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Towns of the area

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Lastra a Signa

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Inhabitants in 1991: 17.416

The municipal territory of Signa, positioned entirely on the left bank of the Arno in the Valdarno Inferiore, extends for 43,06 square kilometres in low and medium hills. Allowing for small variations, the present day territory is more or less the same as that of the ancient Medieval rural municipality of Gangalandi, a locality overlooking the capital. Instituted as community in 1774, Lastra a Signa united 12 small municipalities and populations; in 1833 one of its parishes was detached and given to Carmignano and at the same time it added three which had belonged to the community of Casellina e Torri.

The origins of Lastra are unsure, we find it attested in documents until the middle of the XIV century as a locality on the road which unites Firenze to Pisa, having a hospital. There were no traces of fortifications until 1377 when the municipality of Firenze after the sackage suffered by the town by Pisa and the English mercenaries (1365) provided walls that encircle it, most of which can still be seen today, particularly in the part parallel to the course of the Arno.

The hypothesis that the agglomerate seems to have risen in the XII century based on the connection with the Castle of Gangalandi and that of Lastra is wrong and without foundation. The latter, for the position in which it finds itself and its linkage to Signa, is often cited as an example of the central post of defence of a bridge (that over the Arno a few kilometres downstream of Lastra), also one could think that its origins sprung from a market, placed on a heavily trafficated road developing until it obliged the municipality of Firenze to construct an enclosing wall. In 1397 Lastra was "wasted" by the soldiers of Gian Galeazzo Visconti, while we know that in 1529 during the siege of Firenze, a Fiorentino garrison remained in the town to allow a connection between the city and Francesco Ferrucci stationed at Empoli.

Places to visit:
The Enclosing Wall, practically intact, it was constructed in 1424 and still preserves two of its three gates.
S. Maria alla Lastra, built in 1404 in substitution of a preceding building. It has suffered several transformations over the centuries. There are interesting works of art inside.
Pieve di S. Martino a Gangalandi, is to be found outside the town in the direction of Empoli. The church of Romanesque origins is noted from 1108. The interior houses precious paintings.

Historical info reproduced upon authorization of Regione Toscana - Dipartimento della Presidenza E Affari Legislativi e Giuridici
Translated by Ann Mountford


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