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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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. |
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Here You can download the commune map. [mappa2.zip] |
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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 |
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