Between the end of the 1800s and the early 1900s, numerous Englishmen lived and spent time in Viareggio, but one in particular is very popular, as is the sad story that links him with the Tuscan town.
On July 8th, 1822, Percy Bysshe Shelley departed from Livorno to reach San Terenzo onboard his sailing ship and, after just a few hours at sea, encountered a terrible thunderstorm and shipwrecked.
About ten days later, the body of the Romantic poet washed up on the shore of Viareggio, where it was cremated.
Just a few feet from where the body was found, a busto of the poet sculpted by Urbano Lucchesi stands at the center of Piazza Shelley.
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