Sesto Fiorentino
Encyclopedia
Sesto Fiorentino is a municipality (comune
) in the province of Florence
, Tuscany
, central Italy
. It has c. 46,700 inhabitants.
(c. 9,000 years ago). The Etruscan
presence is known from the 7th century BC, but the town proper was created by the Romans
as Sextus ab urbe lapis ("Sixth mile from the Town Milestone"). The first churches were built in the early Middle Ages, among which the most important became the Pieve of San Martino. Sesto Fiorentino was subject to the Archbishop of Florence. Later it was under the Florentine Republic, which dried the plain and boosted the area's economy starting from the Renaissance age.
In 1735, Marquis Carlo Ginori
founded one of the first porcelain plants in Europe, the Manifattura di Doccia
. Now under the name Richard-Ginori, the company is still located in Sesto, and is the largest porcelain manufacturer in Italy. Toward the end of the 19th century, craftsmen who had been trained at Richard-Ginori began to start their own pottery studios, some of which also grew into factories. There are currently over one hundred producers of pottery in Sesto Fiorentino, and a state school for teaching pottery, now called L'Istituto Statale d'Arte.
Sesto Fiorentino was annexed by plebiscite to the newly unified Kingdom of Italy in 1860. The town was a protagonist in the late 19th century workers struggle, and in 1897 it elected the second socialist member ever of the Italian Parliament, Giuseppe Pescetti. In 1899 it was the first town in Tuscany to have a socialist mayor.
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:...
) 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....
, 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 ....
, central Italy
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...
. It has c. 46,700 inhabitants.
History
The oldest known human settlement in the area dates from the MesolithicMesolithic
The Mesolithic is an archaeological concept used to refer to certain groups of archaeological cultures defined as falling between the Paleolithic and the Neolithic....
(c. 9,000 years ago). The Etruscan
Etruscan civilization
Etruscan civilization is the modern English name given to a civilization of ancient Italy in the area corresponding roughly to Tuscany. The ancient Romans called its creators the Tusci or Etrusci...
presence is known from the 7th century BC, but the town proper was created by the Romans
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
as Sextus ab urbe lapis ("Sixth mile from the Town Milestone"). The first churches were built in the early Middle Ages, among which the most important became the Pieve of San Martino. Sesto Fiorentino was subject to the Archbishop of Florence. Later it was under the Florentine Republic, which dried the plain and boosted the area's economy starting from the Renaissance age.
In 1735, Marquis Carlo Ginori
Carlo Ginori
Marchese Carlo Ginori , Italian politician and founder of the Doccia porcelain factory in Sesto Fiorentino, near Florence, Italy. He pioneered the development of porcelain production, contemporary with Meissen, in the mid-Eighteenth century Europe. Ginori's porcelain was collected by Medicis and...
founded one of the first porcelain plants in Europe, the Manifattura di Doccia
Doccia porcelain
The Doccia porcelain manufactory, at Doccia, a frazione of Sesto Fiorentino, near Florence, was founded in 1735 by marchese Carlo Ginori near his villa. Now known as Richard-Ginori, , it continues in production to this day...
. Now under the name Richard-Ginori, the company is still located in Sesto, and is the largest porcelain manufacturer in Italy. Toward the end of the 19th century, craftsmen who had been trained at Richard-Ginori began to start their own pottery studios, some of which also grew into factories. There are currently over one hundred producers of pottery in Sesto Fiorentino, and a state school for teaching pottery, now called L'Istituto Statale d'Arte.
Sesto Fiorentino was annexed by plebiscite to the newly unified Kingdom of Italy in 1860. The town was a protagonist in the late 19th century workers struggle, and in 1897 it elected the second socialist member ever of the Italian Parliament, Giuseppe Pescetti. In 1899 it was the first town in Tuscany to have a socialist mayor.
Main sights
- PievePieveIn the Middle Ages, a pieve was a rural church with a baptistery, upon which other churches without baptisteries depended.The Italian word pieve is descended from Latin plebs which, after the expansion of Christianity in Italy, was applied to the community of baptized people...
di San Martino (Parish church of St. Martin), known from around the year 1000. The interior has a nave and two aisles, the inner part dating from the 12th century. On the high altar is a Crucifix by Agnolo GaddiAgnolo GaddiAgnolo Gaddi was an Italian painter. He was the son and pupil of the painter Taddeo Gaddi.Taddeo Gaddi was himself the major pupil of the Florentine master Giotto...
(1390); notable are also a Circumcision by Jacopo VignaliJacopo VignaliJacopo Vignali was an Italian painter of the early Baroque period.Vignali was born in Pratovecchio, near Arezzo, and initially trained under Matteo Rosselli. He painted the ceiling fresco of the Love of the Fatherland and Jacob's dream for the Casa Buonarroti in Florence. In 1616 he entered the...
and a Four Saints by Santi di TitoSanti di TitoSanti di Tito was an Italian painter of Late-Mannerist or proto-Baroque style, what is sometimes referred to as Contra-Maniera or Counter-Mannerism.-Biography:...
. - Palazzo Pretorio (1477).
- Santa Maria a Quinto, mentioned in the 11th century but rebuilt in the 18th century. It houses a notable triptych by Spinello AretinoSpinello AretinoSpinello Aretino was an Italian painter, the son of a Florentine named Luca, who had taken refuge in Arezzo in 1310 when exiled with the rest of the Ghibelline party.-Biography:...
and Annunciation from 1410. - Villa Guicciardini Corsi Salviati
- Villa Paolina
- Villa Villoresi
- Park of Villa Gamba, an English-style garden built in 1853.
- Etruscan findings include the Tomba della Montagnola (7th century BC), the Tomba della Mula and the Necropolis of Palastreto (8th-6th centuries BC).