Certaldo - Tuscany - I Like Italy
Certaldo is not far from Florence, in the middle of the valley of the Elsa river. Certaldo is the home town of Boccaccio, one of the greatest italian writer ever.
Certaldo means history, tradition and art, and it's a mandatory step for all the visitors of Tuscany.
Certaldo was founded in 1164, with the building of the old castle, when Federico Barbarossa gave the territory to the family of Conti Alberti. In XIII century Certaldo was conquered from Florence and from that century the history of Certaldo became strongly related to the Florence history.
The old castle is seat in the high part of the town, and nowadays it still preserves the medieval structures of the streets and buildings.
One of the main buildings is the Palazzo Pretorio, the symbol of Certaldo. It is the rest of the ancient castle of the Conti Alberti. Nowadays it's the seat of a gallery of modern art.
Close to the Palace there is the Church of Santi Jacopo e Filippo, in a perfect romanesque-style. It was builded in XIII century and nowadays it host the museum of Holy Art. Inside the old church there are the remains of Boccaccio.
The main street of the old town is Via Boccaccio, where we can find the house of the writer, completely re-builded after the second world war, and nowadays it's the seat of an important Library dedicated to Boccaccio.
In the old town there is also the palace Stiozzi Ridolfi, it was builded in XIV century. It is completely inside the old castle, with two towers and a big court.
Three gates still assure the access to the old castle: Porta al Sole, Porta Alberti and Porta del Rivellino.
The whole area of Certaldo is covered by history. In fact there are several outstanding buildings just outside the town, like the ruins of the Castle of Pogni.
The Castle of Pogni was one of the most powerful outpost of the Alberti dinasty. Now we can admire only a broken tower and some ruins of the old palace.
The Church of San Lazzaro a Lucardo was builded in X century. It's a classic example of romanesque-style church, with three naves and a basilica-like base. Maybe the most important romanesque-style building of the whole valley.
The Chapel of San Michele Arcangelo is close to Certaldo and it was builded in 1597, by Santi Tito. It's a perfect scale down (1:8) of the Florence Dome and nowadays it's the only remains of the old town of Semifonte.
The main yearly event of Certaldo is Mercantia, in july. A festival of street theatre and local craftsmanship. It's a very famous event, where it's possible to merge music, dance, theatre and cfraftsmanship, framed by the medieval old town.
Street artists from all the world are guests of the city for five days and the event involves hundreds of thousands of visitors every year.
For our journeys of the taste we'd like to underline one of the most famous high-quality product of Certaldo, the Bianchetto (little white) truffle.
The gathering of this kind of truffle is usually in march (for this reason it's called Marzoulo too)
This kind of truffle is not estemeed as the white truffle of San Miniato, gathered in november.
The size of the Marzuolo is usually smaller, with a strong good smell. It's a good ingredient for Tuscan recipes, because it's tasty but cheaper then the San Miniato's truffle.
San Gimignano - Tuscany - I Like Italy
SAN GIMIGNANO
The castle of San Gimignano is very ancient, but the full development of the town was at the end of the Dark ages, when the main buildings and towers of the town were builded.
The towers of San Gimignano are unique in the World. Nowadays we can admire just 13 of the ancient 72 towers, that where the symbol of the power of the richest families of the town.
San Gimignano was a sort of Manhattan of the middle age.
San Gimignano from 1990 is one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
If you walk the wall of the castle you can watch one of the most impressive landscapes of the Tuscan hills and valleys.
In Sant'Agostino square, there is the Church (with the same name), in romanesque-style with some gothic elements. The Church was builded in 1298.
On the same square there is one of the oldest church of San Gimignano, the Church of S.Pietro in Forliano, that was builded in XII century.
If you across the S.Jacopo Gate, you can find the Church of S.Girolamo, that was builded in 1337.
Close to the gate, there is the romanesque-style church of S.Jacopo of Templars. It seems that it was builded by the templar knights that came back from the I crusade
After the gate of S.Jacopo, there is the gate Delle Fonti.
This gate was the ancient access to the public fountains for the whole population. This gata was builded in XIV century, to cover the ancient stone fountain builded by Lombards in IX century.
With a few steps walk you can find the big buiilding of San Domenico and then the Church of San Lorenzo in Ponte, that was builded in 1240 and it's in romanesque-style
Inside the narrow streets of the town you can find the House of Santa Fina, a very young saint, who is celebrated yearly, on march, the 12th
Piazza della Cisterna was the ancient seat of the main shops, workshops and taverns. In the middle of the square there is the ancient octagonal well of the city. Tourists usually say that San Gimignano is a sort of time machine that bring the people in the middle age.
