Florence`s Country

Tourist information about the region Along the Arno

Along the Arno - The guiding thread of this brief itinerary, which touches on all eleven municipalities of the district, is the course of the rivers: the Arno for the Empoli district and the E!sa for the Valdelsa. Following the Arno from Florence, the first town we come to is Montefupo Fiorentino, originally a fortified hamlet conquered by the Florentine Republic in 1204. The history of Monteiupo is closely linked to the production of ceramics, which had its period of greatest splendour between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries during the Florentine Renaissance. The history of this flourishing activity is documented in the Museo Archeologico e delta Ceramica, which is one of the principal sites to be visited, along with the thirteenth-century Priory of San Lorenzo, the Botticelli altarpiece in the church of San Giovanni Evangelista and the Medici Villa I`Ambrogiana, which can only been seen from the outside. On the right bank of the Arno we come to the municipality of Capraia e Limite. Capraia was a Pistoian stronghold overlooking the Arno which belonged to the Alberti family from 1142, and the residential centre still preserves the features of a mediaeval fortified hamlet. The settlement of Limite, a river port, was a feud of the Pistoians which passed into the hands of the Florentine Republic in the fourteenth century. At the same time, its ancient Etruscan origins are illustrated by the excavations on the hill of Montereggi. The territory of Capraia e Limite takes in the southern slopes of Montalbano, where we find the villa of Bibbiani and the Romantic Park landscaped for Cosimo Ridolfi . The slopes of Montalbano lead us on to Vinci, set amidst hills cloaked in vines and olives . The little town is famous above all as the birthplace of Leonardo, whose house can be visited at Anchiano. Set up in the Rocca, of fortress, of the Castle is the Museo Leonardiano, with models of the master`s designs, while the cellars house the Museo Ideale Leonardo Da Vinci. The town has been enriched by the copy of the colossal bronze horse, made to a design of Leonardo by the sculptress Nina Akamu, who has donated it to Vinci. Also worth a visit is the Romanesque church of San Giovanni Battista in Sant`Ansano in Greti. Moving back towards the Arno we come to Cerreto Guidi, situated in a hilly area and famous for the Medici Villa built in 1564 over the ruins of the Guidi fortress. The villa, which is approached by two flights of steps traditionally attributed to Buontalenti, houses the Museo Storico della Caccia e del Territorio (Hunting Museum), and is connected to the parish church of San Leonardo, with a baptismal font in glazed terracotta attributed to Giovanni della Robbia as well as various sixteenth-century paintings. In an elevated position between the northern marshy plain of Padule and close to the Ponte Bonfiglio bridging the Arno, Fucecchio is set on a hill called Salamartano which boasts a superb view over the valley of the Arno. Here we find the Coilegiata church, the Abbey of San Salvatore and Palazzo Montanelii Della Volta. In the area of the ancient Castle of Salamarzana the towers still soar over a vast park, while close by is the Palazzo Corsini, housing the JVIuseo di Fucecchio, with three sections dealing with archaeology, sacred art and natural history. The Fucecchio marsh, an extensive wetland of great interest for its flora and fauna, is a nature reserve run by the Research and Documentation Centre. In a central position, on the banks of the Arno the main town of this vast area is Empoli, recorded from the eighth century, but largely developing after 1119 around the Collegiata di Sant`Andrea, now in Piazza Farinata degli Uberti. Adjacent to the Collegiata, with a fine Romanesque facade in white and green marble, is the Museo della Collegiata, one of the oldest ecciesiastical museums housing many treasures. On the ground floor are a baptismal font by Bernardo Rossellino and a frescoed Pieta by Masolino, while the Pinacoteca on the first floor houses important paintings from the fourteenth to the sixteenth centuries. Also overlooking the piazza is Palazzo Ghibellino, premises of the Museo Civico di Paleontologia. Well worth visiting for their precious frescoes are the church of Santo Stefano (begun in1367) and the Augustinian convent (completed in the sixteenth century). One of Empoii`s famous sons was Ferruccio Busoni, whose house-museum can be visited, while another illustrious figure, the artist Pontormo, was born in the nearby village of Pontorme. Here, in the ancient church of San Michele is one of his extraordinary works, the panels portraying St. John the Evangelist and St. Michael Archangel, painted around 1519. .. from Empolese Valdelsa ( Apt - Florence )