Calcinaia is a comune

Comune

In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...

(municipality) and town in the province of Pisa

Province of Pisa

The Province of Pisa is a province in the Tuscany region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Pisa.It has an area of 2,448 km², and a total population of 394,101 . There are 39 comuni in the province ....

 in the Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 region Tuscany

Tuscany

Tuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....

, located about 50 km west of Florence

Florence

Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....

 and about 20 km east of Pisa

Pisa

Pisa is a city in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the right bank of the mouth of the River Arno on the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa...

.

Calcinaia borders the following municipalities: Bientina

Bientina

Bientina is a comune in the Province of Pisa in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 50 km west of Florence and about 15 km east of Pisa....

, Cascina

Cascina

Cascina is a comune in the Province of Pisa in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 60 km west of Florence and about 13 km southeast of Pisa....

, Pontedera

Pontedera

Pontedera is an Italian industrial town in Tuscany, Italy, in the administrative province of Pisa. It is the headquarters of the Piaggio company, which in the 1930s was a major aircraft manufacturer and which now manufactures motor vehicles such as the Vespa and the Ape...

, Santa Maria a Monte

Santa Maria a Monte

Santa Maria a Monte is a comune in the Province of Pisa in the Italian region of Tuscany. The town lies about 45 km west of Florence and about 25 km east of Pisa.-History:...

, Vicopisano

Vicopisano

Vicopisano is a comune in the Province of Pisa in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 50 km west of Florence and about 15 km east of Pisa...

.

History

Calcinaia was founded before the year 1000 on the right bank of the Arno River as Vico Vitri, the current name being attested from 1193. At the time it was a fief of the counts of Fucecchio

Fucecchio

Fucecchio is a town and comune of the province of Firenze in the Italian region of Tuscany. The main economical resources of the city are the leather industries, shoes industry and other manufacturing activities, although in the recent years their number has been decreasing because of a slight...

, later replaced by the Upezzinghi Ghibelline family of Pisa.

Contended for centuries by the Republics of Pisa and Lucca

Lucca

Lucca is a city and comune in Tuscany, central Italy, situated on the river Serchio in a fertile plainnear the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Lucca...

, it was later conquered by Florence

Republic of Florence

The Republic of Florence , or the Florentine Republic, was a city-state that was centered on the city of Florence, located in modern Tuscany, Italy. The republic was founded in 1115, when the Florentine people rebelled against the Margraviate of Tuscany upon Margravine Matilda's death. The...

 in 15th century. In 1555 Grand Duke Cosimo I de' Medici had hydraulic works built here to regulate the floods of the Arno, a move which boosted agriculture in the area.

Twin towns

Vilanova del Camí

Vilanova del Camí

Vilanova del Camí is a municipality in the comarca of the Anoia in Catalonia,Spain. The name literally means "New Town of the Route", the route being the road from Igualada to...

, Spain Noves

Noves

Noves is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in southern France.-Population:-Sights:*Church of Sainte Baudille, located in the site of a 3rd century Palaeo-Christian worship area and of a Roman temple...

, France Amilly

Amilly, Loiret

Amilly is a commune and town in the Loiret department in north-central France.-Main sights:*Church of St. Martin *Castles of Varenne and of the Bourgoins *Bardin Watermill*Museum of Folk Art-See also:...

, France

Calcinaia has also signed friendship agreements with: Hopsten

Hopsten

Hopsten is a municipality in the district of Steinfurt, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated approximately 15 km northeast of Rheine and 25 km southeast of Lingen.-Gallery:...

, Germany Paola

Paola, Malta

Paola, , is a town in the Grand Harbour area of Malta, with a population of 8,856 people . It is named after its founder, the Grandmaster Antoine de Paule, but is commonly known as Raħal Ġdid, which means new town in Maltese.Paola is renowned for its shopping centres, Good Friday procession, its...

, Malta

External links

• Official website