Piazza del Duomo, Dome square, is close to Piazza della Cisterna and it's the seat of several towers. The dome is in romanesque-style too, and it was builded in 1000 AC. Beside it there is a museum of Holy Art, and next the present palace of the municipality, that was builded in 1298.
From the museum it's possible to visit the highest tower of the town. The landscape is outstanding from the top of the tower.
Few steps far from the Dome there is the Rocca di Montestaffoli, originally it was a castle and then a convent. It host a little tower, a small outpost of the external wall of the town that let people to watch a 360° landscape of all the valley of the Elsa river.
For our usual journeys of the taste, we'd like to underline two typical high-quality products of San Gimignano.
The first one is the white wine called la Vernaccia. It's was the first italian mark guaranteeing the quality of a wine.
La Vernaccia has a fresh dry taste, a golden colour, and a remarkable delicate smell.
The second typical product of San Gimignano is the saffron.
San Gimignano has the right climate conditions to growing the saffron plant and San Gimignano's one is estemeed as a top quality saffron.
FIESOLE - ITALY HOP-ON HOP-OFF TOUR
Fiesole - a brief history
Fiesole is of Etruscan origin, as may be seen from the remains of its ancient walls, and was probably founded in the 9 C BC. One possible reason for the prosperity of Etruscan and Roman Fiesole could be its location near a ford over the Arno close to where Roman Florence (Florentia) would rise. Fiesole's location also made it strategic for travellers on all the main roads between southern and central Etruria to the south of Italy (covering large parts of present day Tuscany, Umbria and Latium) and the Etruscans in the area around the Po valley to the north of Italy.
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The Romans conquered Faesulae, as Fiesole was then known, in 283 BC. Under Roman rule, it became the seat of a famous school of augurs, and every year twelve young men were sent here from Rome to study the art of divination. Rome typically drew heavily on the Etruscans for priests and augurs. Sulla colonised it with veterans, who afterwards, under the leadership of Manlius, supported the cause of Catiline. Near Fiesole, the Vandals and Suevi under Radagaisus were defeated (405) by hunger rather than by the troops of Stilicho. A considerable number of interesting finds from the Etruscan period - urns, bucchero, clay and bronze statues - together with other objects from Roman times are to be found in the Museum near the archaeological zone.
During the Gothic War (536-53), Fiesole was besieged several times and in 539 Justinus, the Byzantine general, captured it and razed its fortifications. In the early Middle Ages, Fiesole was more powerful than Florence in the valley below, and many wars arose between them. In 1010 and 1025 Fiesole was sacked by the Florentines, and its leading families obliged to take up their residence in Florence.
Christianity was introduced to Fiesole by St. Romulus, a disciple of St. Peter. The fact that the ancient cathedral (now the Abbazia Fiesolana) stands outside the city is a evidence that the Christian origins of Fiesole date from the period of the persecutions. The earliest mention of a Bishop of Fiesole is in a letter of Gelasius I (492-496). A little later, under Vigilius (537-55), a Bishop Rusticus is mentioned as papal legate at one of the Councils of Constantinople. The legendary St. Alexander is said by some to belong to the time of the Lombard King Autari (end of the sixth century), but the Bollandists assign him to the reign of Lothair (middle of the ninth century).
A very famous bishop of Fiesole was St. Donatus, an Irish monk, the friend and adviser of Emperors Louis the Pious and Lothair. He was elected in 826 and is buried in the cathedral, where his epitaph, dictated by himself, can be seen. The numerous locations and churches incorporating his name, San Donato, provide evidence of his influence and popularity throughout Tuscany. He founded the abbey of San Martino di Mensola. Bishop Zanobi in 890 founded that of St. Michael at Passignano, which was afterwards given to the Vallombrosan monks - Badia a Passignano. Other bishops were Hildebrand of Lucca (1220), exiled by the Florentines; St. Andrew Corsini (1352), born in 1302 of a noble Florentine family, and who, after a reckless youth, became a Carmelite monk, studied at Paris, and as bishop was renowned as a peacemaker between individuals and States. He died 6 January, 1373, and was canonised by Urban VIII. Other famous bishops were the Dominican Fra Jacopo Altovita (1390), noted for his zeal against schism; Antonio Aglio (1466), a learned humanist and author of a collection of lives of the saints; the Augustinian Guglielmo Bachio (1470), a celebrated preacher, and author of commentaries on Aristotle and on the Sentences of Peter Lombard; Francesco Cataneo Diaceto (1570), a theologian at the Council of Trent and a prolific writer; Lorenzo della Robbia (1634), who built the seminary. Among the famous natives of Fiesole is the painter Lorenzo Monaco (1370-1424). But the greatest name associated with the history of the city is that of Fra Angelico, Blessed Giovanni Angelico da Fiesole (1387-1455).