C ALENZA is located near Florence, just between Florence and Prato, many tourists do not know this little town of art with these structures and monuments that rivals many large city.
overshadowed by the famous Florence offers tranquility and many tourist attractions including the beautiful horse fair in September, the exhibition of new oil that collects the products of famous and well-known farms in the area, and then a series of attractive villas, churches and castles really remarkable, the intention of this post is to let you know the beauty of this town and give you some good advice on everything there is to see, where to eat, and where to stay, in other words, if you are in Florence, dedicategli a bit of time because it's worth it, indeed, may reside directly in Calenzano as I did, because the nights are much cheaper than in Florence, which is accessible from Calenzano in 30 minutes by bus which runs every 20 minutes, not really a good alternative?
Calenzano still, next to the industrial largest in Tuscany, the traces of its past in a hilly landscape caught between the barren slopes of the wooded foothills of Mount Calvana and Morello. Calenzano is not only a major industrial center in the valley, but has a wealth of natural beauty, historic features and traditions that call, especially in summer a large number of visitors. The entire territory is scattered, as well as from private dwellings with their churches, medieval fortresses and villas, some of which good architectural value and internal works of great artistic value. Perched on a hill is the castle of Calenzano, medieval agglomeration of which the first news we would date back to 1100, named after the ancient Florentine family Calenzio who was in possession, it is accessed by two opposing doors fitted towers. Almost in the middle lies the ancient Podestarile Palace of XV century and the Oratory of the Society goes back to the thirteenth century with some interior renovation in 1640 in Baroque style. Attested to a missing part of the castle walls stands the Villa Mattioli, a large Renaissance building typically Tuscan, you will find more detailed information in the course of post.
the outskirts of Florence, with the motorway (A1 Milan / Rome) and good connections with both the Tuscan capital that Prato and Florence, Calenzano still next to the largest industrial Tuscany traces of its past in a hilly landscape of foothills and narrow between the slopes of bare Calvana and the wooded foothills of Monte Morello. A landscape rich in woods and olive groves, dotted with settlements scattered among which spectacularly historic mansions, ancient churches, castles grim, medieval towers and Renaissance.
In the Dark Ages, what remains of Roman buildings and at key points along the roads through the land, rose the churches, the first form of socio-tormented centuries after the dissolution of the Roman Empire: San Donato between the two navies, Santa Maria a Carraia, San Severo Legri. To churches, from the end of the eleventh century. were joined by castles and towers, symbols of a new aristocracy of aggressive and unconventional: the castle Calenzano, in particular, was one of the cornerstones of the Florentine defense of its own territory and was the center of a system of towers and fortifications, still largely visible, which protected the territory they control access.
Do:
Manzoni Teatro Municipal: On 7 April 2002, the Teatro Manzoni has again opened its doors to the public: the restoration of ' building needed to give new life to the rooms and their decoration 
after years of deterioration and to adapt to current safety, the complex (led by architect David Palterer on the recommendation of the Superintendent of Environmental and Architectural) led to recovery of one of the symbols of local culture. The theater dates from the late nineteenth century and its construction is due to a group of Florentine nobles and notables mostly belonging to the local middle class that formed the ruling class of the community (including Bastogi, Venturi-Ginori, Nuti-Digerini , Baldini, Bombich-Pontelli, Orlandini, Morrocchi): 29 November 1889 they gave birth to the Civil Society Philharmonic (also known as the Civil Society of the Theatre) and in February 1895 the building was now completed. In the same day, February 5, the Board of Directors of the Company asked Vittorio Emanuele III, King of Italy and the Prince of Naples, the permission to dedicate the new theater in the name of the Prince. So the Prince of Naples Theatre opened April 21, 1895 with Donizetti's La Favorita and the following task shows year-round intensive organizing dramas. In 1908 Mr Joseph Targioni, owner of the adjacent Villa, asked and obtained permission from the Academy of restoring the theater so that was expanded with the construction side of the dressing rooms and the stairs connecting the gallery which were supported by columns iron. The audience, among others, filed an internal division between different places and the other made through a gate. On this occasion some of the decorations that adorn the walls and ceilings of the theater (according to tradition, attributed to Annibale Brugnoli but must, instead, Julius Bargelllini) were modified, in particular, intervened on decorations and floral and framing wreaths of laurel that had to frame captions prompting many musicians who became famous playwrights and dramatists. At the center of the ceiling instead of the old decor was made up of mythological figures that surround the allegory of music surrounded by a frieze of putti with musical instruments off the corners, four Vittorie.L 'impresario Prato Umberto Borgioli obtained the concession of the theater to start the first film screenings and an opportunity for the theater added to the name of the Eden Cinema. On 12 April 1937 the theater moved to the town of Calenzano but it seems that the building had already in need of renovation, and is probably just in the hope that such work be carried out that the same government in 1941 decided to offer a donation After Work of the National Opera building: instead, the same year, the theater was used for several months as a repository for the collection of copper by a local firm. In 1945 the town council changed the name in Theater A. Manzoni. However, after a series of work undertaken to repair the war damage, began a rapid deterioration of the building in the Sixties was definitively abandoned until 1988 when, following the interest of the City in accordance with the Environmental and Architectural Heritage Service of Florence, the architect M. Chiara Pozzana drafted a general plan of restoration and functional recovery of the Theatre.
