-vinci/

BACKGROUND MUSIC
Pipe Choir - Bom Bom Breakthrough (Instrumental)
Pipe Choir - Almost Time (Instrumental)
Pipe Choir - Children of the Son (Instrumental)
Pipe Choir - A Dark Blue Arc (Instrumental)
Pipe Choir - Followers (Instrumental)
Wayne John Bradley - Blues Rock Original Instrumental
All released under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
https://soundcloud.com/pipe-choir-2/pipe-choir-bom-bom-breakthrough-creative-commons-instrumental
https://soundcloud.com/pipe-choir-2/pipe-choir-almost-time-instrumental-creative-commons
https://soundcloud.com/pipe-choir-2/pc-one-children-of-the-son-creative-commons-instrumental
https://soundcloud.com/pipe-choir-2/pc-one-a-dark-blue-arc-creative-commons-instrumental
https://soundcloud.com/pipe-choir-2/pipechoir-followers-instrumental
https://soundcloud.com/ayneohnradley/blues-rock-original-instrumentalcreative-commons
http://www.pipechoir.com/