Inhabitants in 1991: 17.155
The
territory of the Municipal of Castelfiorentino extends for 66.56 square
kilometres in Val d'Elsa in a hilly area. Medieval Podesta Office,
it suffered in the course of the centuries several adjustments to its
extension and became Seat of the community in 1774, reaching its
present day aspect in 1876 with the aggregation of the districts
of Castelnuovo and Colano, detached from the municipal of Montaione.
The first nucleus of Castelfiorentino was the castle situated
where, in present times, the highest point of the town is positioned,
overhanging the village of Timignano and it was nominated as such
until 1149 when, in a document it was recorded for the first time
as Castelfiorentino. Around the year 1000 it was a feudal possession
of the Alberti Counts, but already at the beginning of the XII century
the Firenze Bishops began to have jurisdiction and even though
Federico Barbarossa in 1164 and Ottone IV in 1210 confirmed
the Lordship to the Alberti, in actual fact the Fiorentino Episcopate
continued to exercise full Lordship; the people tried more than once to
free themselves of this subordination (and for this they were also
affected by excommunication in 1218), but independence (if this
is what it can be called) was acquired only towards the middle of the
XIII century, when the centre and the surrounding territory entered under
the guardianship of the Firenze republic becoming Seat of a
Podesta and capital of one of the leagues into which the Fiorentino
county was divided .Distressed more than once in the course of the 1300s
by the invasions of the mercenary soldiers, the castle was annexed
to the Episcopate of Certaldo in 1415. In 1495 Carlo VIII and
il Savonarola met there, in 1529 Castelfiorentino suffered severe
damage in the war which brought the Medici to the principality and, again
molested from 1552 to 1557 in the course of the struggle to conquer
Siena. Since then, a hardworking rural centre in the ambience
of a by this time consolidated Toscano State, it had the fortune to not
live anymore hard days.
Places to visit: Piazza del Popolo, where there
is the Town Hall and the college of Ss. Lorenzo and Leonardo,
centre of the urban life in the Medieval era. S. Verdiana,
church dedicated to the Patron of the town; significant example of
1700s art and architecture. The bell tower was terminated in 1810.
The interior designed by Poggini, houses a notable artistic patrimony.
Community Cultural Centre, position in Via Tilli, combines
the Vallesiana Library. the Historic Archives, the Val d'Elsa Historic
Society and the rich Collection of Community Arts. |
Historical info reproduced upon authorization of Regione Toscana - Dipartimento della Presidenza E Affari Legislativi e Giuridici
Translated by Ann Mountford |