after years of deterioration and to adapt to current safety, the complex (led by architect David Palterer on the recommendation of the Superintendent of Environmental and Architectural) led to recovery of one of the symbols of local culture. The theater dates from the late nineteenth century and its construction is due to a group of Florentine nobles and notables mostly belonging to the local middle class that formed the ruling class of the community (including Bastogi, Venturi-Ginori, Nuti-Digerini , Baldini, Bombich-Pontelli, Orlandini, Morrocchi): 29 November 1889 they gave birth to the Civil Society Philharmonic (also known as the Civil Society of the Theatre) and in February 1895 the building was now completed. In the same day, February 5, the Board of Directors of the Company asked Vittorio Emanuele III, King of Italy and the Prince of Naples, the permission to dedicate the new theater in the name of the Prince. So the Prince of Naples Theatre opened April 21, 1895 with Donizetti's La Favorita and the following task shows year-round intensive organizing dramas. In 1908 Mr Joseph Targioni, owner of the adjacent Villa, asked and obtained permission from the Academy of restoring the theater so that was expanded with the construction side of the dressing rooms and the stairs connecting the gallery which were supported by columns iron. The audience, among others, filed an internal division between different places and the other made through a gate. On this occasion some of the decorations that adorn the walls and ceilings of the theater (according to tradition, attributed to Annibale Brugnoli but must, instead, Julius Bargelllini) were modified, in particular, intervened on decorations and floral and framing wreaths of laurel that had to frame captions prompting many musicians who became famous playwrights and dramatists. At the center of the ceiling instead of the old decor was made up of mythological figures that surround the allegory of music surrounded by a frieze of putti with musical instruments off the corners, four Vittorie.L 'impresario Prato Umberto Borgioli obtained the concession of the theater to start the first film screenings and an opportunity for the theater added to the name of the Eden Cinema. On 12 April 1937 the theater moved to the town of Calenzano but it seems that the building had already in need of renovation, and is probably just in the hope that such work be carried out that the same government in 1941 decided to offer a donation After Work of the National Opera building: instead, the same year, the theater was used for several months as a repository for the collection of copper by a local firm. In 1945 the town council changed the name in Theater A. Manzoni. However, after a series of work undertaken to repair the war damage, began a rapid deterioration of the building in the Sixties was definitively abandoned until 1988 when, following the interest of the City in accordance with the Environmental and Architectural Heritage Service of Florence, the architect M. Chiara Pozzana drafted a general plan of restoration and functional recovery of the Theatre. Villa Peragallo:
Vespasiani The Villa, now known as Villa Peragallo, is one of the best examples of eclectic revivalist of our territory. Instead of the current building was built in the early nineteenth century Villa Matilde, built by Frittelli, a family of Florentine origin who have long been resident in Calenzano (both by giving the community a Gonfaloniere always at the beginning of the century), thus completing an operation that started a few years ago and that had brought them with further acquisitions to cover their properties with all the southern part of the hill from the walls of the castle to the Bridge on the Marina at the foot of the hill, as has 
reported in the cadastre of the nineteenth Leopold century. La Villa, according to the cadastral survey cited, is located exactly where the current Villa Peragallo, but shows a plant smaller and more irregular of the building. Even then, however, it is noted on the left of the building the chapel dedicated to St. Joseph. At the beginning of last century the villa was sold Targioni Joseph Florentine lawyer who commissioned the architect Henry Fantappiè Dante (1869-1951) radically transform Villa Matilde. Fantappiè began to realize his project in 1901: the entire complex, which now also added the lands of the eastern slope of the hill the hill until the road was entirely rebuilt after the fashion of the era architectural revivals. 
The southern and eastern slopes of the hill were placed in the park, while the western slope was a large wild. Inside the park, elegant villas were built to house the family Targioni as they work on the project progressed, the first of these buildings is located at the entrance of the villa on the road (now Via Puccini), the second on the Via del Castello. These buildings were then re-used as residences of employees of the villa. The other main entrance to the villa, however, was at the castle of 
Calenzano and was marked by a monumental gate wrought iron Art Nouveau: through it we enter the park with fountains, steps and flower beds, renamed Villa Targioni by Vespasian. In 1904 was over even the villa itself, supplemented by a new chapel (now devoted to St. George) and the private theater. The complex was finally established on the south side, from the stables and at the foot of the hill from the farm house with numerous outbuildings. The end result of 
Fantappié is a project of the building features a whimsical eclecticism in which the canons of neo-Baroque and Rococo (featuring theater, villa, chapel, greenhouses) are coupled with imaginative interpretations of the Middle Ages (in the wake of the French experience of Viollet-Le Duc) and Renaissance (the numerous caves and foam blocks scattered in the park), some efforts to Liberty 'everywhere and particularly in iron elements (see gates) and the decor of the rooms inside the villa . Finally, he was installed a stand-alone to produce enough electricity to illuminate the whole: all of this at least ten years before the arrival of electric light in Calenzano. Shortly before the outbreak of World War I, following the failure of economic Targioni the house passed to the Commander and Grand Officer of the United Corniel Peragallo, of Genoese origin but resident in Rome for years as a shareholder of Banca Nazionale del Lavoro, which in 
period between the wars brought the house up to splendor. The house became the stage for the events in fact more representative of Calenzano: there took place festivities and public events, will parading in costume parades (such as the feast of wine) and in the building on Via del Molino I met the Philharmonic. From the postwar period, however, started for the house and the complex surrounding a long period of decline that now shows signs of the passing of years and the problems of maintenance. Today the villa is for sale, its owner will be lucky, because even in the city of Florence to find a villa that beauty is not easy.
