Welcome to Castelfiorentino

comune di castelfiorentino

Welcome to Castelfiorentino Why visit Castelfiorentino? Founded upon a Roman-age settlement developed along the ancient Via Francigena, Castelfiorentino represents a natural crossroads of the main art cities of Tuscany: Florence, Pisa and Siena. Thanks to its position, that made it come into contact with the Renaissance culture, Castelfiorentino has maintained significant records of its past as well as a relevant art heritage, such as Benozzo Gozzoli’s frescoes held in the new Be.Go Museum, and the works to be found in the Museum of Saint Verdiana. A few steps far from the Museum of Saint Verdiana there is also the Monument to Bottle Crafters, in memory of a female work tradition that was very widespread in this region between the end of the nineteenth century and the early 1960s. In the town’s main square it is possible to visit the People’s Theater, one of the most important nineteenth-century theaters of Tuscany. Going forward by foot, one should stop in front of Membrino, a representative personality of Castelfiorentino placed on the Town Hall’s bell tower, before arriving at the old Walls, where the earliest settlements had origin. Across the surroundings, Castelfiorentino’s hilly territory shows villas and castles of great historic value, such as the Villa di Meleto (Cosimo Ridolfi’s residence as well as venue of the first agricultural school of Italy) and the Castle of Oliveto, a Renaissance-age building dating back to 1424, recently attributed to Filippo Brunelleschi.

BENOZZO GOZZOLI MUSEUM (BE.GO.) In the Benozzo Gozzol Museum one can admire some precious frescoes by the Valdelsa painter, initially placed inside two tabernacles: the Madonna of Cough (1484) and the Madonna of Graces, also known as Madonna of Visitation (1490-91). Through these frescoes Benozzo Gozzoli has left two important pieces of evidence about Tuscany’s Renaissance culture. As far as presenting itself as qualified centre to deepen Benozzo Gozzoli’s art career and his works (spread across Tuscany and all over the world) thanks to multimedia stations, the Museum also contains several temporary exhibitions and has rich cultural activities.

Opening time: from Monday through Friday 9 am - 1 pm, Tuesday and Thursday even 4 pm - 7 pm, Saturday and holidays 10 am -12 am / 4 pm - 7 pm (tel. 0571.6448, www.museobenozzogozzoli.it)

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SERVIZI AL CITTADINO Comune di Castelfiorentino C.F. e P.I. 00441780483 Piazza del Popolo, 1 - 50051, Castelfiorentino (FI) - tel. 0571.6861 fax 0571.629355 www.comune.castelfiorentino.fi.it PEC: [email protected]

SAINT VERDIANA MUSEUM The Museum, which is close to the Sanctuary, is named after the patron saint of Castelfiorentino, Saint Verdiana, to whom the whole local community has always shown sincere devotion. The Museum contains a thirteenth-century panel (“Madonna and child”) attributed to Cimabue, works by Annibale Gatti, Taddeo Gaddi, Corso Di Buono, Jacopo del Casentino, as well as a rich heritage of enlightened manuscripts and sacred objects and ornaments. The Museum’s most representative painting is the panel “Saint Verdiana among Snakes”, the oldest representation of the Saint, dressed in Dominican clothing. The snakes are an iconography of slanders addressed to Saint Verdiana, in fact they were her inseparable companions. They can also be seen in the cell under the Sanctuary, which one can enter directly from the Church. At a small distance from the Sanctuary there is the thirteenth-century Church of Saint Francis, built upon a Franciscan settlement whose records go back as far as 1236. The church contains some frescoes by Agostino Veracini and Pietro Anderlini.

MONUMENT TO BOTTLE CRAFTERS Within walking distance from the Museum of Saint Verdiana there is the Monument to Bottle Crafters, by artist Salvatore Cipolla, paying tribute to a female work tradition that was very widespread in Castelfiorentino since the end of the nineteenth century: homeworking bottle stuffing. This trade was performed by women and handed down from mother to daughter (girls began working at 6-7 years old). Workplaces were private dwellings themselves: outside or in warehouses, depending on the season (summer or winter). After making the coating, bottle crafters carried fiascos to Rigatti’s glass factory, where the Monument named after these women was built.

