San Casciano in Val di Pesa: production of wine and oil

San Casciano in Val di Pesa is a town located at an altitude of 310 metres, in the Chianti hills in the province of Florence, which is about 22 km away. San Casciano was already a post station in Roman times. Subsequently, in the Middle Ages, the town developed at the meeting point between the Strada Regia Romana and an important link between the Val di Pesa and the Val di Greve. Today the town is a well-known center for the production of wine and oil.

AN AREA RENOWNED FOR THE PRODUCTION OF WINE AND OIL

San Casciano became, from 1272, part of the Republic of Florence, and then it was the seat of the Podesta office. Between 1355 and 1356 the village was fortified and surrounded by walls with a polygonal plan with towers and a keep. Parts of the medieval walls are still visible today. Among the religious buildings in the town, the most important is the Collegiate Church of San Cassiano built at the end of the 18th century. In the old church of Misericordia (14th century) there is now the Museum of Misericordia which exhibits important pictorial works. Another important museum is the Vicar of Sacred Art which is located in the Church of Santa Maria del Gesù and houses important paintings including a Madonna and Child by Ambrogio Lorenzetti.

Just outside the town is the ancient parish church of Santa Cecilia a Decimo founded at the time of Charlemagne, but whose current structure dates back to the 12th century.

In a suburb of San Casciano, called L’Albergaccio (Sant’Andrea in Percussina) in 1512 lived Niccolò Machiavelli.

In the surroundings of San Casciano it is worth visiting the Pieve di Santo Stefano a Campoli, the Castle of Bibbione with the nearby Etruscan tomb of the Archer, the Romanesque Pieve di San Pancrazio (11th century) and the Pieve di San Giovanni in Sugana near Cerbaia in Val di Pesa.