Castello di Calenzano:
Castle Calenzano is a valuable historical and archaeological evidence of the birth, development, abandonment and re-stocking of a fortified settlement which, in addition to be an important center of power and large group already aggregation demic from the twelfth century, played an important role in the politics of conquest Florentine territorial during the central Middle Ages. Set in an area, especially the last decades of the twentieth century, has been subject to strong human settlement, the castle still has the information necessary for historical and archaeological reconstruction of a settlement, which means not only is deeply linked to the development of 'Today the town of Calenzano, but part of a much broader subject area, the joint analysis of all types, functions and transformations of the castle, intended as a fortified village in medieval Tuscany. Calenzano Alto fact still retains the 'characteristic appearance of the fortified village, with an oval pattern, typical of the centers of the hill, enclosed by walls, lying down following the contours and shape of the hill, surrounding a 'has an area of \u200b\u200babout ½. The castle is only marginally subject of historical studies, has been so far at the center of architectural surveys (see Daniela Lamberini, Calenzano and Val di Marina. Story of a territory of Florence, Calenzano 1987) that revealed the potential of information from the walls, even in rather poor storage conditions, in an attempt to 
analysis, however, limited to the identification of facts and restoration of what was expected, the distinction between the functions of the buildings (by those clerics to those living, and only partly concerned to recognize some stages of development of the site, a study made continuous interchange written testimony and evidence materials would realistically demonstrated. The castle stands on the highest summit of the hill that separates the wooded foothills of Monte Morello, visible from the four cardinal points and vigilant sentinel of the important roads that since 'antiquity, going along the valley connecting the plain of Florence to Mugello. The fortification of this hill is due to the Guidi Counts, Knights of 
Lombard origin, the properties of Xth and XIIth Casentino century extended from the Romagna, the Valdarno di Sopra at Empoli and Pistoia. In this powerful family, the 'Emperor Henry VI in 1191 granted his curte Kalenzanum Cumulative Tota, where all the surrounding lands on which they were to exercise the rights of feudal lords, in particular Monte Morello and the courts and Legri Travalle. We do not know if it is already on this land there are castles, but there is no doubt that in these years there shall fortifications useful to make the roads safer and easier to resist 'unwieldy expansion of the nearby city, seeking to conquer their own space life: in fact Calenzano is mentioned as a castle in the second half of the thirteenth century, in 
analysis, however, limited to the identification of facts and restoration of what was expected, the distinction between the functions of the buildings (by those clerics to those living, and only partly concerned to recognize some stages of development of the site, a study made continuous interchange written testimony and evidence materials would realistically demonstrated. The castle stands on the highest summit of the hill that separates the wooded foothills of Monte Morello, visible from the four cardinal points and vigilant sentinel of the important roads that since 'antiquity, going along the valley connecting the plain of Florence to Mugello. The fortification of this hill is due to the Guidi Counts, Knights of 
Lombard origin, the properties of Xth and XIIth Casentino century extended from the Romagna, the Valdarno di Sopra at Empoli and Pistoia. In this powerful family, the 'Emperor Henry VI in 1191 granted his curte Kalenzanum Cumulative Tota, where all the surrounding lands on which they were to exercise the rights of feudal lords, in particular Monte Morello and the courts and Legri Travalle. We do not know if it is already on this land there are castles, but there is no doubt that in these years there shall fortifications useful to make the roads safer and easier to resist 'unwieldy expansion of the nearby city, seeking to conquer their own space life: in fact Calenzano is mentioned as a castle in the second half of the thirteenth century, in 
Villa Sommaia:
The villa of the Hill:
La Collina villa stands at the center of a huge embankment supported by a sloping ramparts that give the whole farm-house looks like a fortress. How would seem to indicate some structural evidence (wall hangings and string buffers) and established theories expressed by scholars since the beginning of the twentieth century, the villa is perhaps on an existing building, but whose functions are not known. However, the position to dominate both the Val di Marina Valley Legri suggests ancient fortifications, perhaps belonging, as these lands, to Aliotti, a branch of the coterie of Visdomini, which were generically referred to as small local lords, the whose power probably came from powerful feudal families of the neighboring lands, including the distinguished Guidi (who owned the Curtis Calenzano). Like many other towns of the county of Calenzano, Hill also during the fourteenth century it passed to the Dominican friars of the convent of Santa Maria Novella in Florence. At the beginning of the sixteenth century marquis Alamanno Salviati, the ancient family of the sixth Porta San Piero, who was just then beginning the period of greatest social success, he bought his land from the monks of the Hill. Were related to the Medici (Giovanni di Jacopo Maria Salviati was the mother of Cosimo I) and second only to their wealth in Florence, Salviati called to work at the house of Hill's most important artists of the time: of these, in 1553, Baccio Bandinelli, who was entrusted by Philip Averardo saved the last of the great villa of the Hill (a term that emphasizes the fortification as a characteristic element of the building). Note that only a year