Inhabitants in 1991: 9.584
The
municipal territory of Carmignano extends for 38,59 square kilometres
in a region mostly hilly, in the valley dell’Ombrone Pistoiese.
Seat of a Podesta office in the Medieval capital of community (in
1774 with the Leopoldine reforms), in recent time (in 1962) the districts
of Poggio a Caiano and Poggetto were detached to form the new municipality
of Poggio a Caiano.
Perhaps of Roman origin (as the place name testifies), Carmignano
was mentioned for the first time in a document of 998, when Emperor
Ottone III confirmed the possession of the land to the Pistoiese Bishop,
under whom the jurisdiction of the castle remained until 1125. It then
became fortified as stronghold of the frontier of the Pistoiese
borders, provoking the ambitions of Prato and Firenze who tried more than
once to take it from Pistoia; this was achieved by Firenze in 1228 and
the victors imposed the destruction of the walls and the tower, which
among other things were newly erected during the XIII century. In 1301
Carlo di Valois, sent as peace maker to Firenze, gave Carmignano to his
man of trust the banker Musciatto Franzesi, already Lord of Staggia. He
in turn sold it to Firenze in 1306 on the occasion of the Capitalisation
of Pistoia, but in 1314 the Carmignanese managed by their own will to
return under the government of Pistoia, and then asked to again become
part of the Fiorentino county in 1325. Occupied in the same year
by Castruccio Castracani during his war against Firenze. The castle
was retaken by the Fiorentini and their allies Pratesi, after an extremely
hard battle in 1328. From then on it was definitively part of the Fiorentino
State. In the communal territory one must also mention Comeana,
an ancient Etruscan settlement, and in the Dark Ages possessed
by the Magnate Mazzinghi family. Artimino was also an important Etruscan
centre probably destroyed by the troops of Silla, then in the Medieval
a well populated fortified centre which saw similar political events to
that of Carmignano until the Fiorentina annexation in 1330 and which is
noted for the Medicea villa built by the Buontalenti for Ferdinando
I in 1594.
Places to visit: La Ferdinanda, elegant Medicea
villa built for Ferdinando I as a hunting lodge. It has as a particular
characteristic a large number of chimney stacks, in that every room
had a fireplace. |
Historical info reproduced upon authorization of Regione Toscana - Dipartimento della Presidenza E Affari Legislativi e Giuridici
Translated by Ann Mountford |