Belltower of the Sarsina Cathedral

Majors and Burgomaster of the twin towns

Small town of about 5.000 inhabitants, it is situated in the centre of France, in the east of Auvergne, on the border of the large Limagne plain, between Clermont-Ferrand and Thiers.
Economy is based on industry, especially on the big Michelin factory, near Clermont-Ferrand. In ancient times it was the greatest centre for the production of pottery.
During the gallic-roman age, more than 1200 ceramists produced pottery inspired by the italic technique, in particular by the "terra sigillata" technique, characterized by a bright red paint.
Thanks to archaeological excavations, a lot of stoves and several fragments have been found. You can find all this material in the local Archaeological Museum; the most beautiful pots produced in Lezoux, instead, are exposed in the Museum of Saint Germain en Laye, in the neighbourhood of Paris.
Since a couple of years the production of artistic pottery has started again. Besides the Archaeological Museum, you can visit the Convent of Sant'Agostino (XV century), present seat of the Town Hall (see picture); the Tower and the Cappella San Giorgio (XII century) which are both the remains of the ancient fortress.
Lezoux is 950 Km far from Sarsina and can be reached through the motorway Lyon-Clermont Ferrand.

Web site of Lezoux

Almost in the centre of Holland, it is not far from Utrecht. After absorbing, a few years ago, some small suppressed municipalities, its population reached 20.000 inhabitants.
Economy is based on industry, especially in the neighbouring towns, on services and, of course, on agricolture.

Web site of Lopik

It is a nice town of about 6.000 inhabitants, founded in the XV century in the Land of Hessen, in the disctrict of Kassel, in the centre of Germany. It still keeps that kind of romanticism typical of the ancient villages.
Interesting and well preserved are the Town Hall, the castle, the local church, the gates, the boundary walls of the town, as well as the 7 towers which give Grebenstein an unmistakable outline. Worth visiting, in the city centre, are also the 200 or more "Fachwerk" houses, dated back to the XVI-XVII century, and the "Ackerburgermuseum", if you want to have an overview on the past life in Hessen.
Not far from Grebenstein are the "Kasseler Wilhelmshohe", one of the biggest baroque parks of Europe, and the "Wilhelmsthal" (Valley of Wilhelm).
Grebenstein keeps its importance also from the naturalistic point of view, thanks to the Sababurg castle and the large, adjoining faunal park, together with the several paths through woods and strems. Moreover, the rivers Fulda and Weser enable romantic tours on boat.
Economy is based on industry (see Volkswagen in Kassel) and on services.

Web site of Grebenstein