earlier, during the war against Siena, Baccio Bandinelli was given the defensive restructuring of Porta San Frediano and this experience may have been useful to build the mighty bastion of the shoe that surrounds the villa. In subsequent years, the farm-villa complex was quickly brought to an end. Philip's son, Antonio, entrusted to the Florentine painter Bernardino Barbadelli said Poccetti (1548-1612) characterized the decoration of the Oratory of the Visitation 5-round depicting episodes from the life of St. John the Baptist (patron of Save) and the barrel vault decorated with grotesques. For Antonio, it must also build the Ragnaia, the Hunting Lodge, New House Farm and the building of their way to complete the villa. Vocation then prevailing of the estate had to be the hunting and fishing: already in the cards of the Captains of the (eighties of the sixteenth century) the land around the villa were named bird of forests and sage and some years later, in 1618, a Ducal decree established the hunting, trapping and fishing in Val di Marina property of Salviati. Particularly popular was also the wine produced on the farm, so much so that around the middle of the eighteenth century poet Francesco Redi sings its praises in the words dedicated to the god Bacchus to his faithful disciple and good Salviati
He often offers his hand with such devotion to my sacred diadems crowns And I keeps him healthy From each raw pain and arrogant: And meanwhile I keep next to my delight That great credit for his real Winery Vin Val di Marina
The Villa di Collina is therefore an excellent example of a villa in the countryside, built under a project unit made over the centuries by the descendants of Alamanno Salviati. Here the physical link between farm-house and the environment (natural and built environment) becomes perfect: the Villa is certainly the landmark of the surrounding environment, but this itself depends for its operation and its maintenance in a fine balance between work and leisure, including farm buildings and mansions. In 1843 the complex was bought for 1200 florins by Marianna Lorenzo Ginori Smooth, the family who had just founded the prestigious ceramics factory of shower and he saw in the woods of the estate of the Hill a comfortable reserve of raw material. However in the second half of the century, the new owners Encouraging and increasing the agricultural vocation of the Hill: to reaffirm this new relationship, were affixed to the front doors of the villa's main Anessi coats of arms the Venturi-Ginori-Smooth. Among other things, in this regard, it should be remembered as the thirties of the twentieth century proprioa Hill's farm, under the management factor Guido Baldi, participated in the experimental farm out for the rational and the olive plant breeding Calvana cows. Agricultural tradition that still maintains the villa.
of Tower Hill and Torraccio:
From the eleventh century, a dense network of castles and towers have on the ground and joins the oldest religious organization of churches. In a strategic position to dominate the dense network of roads connecting the plain around Florence to Mugello and the Apennines mountain passes to the north, fortresses, surrounded by stone walls, sometimes, more often in clay, or palisades, overlooking the Val di Marina, threatening symbol of a new aristocracy and aggressive unbiased, but also lively and highly resourceful. The defense of the territory on the west bank of the Marinella Legri was entrusted to Torraccio and Tower Hill. The tower, visible from both the Monte Morello Calvana was placed to monitor the 'old ridge road that came back from the weir to the Hill, down towards Legri and from there goes back to the road to the passes at Northern Apennines. On the western side are a couple of windows with convex features shelves and a beautiful arc-shaped horseshoe (more frequent in the model than in the Pisan Romanesque Florentine) which trace the 'origins of the tower in the early thirteenth century, the period of greatest importance for the road Hill ridge that led to Dark and then to the Mugello. The Torraccio is a military post to control the construction of the Val di Marina, presumably founded in the thirteenth century by the powerful family of Aliotti and still cited in the documents of the fifteenth century as a fortress with crenellated walled enclosure which is accessed by a portal , according to a typology typical of the medieval fortress which, in our area, the stronghold of Loiano constitutes' most typical example. Today, the fortified area has disappeared, but the tower still retains all the elements of the Middle Ages NL Nederlands calenzanese: windows by round arches, small openings in limestone limestone jambs, window lintels from shelves are sparse dui four concave sides of the tower refer to a 'home front to the fourteenth century. Conversely, the portal 'access with pointed arch subtended by an arc to sbrarra that engages to taxes of the portal, unusual lines in our area and the culmination of Torraccio ogival arches with brick corbels governed by stone belong to the 'notional apparatus of the fourteenth century. Inextricably linked to their military function to control along the main road network that connects Florence to Mugello and the Apennine passes to the north, the towers scattered around the area of \u200b\u200bCalenzano degraded slowly with the transformation of the road system that already from the end of the thirteenth century led to prefer the road to the valley the hillside or ridge: sharing a common destiny with other castles closer to the city, when during the fifteenth century the political conditions changed and widened the strategic balance of the Florentine Republic, the towers of the Hill lost their role as military outpost to cover more and more and only function as an agricultural center.
Tower Baroncoli: Baroncoli Tower houses a massive keep, which, according to the example of the fortifications of Francesco di Giorgio Martini, has a rusticated corners. The current appearance is due to an operation performed by Carlo Ginori between 1520 and 1527, attributed to Baccio d'Agnolo.
