Firenzuola
Encyclopedia
Firenzuola is a comune
(municipality) in the Province of Florence
in the Italian
region Tuscany
, located about 40 km northeast of Florence
.
Firenzuola borders the following municipalities: Barberino di Mugello
, Borgo San Lorenzo
, Castel del Rio
, Castiglione dei Pepoli
, Monghidoro
, Monterenzio
, Palazzuolo sul Senio
, San Benedetto Val di Sambro
, Scarperia
.
The medieval jurist Giovanni d'Andrea
was born in the frazione of Rifredo around 1270.
river, beyond the Apennines.
The town attracted the attention of local powers like Florence due to its strategic location guarding the road that connected Florence to Bologna, in a territory until then in the hands of the Ubaldini family, hostile to the Florentine Republic. Giovanni Villani
gave Firenzuola its name, which means “small Florence” and to propose as its symbol a half lily (symbol of the Commune of Florence) and a half cross (symbol of the people). Its city plan, drawn by the engineers of the Republic, who planned it around the year 1350 (the first stone was set in 1332), seems similar to the “new lands” of the late 13th century, beginning of the 14th century in the Upper Valdarno
area, with walls and a mighty Fortress endowed with a tower (1371). Another characteristic of this small late-medieval "ideal town" is the presence of porticos that involve all the principal parts of the town center.
During World War II
the mountains in the area were crossed by the Gothic Line
, the defensive line set by the German
troops to face the advance of the Allied armies
. On September 17 1944, after long and bloody clashes, the Allies broke down the Gothic Line, with the conquest of the Altuzzo Mountain, next to the Giogo pass. Firenzuola had already been completely destroyed by the bombardments of the Allies on September 12 1944. In memory of the dead soldiers and warning for the future generations there are two cemeteries: the “Germanic Cemetery” (at the Futa pass), planned by the architect Oesterlen, that guards over 31 thousand soldiers of the Wehrmacht
, and the “Santerno Valley War Cemetery”, near the village called Coniale, that contains about 300 corpses of Allies of various origin.
The reconstruction of Firenzuola immediately started as soon the war was over. 98% of the inhabited area had been destroyed, so that the Prefecture of Florence declared Firenzuola the most damaged town in the province. With the reconstruction, the modern style won against the possibility to reconstruct buildings with the recovery of materials among the ruins; nevertheless the road alignments, and the original porticos were respected. Also the main church of the town, the “Propositura di St. Giovanni Battista”, completely destroyed in the bombardment, was rebuilt in modern style, both in the lines and in the materials, by the project of two protagonists of the architectural outline of the Postwar period, Carlo Scarpa
and Edoardo Detti; it was inaugurated in 1966.
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) in the Province of Florence
Province of Florence
The Province of Florence is a province in the Tuscany region of Italy. It has an area of 3,514 sq. km and a population of 933,860 in 44 comuni....
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 40 km northeast 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....
.
Firenzuola borders the following municipalities: Barberino di Mugello
Barberino di Mugello
Barberino di Mugello is a comune in the Province of Florence in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 25 km north of Florence. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 10,114 and an area of 133.7 km²....
, Borgo San Lorenzo
Borgo San Lorenzo
Borgo San Lorenzo is a comune in the Province of Florence in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 20 km northeast of Florence...
, Castel del Rio
Castel del Rio
Castel del Rio is a comune in the Province of Bologna in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about 35 km southwest of Bologna....
, Castiglione dei Pepoli
Castiglione dei Pepoli
Castiglione dei Pepoli is a comune in the province of Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy, located about 40 km southwest of Bologna.It takes its name from the Pepoli noble family of Bologna.-External links:...
, Monghidoro
Monghidoro
Monghidoro is a comune in the Province of Bologna in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about 30 km south of Bologna.-Geography:...
, Monterenzio
Monterenzio
Monterenzio is a town and comune in the province of Bologna .-Geography:The territory of the municipality rises on the ridge between the valleys of the Idice and Sillaro streams. The eleven rural units that make up the territory date back to the Pre-Napoleonic era...
, Palazzuolo sul Senio
Palazzuolo sul Senio
Palazzuolo sul Senio is a comune in the Province of Florence in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 45 km northeast of Florence....
, San Benedetto Val di Sambro
San Benedetto Val di Sambro
San Benedetto Val di Sambro is a comune in the Province of Bologna in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about 35 km southwest of Bologna.-External links:*...
, Scarperia
Scarperia
Scarperia is a comune in the Province of Florence in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 25 km northeast of Florence....
.
The medieval jurist Giovanni d'Andrea
Giovanni d'Andrea
Giovanni d'Andrea or Johannes Andreæ, was an Italian expert in canon law, the most renowned and successful canonist of the later Middle Ages. His contemporaries referred to him as iuris canonici fons et tuba...
was born in the frazione of Rifredo around 1270.
History
Firenzuola is one of the largest communes of the so-called “Tuscan Romagna”. Its territory includes the mountain valley of the SanternoSanterno
The Santerno is a river of Romagna, in northern Italy, the major tributary of the Reno River. In Roman times, it was known as the Vatrenus , although, in the Tabula Peutingeriana, it was already identified as the Santernus....
river, beyond the Apennines.
