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Tuscany - Pontassieve
Sant'Eustachio cited in 925 and rebuilt by Cosimo I in 1552, stated in the inscription on the façade (the church, also has a single nave and baroque elements which are found in the presbytery). It can be reached along a road that opens up to a view of the horizin that touches the ancient Tower of the 11th-century Castello di Montebonello. A path marked out by the CAI (Club Alpino Italiano) departs from Acone and goes as far as summit of Monte Giove: during the Second World War, numerous anti-fascist partisan group operated in this area, and fought against the German occupation. In Monte Giove one can appreciate the little church of Galica (12th-century) which is built over an ancient castle, and the church of Santa Maria in Acone, with a 14th-century layout and present-day restorations of 1910, with decorations by Chini, and several farm houses and villas which remember the presence of numerous medieval castles (Montalto, Castel d'Acone, etc.) that defended the possessions of the feudal lords. These all face out over valley of the Argomenna. Beyound Rufina, by following State Road 67 from Scopeti and crossing the Sieve, we reach another sector of the Commune of Pontassieve, these areas are Alpine in characteristic: Colognole and the Valle dell'Uscioli, from which it is possible to ascend - first by carriage road, then along a marked road as far as the ridge of Monte Giove, passing through the town of Tamburino. If we leave the car and proceed on foot along path 00, we can reach the medieval tower of Monterotondo (11th-century), where our gaze becomes lost in the basin of Mugello, The Valdarno, the Appennine mountains, and the region of Pistoia. From there, we can continue and reach the protected nature area of Palagio Ripaghera, as well as the built-up area of Santa Brigida, which faces over the valley formed by the Sieci stream and its tributaries. The valley, which appears like a rather wide basin, shows the presence of small-inhabited villages along the hillside, such as Fornello, with its parish church whose plans date back to 1276 and which was rebuilt in 1702. Nearby, there are the ruins of the castle of Monte di Croce, Doccia with its church dating to 1024, that was enlarged in 1612 and reconstructed after the 1926 earthquake. The landscape is typically Tuscan, which is indicated by the cultivation of vines and olive trees, the rows of cypresses, interspersed with numerous historical-cultural signs, and the architecture, each a part of the landscape. The castles of Torre a Decima and Il Trebbio; the Gondi, Guadagni, Malaspina, La Rocchetta, Roncolino, Grignano, Poggio a Remole, La Cerbiosa, and Tassinaia villas-cum-farm house; the farm houses of Le Colonne, Basciano and Tirle, are there as a reminder of the sharecropping oeganisation of the Tuscan countryside from which the current landscape originated.
Pontassieve map
Here You can download the commune map. [mappa2.zip]
Commune of  Pontassieve
The town takes its name from the bridge which crosses the river Sieve, connecting Florence with the Val di Sieve, the Casentino and the Valdarno. Its strategic value convinced the Florentine Republic to build an imposing fortress, the Castello di San Michele Arcangelo, which became the administrative centre for the area at the end of the 14th-century. Three of the four doors to the original castle still survive today: to the south, Porta Felicaia; to the west, Porta fiorentina; to the east, Porta dell'Orologio. The Town Hall, which was formerly the Sansoni Trombetta Palace (17th-19th cent.) contains a hall frescoed with stories of famous heroines painted by Ferdinando Folchi (1822-93), rises in the centre of the ancient castle, in Piazza Vittorio Emanuele. The ancient mercantile village winds from the Porta dell'Orologio, which maintains the original characteristics of the 14th-century fortress, arriving at the picturesque Medici Bridge of 1555, which is characterised by the contrasting between the fired-brick arches and stone pillars. Also in the vicinity of the Porta dell'Orologio is the chapel of the Confraternita della Misericordia, in which are preserved two important paintings from the parish church of Santa Maria in Acone. These are two large panels by anonymous tuscan painters, both done within a century of each other: the oldest, towards the end of the 15th-century, and the other, spanning the 16th and 17th-centuries. Due to the development, beginning in the second half of the 19th-century, of new roads and the consequential industrial development, Pontassieve, in most recent decades, has become, above all, a town with a residential, commercial and artisan character. Its modern appearance is mostly due to postwar construction (the bombings had almost levelled the city) and to the turbulent development of the 1960's and 1970's. Its easy and rapid connections with the city make it an ideal point of departure for tourism that combines art and nature. In addition to what is indicated in the itineraries, other locations of the Commune worth a visit can be mentioned, starting from the most western, Monteloro, that can be reached along the panoramic road from Sieci, stopping off at the Villa di Gricigliano where a historic garden can be seen that dates to the 18th-century, and which defended on three sides by unusual vivariums. At Monteloro the tourist would do well to go up to the Romanesque Pieve di San Giovanni Battista, which stands next to the ruins of the ancient castle, cited in literature in the 9th-century, which was once the property of the bishops of Fiesole, and which is perched on the summit of a panoramic hill. Once past the built-up area of Monteloro, we encounter the church of Pognolle, the 16th-century Villa delle Fonti, and the medieval Palagio del Portinari where Dante Alighieri's beloved Beatrice lived.
The eastern sector of the Commune of Pontassieve, can be reached by means of Stae Road (S.S.) 67 and the village of Rùfina, or else by taking a municipal road that is not completely asphalted, but travels through charming places along the left bank of the Sieva River. One such place is Valle dell'Argomena, and a visit is recommended. The valley unwinds starting from the built-up area of Montebonello, along the stream of the same name. The built-up area of Acone looks out over this narrow valley: it is a true balcony over the valley, with its parish church of
[Pelago]  [Pontassieve]  [Reggello]  [Saltino]  [Rignano sull'Arno]

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