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La Pieve di San Donato:
News about ancient church dating back to the early decades of the eleventh century, but the dedication to San Donato, the patron of the armies of Byzantium, and the subsequent patronage Lamberti (Knights of Lombard origin claiming this property since the ninth century) there report to the clash between Byzantines and Lombards of Tuscia to control the sixth and seventh centuries AD Unfortunately, traces of material structures from this period, probably later obscured by the building work, but the massive bell tower (more like a tower that a bell tower), the closed structure of the complex p ieve-villa, the location of the hill on the pass to control the road from Florence are further clues about the true nature of the settlement early. In the twelfth century church of San Donato is already among the richest in the entire Florentine countryside: the products of
fields, vineyards and olive groves of the Plebs census should be presented as the bishop of Florence every year to mark the Feast of St. John, during a public ceremony. At the end of the century by Settimello Arrighetto priest, poet and philosopher, who (in the words of Filippo Villani, the grandson of the famous chronicler) the wealth of the church "... I was able to lay idle in points" lost the benefit after a long lite, Arrighetto became so poor as to be called "the Poor" by definition. Even documents of tax you confirm this situation. In Rationes Decimarum (registries who collected the amount of the Tenth Plebs that each was to pay to the Florentine church) of the thirteenth and fourteenth century church of San Donato has the highest odds of the entire territory and is second only to the entire county Passignano Florence. The wealth of the parish can be explained in several ways: the presence of large urban families and important ecclesiastical institutions that exploit the land and make it more and more crops in order to obtain benefits, and the road network which has a hub in San Donato important, the resources of a territory rich in natural water, forests and stone quarries that provide 
essential for the development of human presence. The territory, since the time of the first expansion in the Florentine contado (early twelfth century) was divided between the great Florentine families (Lamb, Della Scala, Tosinghi) that, at a later time, had given way to the emerging family of merchants (Buonaiuti, Companions) and the great ecclesiastical patronage among which is the territory of Calenzano, the monastery of San Bartolomeo in Fiesole, the Ospedale della Scala in Florence, the Opera di Santa Maria Novella. On land they cultivated Calenzano consumer goods and food derived from agriculture (Oil, wine, fruit, cereals) and breeding (especially cheese). In particular, especially on the slopes of Monte Morello Calvana and where the slope and water shortages made it difficult to work in the fields, grazing was widespread: among others, had his sheep in Calenzano The famous chronicler Dino Companions. In addition, the very presence of these large landowners and the need for the needs of large farming areas, was lower in Calenzano dell'appoderamento the phenomenon of the late thirteenth and early fourteenth century, but that marks many other parts of Tuscany: A situation among other things, allowed the survival of substantial buildings thirteenth century that have not been here (or did so only partially) the changes in fourteenth-century houses sir. The parish church of San Donato, also rose at a strategic point of the road network that was developed in the countryside west of Florence. The old road Cassia, who came from Florence foothills along a path (the path survives in the names related to the presence of pity Roman milestones: the three stones in Rifredi Terzolle the river, the towns of Fourth, Fifth, Sesto Fiorentino, Settimello), climbed up the hill on which stands the church and down to the Val di Marina following the remains of a Roman aqueduct and met at the foot of the hill with the road that came from nearby castle. Going to Prato, Pistoia and Lucca, then onward to reach for and take the Luni Francigena. A diverticulum from Calenzano, led instead to Bologna. The traffic was not to be of little consequence since the foot of the slope of the hills of San Donato was the Hospital of St. Lazarus (existing in the fourteenth century) joined later by the San Iacopo (founded in 1407, when which had to be flourishing 
the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia). Since the thirteenth century are employees from San Donato many churches in the area. In the plain of the Santa Maria Marina are among the two navies, Sant'Angelo (Travalle) Fabbiano de Santa Maria, Santa Maria a Querceto (until 1424, then an employee of St. Martin in the sixth), San Lorenzo Pizzidimonte (until the nineteenth century, then under Prato), Santa Maria a Travalle, San Bartolomeo in Travalle and churches of Sommaia: San Ruffignano, Santo Stefano and San Michele. Then there was the church of St. Nicholas in the castle of Calenzano. As a collegiate, San Donato was to house the rectors of sufraganee for the election of the rector, a real (to use the words of a document dated 1348) societas presbiterum plebatus Calenzana, flanked in the same period, even a societas Beate Virginis Marie. In 1450 the Medici received commendation in the church carry out major renovation. The Medici coat of arms a bit scattered 'throughout, and the inscriptions enable us to date this work to 1460: in particular a scroll on the lintel leading to the cloister recalls, as well as on the date (1460, in fact), as a "weapon Patronum QUORUM SUNTIBUS HEC PIA DOMUS CREATE. ESTITIT. " probably referring to Carlo de 'Medici, then rector of San Donato. In this work must be given the accommodation of the rectory on the right side of the church with the cloister and the loggia above. To this was added the construction of the residence of the parish priest, always call the Medici villa. By Carlo de 'Medici church of San Donato was annexed to the Chapter Prepositura Prato. The death of Charles de 'Medici (which by the way just before his death, May 20, 1492, had had time to commission the frescoes of the choir of the Cathedral of Filippo Lippi in Prato), San Donato went along with the other benefits enjoyed by Charles Church , his nephew, Giovanni de 'Medici, son of Lorenzo the Magnificent and Clarice Orsini (1475-1521), before young cardinal became pope in 1513 under the name of Leo X. John took possession of San Donato 17 June 1492 and made up one of the most appreciated homes because from here could easily reach the provost of Prato. San Donato In 1529, however, was involved in the destruction brought to the Florentine countryside Prato and the imperial army during the siege