PEOPLE’S THEATER The People’s Theater located in Piazza Gramsci is one of the most important historic theaters of Tuscany. Inaugurated in 1867 and wholly restored in 2009, it owes its name to an ancient theatrical tradition, and since the beginning it has been an important reference point for the local community.

The capacity of the Theater is of almost 350 spectators. Inside, one can see some giant representations of the paintings made by David Bastianoni between 1942 and 1957: they are genuine fragments of memory representing the relationship that links Castelfiorentino’s community to its theater and its own past.

MEMBRINO

comune di castelfiorentino

On the town hall’s bell tower one can notice a representation of Membrino, the heroic boy who, according to a folk legend, is told to have saved Castelfiorentino from destruction in 1530. Supposedly, in fact, on 26 April of that year Francesco Ferrucci, a commandant who was leading his army towards Volterra, was coming closer to Castelfiorentino’s territory. The population, alarmed by the arrive of so many soldiers (although the town was under the authority of Florence Seigniory), immediately sealed off the town gates. This provoked an angry reaction by Ferrucci, who considered the fact a hostile act and so prepared his army for a general offensive against the town. As things were getting worse and worse, a ten-twelve years old boy came forward among people’s fear and terror. He decided to reach out to Ferrucci in order to explain the situation and tell him that there had just been a big misunderstanding. Impressed by Membrino’s courage, Ferrucci accepted his justifications and at last recruited him as army drummer. Hence the monument to his memory: a drummer that can be seen on the top of the town hall.

SURROUNDINGS OF CASTELFIORENTINO: THE FRANCIGENA TRAIL Castelfiorentino’s territory is crossed by the Francigena Trail, the main route used by pilgrims coming from Northern Europe and heading to Rome. In the hilly hamlet of Castelnuovo d’Elsa, notably in the locality of “Coiano”, there is in fact one of the seventy-nine stops of the Francigena Trail that were described by Sigerico in 990 A.C.: the Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul of Coiano, at present under restoration. To the memory of the ancient trail, every year in early October a medieval feast is hold at Castelnuovo d’Elsa, with spectacles and a commemoration. Castelfiorentino, one the first municipalities of Italy that rediscovered the cultural and turistic value of the Francigena Trail, is constantly engaged in preserving and enhancing it through several initiatives.

VILLA DI MELETO The notoriety of Villa di Meleto comes from one of its former owners, namely Marquis Cosimo Ridolfi, who in 1934 founded here the venue of the first agricultural school of Italy. The school’s main strength was alternation between studying and working, so as to let students learn the secrets of agriculture by performing the same tasks as farmers. The Villa’s archives hold important records of such experience, which was fundamental for the technological and scientific development of modern agriculture. The great success gained by the Meleto School led the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Leopold II, to establish in 1840 a chair dedicated to agriculture and sheep-farming at

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the University of Pisa, entrusting it to Cosimo Ridolfi. This chair was the first step of today’s Faculty of Agriculture, the first one ever in the world.

CASTLE OF OLIVETO The Castle of Oliveto is a XV-century Renaissance building erected by the Pucci noble family, that made it its own country house. Since XVI century several Popes, like Paul III Farnese, Lion X of Medici, Clement III, and important personalities, like Laurence II the Magificient, sojourned here. This is why two rooms of the Castle are named “Pope’s Room” and “Cardinal’s Room” (in the first one there are also portraits of the Popes who slept there). In 1850 the Castle was handed over to the Guicciardini family, that held it until some decade ago. During World War II, in 1944, the Castle was occupied first by the Germans and then by the Americans. Recently, the architectonic project of the Castle has been attributed to no other than Filippo Brunelleschi, the one who designed the Dome of Florence too. The Castle was built exactly in the same period as the Dome, that is between 1424 and 1426.

Tourist Information

Tourist Information Office — Railways station (via Ridolfi 1) Opening time, 1 April - 15 October (summer): All days (including Sunday), 9.30- 12.30 am, 3.30-6.30 pm. Opening time, 16 October - 31 March (winter): All days 10.00-12.00 am (closed on Sunday). Tel. 0571.629049.

Public Relations Office — Town Hall (piazza del Popolo 1) Opening time: from Monday through Saturday 9.00 am - 1 pm. In addition, on Tuesday and Thursday 4 - 6 pm. Tel. 0571.686341. www.comune.castelfiorentino.fi.it