The town attracted the attention of local powers like Florence due to its strategic location guarding the road that connected Florence to Bologna, in a territory until then in the hands of the Ubaldini family, hostile to the Florentine Republic. Giovanni Villani
Giovanni Villani
Giovanni Villani was an Italian banker, official, diplomat and chronicler from Florence who wrote the Nuova Cronica on the history of Florence. He was a leading statesman of Florence but later gained an unsavory reputation and served time in prison as a result of the bankruptcy of a trading and...
gave Firenzuola its name, which means “small Florence” and to propose as its symbol a half lily (symbol of the Commune of Florence) and a half cross (symbol of the people). Its city plan, drawn by the engineers of the Republic, who planned it around the year 1350 (the first stone was set in 1332), seems similar to the “new lands” of the late 13th century, beginning of the 14th century in the Upper Valdarno
Valdarno
The Valdarno is the valley of the river Arno, although it does not apply to the entire basin of the river. The usage of the term generally excludes Casentino and the valleys formed by the major tributaries, such as the Val di Chiana, the Val d'Ambra , The valley of the Sieve, namely Mugello, the...
area, with walls and a mighty Fortress endowed with a tower (1371). Another characteristic of this small late-medieval "ideal town" is the presence of porticos that involve all the principal parts of the town center.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
the mountains in the area were crossed by the Gothic Line
Gothic Line
The Gothic Line formed Field Marshal Albert Kesselring's last major line of defence in the final stages of World War II along the summits of the Apennines during the fighting retreat of German forces in Italy against the Allied Armies in Italy commanded by General Sir Harold Alexander.Adolf Hitler...
, the defensive line set by the German
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
troops to face the advance of the Allied armies
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
. On September 17 1944, after long and bloody clashes, the Allies broke down the Gothic Line, with the conquest of the Altuzzo Mountain, next to the Giogo pass. Firenzuola had already been completely destroyed by the bombardments of the Allies on September 12 1944. In memory of the dead soldiers and warning for the future generations there are two cemeteries: the “Germanic Cemetery” (at the Futa pass), planned by the architect Oesterlen, that guards over 31 thousand soldiers of the Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
, and the “Santerno Valley War Cemetery”, near the village called Coniale, that contains about 300 corpses of Allies of various origin.
The reconstruction of Firenzuola immediately started as soon the war was over. 98% of the inhabited area had been destroyed, so that the Prefecture of Florence declared Firenzuola the most damaged town in the province. With the reconstruction, the modern style won against the possibility to reconstruct buildings with the recovery of materials among the ruins; nevertheless the road alignments, and the original porticos were respected. Also the main church of the town, the “Propositura di St. Giovanni Battista”, completely destroyed in the bombardment, was rebuilt in modern style, both in the lines and in the materials, by the project of two protagonists of the architectural outline of the Postwar period, Carlo Scarpa
Carlo Scarpa
Carlo Scarpa , was an Italian architect, influenced by the materials, landscape, and the history of Venetian culture, and Japan. Scarpa was also a glass and furniture designer of note....
and Edoardo Detti; it was inaugurated in 1966.
Main sights
- Romanesque church of St. John the Baptist (10th-12th centuries). On the external right wall is a triangular decoration, a chessboard-shaped marble intarsia made of green serpentine from Prato and white marble.
- Medieval fortress, begun in 1371 by the Republic of FlorenceRepublic of FlorenceThe 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...
and finished in 1410. Currently it houses the town hall, while the lower floor it is the seat of the Museum of “Pietra Serena” (the typical stone of the region). - SS. Annunziata’s church
- Abbey of San Pietro a Moscheta, founded in 1034 by Giovanni Gualberto. It hosts the Museum of the historical Landscape of the Appennino, the regional mountain.
- Parish Church of St. John the Baptist at Camaggiore (13thc entury)
- Historical-Ethnographic Museum
- Remains of the Via FlaminiaVia FlaminiaThe Via Flaminia was an ancient Roman road leading from Rome over the Apennine Mountains to Ariminum on the coast of the Adriatic Sea, and due to the ruggedness of the mountains was the major option the Romans had for travel between Etruria, Latium and Campania and the Po Valley...
near the Futa pass
See also
- GiugnolaGiugnolaGiugnola is a village in central Italy, administratively divided into two frazioni of the two municipalities of Castel del Rio and Firenzuola...
, a frazioneFrazioneA frazione , in Italy, is the name given in administrative law to a type of territorial subdivision of a comune; for other administrative divisions, see municipio, circoscrizione, quartiere...
administratively divided with Castel del RioCastel del RioCastel del Rio is a comune in the Province of Bologna in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about 35 km southwest of Bologna....
, in Emilia-RomagnaEmilia-RomagnaEmilia–Romagna is an administrative region of Northern Italy comprising the two historic regions of Emilia and Romagna. The capital is Bologna; it has an area of and about 4.4 million inhabitants....