of Florence, so that in a book of commercial accounts belonged to the family Ridolfi read notes and expenditures made in Prato Calenzano for damages received on account of the war. A description of the damage is done a few years later, in 1537, by the vicar of the bishop's visit to Florence in San Donato as he notes, however, the church is in good condition apart from the chorus, partly destroyed, and the lack of glazed windows. In the eighties of the sixteenth century another distinguished member of the Medici family gained the position of the proposed Lawn and therefore also became the rector of San Donato Cardinal Ottaviano de 'Medici, cousin of the Grand Duke Cosimo I, who in 1605 became Pope with the name Leo XI, rimanedo in office, however, for only 27 days. Alexander himself, describing a visit made to the church in 1589, gives us an idea of \u200b\u200bthe work done. In particular, it describes a series of paintings of which today no trace remains: in the nave had to be depicted images of saints Donato and Stefano alongside a host of angels and the insignia of the same cardinal on the aisles had to find a place that had great pictures of the Apostles overcome a range containing the stories of their sufferings. Alessandro remain but the two batteries for holy water bearing the Medici coat of arms still at the entrance of the Church, a stone tabernacle limestone donated to the Society shortly before becoming Pope John warmth of the picture, said Cosci, depicting San Donato (canvas which still stands today on the high altar and carries a perfect view of San Donato). Alexander also made the old buffer apses. On January 1, 1599, at the conclusion of this work, the Cardinal himself consecrated the new church. New works were undertaken and a half centuries after the new parish priest of San Donato, Pandolfo Maria de 'Bardi, Count of La Verna which, inter alia, the body also gave the church of St. Dionysius the Martyr (novembre1742). Pandolfo also arranged to modernize the church, giving her face that still characterizes the Baroque: under his leadership (or that of his successor, Ferdinand de 'Bardi) was in fact rebuilt the facade, were stuccoed and plastered all the walls, clearing the Medici frescoes. A description of 1790 he describes the state of the church after the work commissioned by the Bardi: the church, he notes, has three naves, with pavement pavement. Outside the church, the cemetery occupies the square once occupied by the company (at the foot of the tower) and is accessed via some steps. On the opposite side there is a large canon that develops around a cloister, which has a well and a cistern of clear water. In 1799 the whole parish of San Donato was declared the provost, the title that was renovated in 1913 and still retains today.
News about ancient church dating back to the early decades of the eleventh century, but the dedication to San Donato, the patron of the armies of Byzantium, and the subsequent patronage Lamberti (Knights of Lombard origin claiming this property since the ninth century) there report to the clash between Byzantines and Lombards of Tuscia to control the sixth and seventh centuries AD Unfortunately, traces of material structures from this period, probably later obscured by the building work, but the massive bell tower (more like a tower that a bell tower), the closed structure of the complex p ieve-villa, the location of the hill on the pass to control the road from Florence are further clues about the true nature of the settlement early. In the twelfth century church of San Donato is already among the richest in the entire Florentine countryside: the products of
fields, vineyards and olive groves of the Plebs census should be presented as the bishop of Florence every year to mark the Feast of St. John, during a public ceremony. At the end of the century by Settimello Arrighetto priest, poet and philosopher, who (in the words of Filippo Villani, the grandson of the famous chronicler) the wealth of the church "... I was able to lay idle in points" lost the benefit after a long lite, Arrighetto became so poor as to be called "the Poor" by definition. Even documents of tax you confirm this situation. In Rationes Decimarum (registries who collected the amount of the Tenth Plebs that each was to pay to the Florentine church) of the thirteenth and fourteenth century church of San Donato has the highest odds of the entire territory and is second only to the entire county Passignano Florence. The wealth of the parish can be explained in several ways: the presence of large urban families and important ecclesiastical institutions that exploit the land and make it more and more crops in order to obtain benefits, and the road network which has a hub in San Donato important, the resources of a territory rich in natural water, forests and stone quarries that provide 
essential for the development of human presence. The territory, since the time of the first expansion in the Florentine contado (early twelfth century) was divided between the great Florentine families (Lamb, Della Scala, Tosinghi) that, at a later time, had given way to the emerging family of merchants (Buonaiuti, Companions) and the great ecclesiastical patronage among which is the territory of Calenzano, the monastery of San Bartolomeo in Fiesole, the Ospedale della Scala in Florence, the Opera di Santa Maria Novella. On land they cultivated Calenzano consumer goods and food derived from agriculture (Oil, wine, fruit, cereals) and breeding (especially cheese). In particular, especially on the slopes of Monte Morello Calvana and where the slope and water shortages made it difficult to work in the fields, grazing was widespread: among others, had his sheep in Calenzano The famous chronicler Dino Companions. In addition, the very presence of these large landowners and the need for the needs of large farming areas, was lower in Calenzano dell'appoderamento the phenomenon of the late thirteenth and early fourteenth century, but that marks many other parts of Tuscany: A situation among other things, allowed the survival of substantial buildings thirteenth century that have not been here (or did so only partially) the changes in fourteenth-century houses sir. The parish church of San Donato, also rose at a strategic point of the road network that was developed in the countryside west of Florence. The old road Cassia, who came from Florence foothills along a path (the path survives in the names related to the presence of pity Roman milestones: the three stones in Rifredi Terzolle the river, the towns of Fourth, Fifth, Sesto Fiorentino, Settimello), climbed up the hill on which stands the church and down to the Val di Marina following the remains of a Roman aqueduct and met at the foot of the hill with the road that came from nearby castle. Going to Prato, Pistoia and Lucca, then onward to reach for and take the Luni Francigena. A diverticulum from Calenzano, led instead to Bologna. The traffic was not to be of little consequence since the foot of the slope of the hills of San Donato was the Hospital of St. Lazarus (existing in the fourteenth century) joined later by the San Iacopo (founded in 1407, when which had to be flourishing 
