| Handicrafts
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| The best Artisan Masters
show their works through their art |
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| Italian
Minds |
| The italian style, famous
all over the world, full of original and fine ideas |
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that mention these
craftsmen, often describing them as well-off, if not
wealthy. Technological developments have profoundly
transformed the production of terracotta pottery from
an artistic handicraft to an industrial object of mass
production, however there are still many "kilnsmen"
in Impruneta who work according to the old methods and,
even within the structure of the large industries, demand
room for production made to order for their clients.
Among the most characteristic events held in Impruneta
throughout the year are.
- Spring in the Square and Antique Show:
from April 25 until mid-May - held in Piazza Buondelmonti
and in the buildings of the Basilica of Santa Maria
at Impruneta.
- Meet Me at the Well: June and August
- summer film review and various art shows held in Piazza
Buondelmonti.
- Grape Festival and Wine Show: Last Sunday
in September - a parade of allegorical floats built
by the different districts of the town, and fine wine
show.
- St. Luke's fair: held during the week
of the feast day of St. Luke (mid -October) this centuries-old
fair celebrates the return of the herdsmen and their
flocks from the mountains pastures and features many
special events like a horse race through the streets
of the town (with 15 horses participating), a cattle
show, fireworks, and an amusement park, all framed in
a row of stands selling antiques, that invade the whole
town.
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Tourist
Office:
c/o Associazione pro Loco -
1 Via Mazzini - Phone and Fax 0552313729 |
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The ancient art of shaping
the local clay into man-made products using water and fire was known
in the area of Impruneta from medieval times. Certainly two important
factors were the extremely favorable nature of the soil and the closeness
to a city the size of Florence, where bricks and tiles were widely
used over the centuries as building materials (in particular for the
tile roofs of the buildings) and as ornamental and decorative component.
The bricks and tiles used in the construction of the cupola of the
Florence cathedral, Santa Maria del Fiore, were made to measure with
incomparable skill under the personal control of Brunelleschi; but
many of the other important buildings in Florence bear the signs of
the work of artisans from Impruneta ( the Domes of San Lorenzo complex,
Palazzo Grifoni in Piazza S.S.Annunziata, the banister of Palazzo
Corsini, and others). 
Towards the 17th century the production picture seemed to stabilize
itself, both as regards the number of families involved and the overall
quality of the production: at this time the first family "companies"
began to be founded, and continued from father to son down through
the centuries, sometimes even to the present: the Vanni, Soderi, Ricci,
Agresti, Lottini, Poggi, and Montauti families.
The copious Municipal Archive of Impruneta is full of documents |
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TuscanyDream/Handicraft/Impruneta
