Fortezza Nuova (New Fort), Livorno (must see)

Cosimo I and his son, Francesco I de Medici, commissioned a lot of work to Bernardo Buontalenti. Buontalenti was a renaissance man with many talents. He was a stage designer, architect, theater designer, military engineer, and artist. But best of all (to some), he invented Italian ice cream (gelato). In 1575 he made a plan to remake Livorno.

His plan was called the Buontalenti Pentagon. It enclosed the old city and its Old Fort within a pentagonal system of canals. Buontalenti's plan became the New Fort by adjusting the San Francesco Rampart and the Santa Barbara Rampart. The result vastly strengthened the military defensiveness of the town.

Buontalenti's project was further ameliorated by Don Giovanni de' Medici, Claudio Cogorano, and Alessandro Pieroni. The project was completed in 1604. Ferdinando II de Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, demolished part of the fortress in 1629 to facilitate the building of the New Venice and San Marco commercial centers of the city.

The New Fort was a military facility until the end of World War II. It had barracks for personnel and a chapel dedicated to the Immaculate Conception. The fort suffered severe damages in the war, and it was restored by 1972. Presently it serves as a public park and as an events venue.