the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia). Since the thirteenth century are employees from San Donato many churches in the area. In the plain of the Santa Maria Marina are among the two navies, Sant'Angelo (Travalle) Fabbiano de Santa Maria, Santa Maria a Querceto (until 1424, then an employee of St. Martin in the sixth), San Lorenzo Pizzidimonte (until the nineteenth century, then under Prato), Santa Maria a Travalle, San Bartolomeo in Travalle and churches of Sommaia: San Ruffignano, Santo Stefano and San Michele. Then there was the church of St. Nicholas in the castle of Calenzano. As a collegiate, San Donato was to house the rectors of sufraganee for the election of the rector, a real (to use the words of a document dated 1348) societas presbiterum plebatus Calenzana, flanked in the same period, even a societas Beate Virginis Marie. In 1450 the Medici received commendation in the church carry out major renovation. The Medici coat of arms a bit scattered 'throughout, and the inscriptions enable us to date this work to 1460: in particular a scroll on the lintel leading to the cloister recalls, as well as on the date (1460, in fact), as a "weapon Patronum QUORUM SUNTIBUS HEC PIA DOMUS CREATE. ESTITIT. " probably referring to Carlo de 'Medici, then rector of San Donato. In this work must be given the accommodation of the rectory on the right side of the church with the cloister and the loggia above. To this was added the construction of the residence of the parish priest, always call the Medici villa. By Carlo de 'Medici church of San Donato was annexed to the Chapter Prepositura Prato. The death of Charles de 'Medici (which by the way just before his death, May 20, 1492, had had time to commission the frescoes of the choir of the Cathedral of Filippo Lippi in Prato), San Donato went along with the other benefits enjoyed by Charles Church , his nephew, Giovanni de 'Medici, son of Lorenzo the Magnificent and Clarice Orsini (1475-1521), before young cardinal became pope in 1513 under the name of Leo X. John took possession of San Donato 17 June 1492 and made up one of the most appreciated homes because from here could easily reach the provost of Prato. San Donato In 1529, however, was involved in the destruction brought to the Florentine countryside Prato and the imperial army during the siege of Florence, so that in a book of commercial accounts belonged to the family Ridolfi read notes and expenditures made in Prato Calenzano for damages received on account of the war. A description of the damage is done a few years later, in 1537, by the vicar of the bishop's visit to Florence in San Donato as he notes, however, the church is in good condition apart from the chorus, partly destroyed, and the lack of glazed windows. In the eighties of the sixteenth century another distinguished member of the Medici family gained the position of the proposed Lawn and therefore also became the rector of San Donato Cardinal Ottaviano de 'Medici, cousin of the Grand Duke Cosimo I, who in 1605 became Pope with the name Leo XI, rimanedo in office, however, for only 27 days. Alexander himself, describing a visit made to the church in 1589, gives us an idea of \u200b\u200bthe work done. In particular, it describes a series of paintings of which today no trace remains: in the nave had to be depicted images of saints Donato and Stefano alongside a host of angels and the insignia of the same cardinal on the aisles had to find a place that had great pictures of the Apostles overcome a range containing the stories of their sufferings. Alessandro remain but the two batteries for holy water bearing the Medici coat of arms still at the entrance of the Church, a stone tabernacle limestone donated to the Society shortly before becoming Pope John warmth of the picture, said Cosci, depicting San Donato (canvas which still stands today on the high altar and carries a perfect view of San Donato). Alexander also made the old buffer apses. On January 1, 1599, at the conclusion of this work, the Cardinal himself consecrated the new church. New works were undertaken and a half centuries after the new parish priest of San Donato, Pandolfo Maria de 'Bardi, Count of La Verna which, inter alia, the body also gave the church of St. Dionysius the Martyr (novembre1742). Pandolfo also arranged to modernize the church, giving her face that still characterizes the Baroque: under his leadership (or that of his successor, Ferdinand de 'Bardi) was in fact rebuilt the facade, were stuccoed and plastered all the walls, clearing the Medici frescoes. A description of 1790 he describes the state of the church after the work commissioned by the Bardi: the church, he notes, has three naves, with pavement pavement. Outside the church, the cemetery occupies the square once occupied by the company (at the foot of the tower) and is accessed via some steps. On the opposite side there is a large canon that develops around a cloister, which has a well and a cistern of clear water. In 1799 the whole parish of San Donato was declared the provost, the title that was renovated in 1913 and still retains today. Villa di San Donato
The construction of the villa, as we have seen, can be attributed to Carlo de 'Medici, the natural son of Cosimo the Elder, and dates back to 1460. Built as the residence of the parish of San Donato, the project 
may perhaps be referred to the famous Florentine architect Michelozzo (Michelozzi Michelozzo di Bartolomeo, 1369-1472), the villa was always the prerogative of the Medici. Favorite residence of Cardinal Giovanni de 'Medici (Pope Leo X) and Alessandro Ottaviano de Medici (Pope Leo XI), was largely restored by them at the end of the sixteenth century. In particular, we should probably Alessandro Ottaviano of the loggia of the main facade which looks over the area of \u200b\u200bCalenzano and final settlement of the garden surrounding the Medici residence, full of fountains and statues. After having been for some years owned by the Count Cesare Bombich-Pontelli (soon to be the battlements in the style of Guelph "hiding the sloping roof of the villa and the front of the house conforms to that of the rectory and the bell tower. In 1924 the villa was bought by the Commendatore Adolfo Carmine which ended the work done by the previous owner: died in 1944 due to host the Second World War, the house passed the Academy of Fine Arts until the recent switch to the foundation named after the late Commendatore Adolfo Carmine.
may perhaps be referred to the famous Florentine architect Michelozzo (Michelozzi Michelozzo di Bartolomeo, 1369-1472), the villa was always the prerogative of the Medici. Favorite residence of Cardinal Giovanni de 'Medici (Pope Leo X) and Alessandro Ottaviano de Medici (Pope Leo XI), was largely restored by them at the end of the sixteenth century. In particular, we should probably Alessandro Ottaviano of the loggia of the main facade which looks over the area of \u200b\u200bCalenzano and final settlement of the garden surrounding the Medici residence, full of fountains and statues. After having been for some years owned by the Count Cesare Bombich-Pontelli (soon to be the battlements in the style of Guelph "hiding the sloping roof of the villa and the front of the house conforms to that of the rectory and the bell tower. In 1924 the villa was bought by the Commendatore Adolfo Carmine which ended the work done by the previous owner: died in 1944 due to host the Second World War, the house passed the Academy of Fine Arts until the recent switch to the foundation named after the late Commendatore Adolfo Carmine. 
Travalle The area is the historic and still more for the archaeologist, a clear example of the relationship between man and environment as a change through the different historical periods. At the foot of Calvana and so rich in water, on the edge of the marshland in the historical period that characterized the Florentine plain, and therefore conducive to human settlements, in Travalle are still visible signs of history. The human presence in the area has witnessed since the most archaic times, when the Calvana was probably a meeting ground between pastors and people of Liguria villanoviane Florentine who lived in the flat, as shown by recent excavation sites also come to light on the airport of Peretola, in the area of \u200b\u200bNeto 
between Settimello and Sesto Fiorentino and Interporto in Prato. From this period to remain Travalle objects like a flint knife now on display at the Autonomous Tourism Prato. Most evident in the landscape are the traces of Roman settlements. The dominion of the fields carried in the I century. BC is due to the legionaries of Caesar, that here, as in many other parts of Italy and Europe, came to settle at the end of military service, mixing the local population. Numerous place names in-ano (eg Cavagliano) Travalle as characterizing the whole Val di Marina are of Latin origin, and the rest of its wealth of waters of the engineers had pushed 
of Augustus and Tiberius Closed to build the aqueduct which was to supply the ever-thriving colony of Florentia. Around the first century. AD is also shown signs of a Roman villa in the area where today stands the villa of Travalle. After several reports over 70 years, excavations in the late '80s by the Archaeological Superintendence of Tuscany have brought to light a pool of "earthenware" probably going to dye fabrics, walls and ceramic materials dating back more on the first sec. AD Besides the whole area around the site shows, for an extension of about 20 hectares, a significant amount of fragments of pottery and bricks from Roman times that is medieval. Further excavations, carried out in search of mosaic floors of which had involved a restorer Opificio delle Pietre Dure in Florence in 1945, have uncovered a series of burials from medieval times or in simple pit covered with slabs of local sandstone. This cemetery could be related to the ancient church of San Bartolo, cited by medieval sources and relied on by the same name of the place. In the Middle Ages, now reduced to ruins the ancient Roman villa and probably turned into a church, the political and economic center seems to be the feudal residence which stands on the hill in "Castellaccio. At a time in which the town of Florence had to take into account the risks it was exposed in transit on the road because of attacks by feudal lords protected by the imperial authorities, he was also willing to procure the safety of using money, buy the rights of the nobility. Among these were also Lamberti, knights Ghibellines. They possessed the castle of Travalle at Calenzano, that the City bought at high prices, even agreeing with Tosinghi for the rights which boasted the castle, as it appears in a deed of sale made in 1225 by the heirs of the Tignoso Tosa and their spouses the City of Florence for their castle (in fact the current Castellaccio) for 500 gold florins. Among the spouses of the heirs of Tignoso was present Moscow also Lamberto Tosa, who in 1215 participated in the murder of Buondelmonte Buondelmonti, the act which, according to tradition, gave way to struggles between the Guelphs and Ghibellines, "who was the bad seed for the Tuscan people" ( Dante, Inferno, XXVII). On the end of the century that was born in Travalle also Pucceno of John, who was beheaded in 1333 by order of the Mayor of Florence. Castle Legri:
The Castle, located about 250 meters. above sea level, overlooking the valley of Marinella. It was built at the beginning of the climb of the old road that passes Calenzano and Cupo, joined the Navy at the Mugello Valley. Legri belonged to the Counts Guidi of Modigliana as other castles of low Mugello. And 'in fact mentioned for the first time as Legri Castle (Castrum Ligari) in 1191 in a bubble 
where the Emperor Henry VI or Henry Drive to confirm the possessions they had on the Monte Morello in Calenzano and precisely to Legri. A diploma of the Emperor Frederick II of 1220 which confirms the Guidi their feudal rights, cites these among the possessions of the fourth part of the Castle of Legri. In the thirteenth century the castle lost much of its strategic importance in connection with the decadence of the ancient road that led in Mugello passing through the populace of Legri for the new director coming up more quickly along the Val di Marina. The Castle Legri the thirteenth century onwards was almost blocked in its development, but remained viable inside the Church of San Pietro and the few houses built inside and outside the walls, inhabited mostly by farmers and sharecroppers who worked the land intorno.All 'inside of the Castle is the home of Fingiovanni, urbanized family in Florence in the Santa Maria Novella, but originally from Legri. Castle on the banks and charcoal Fingiovanni planted lush cypress. In the sixteenth century. Castle Legri found in plants of the Captains Party, drawn to the center of the parish of San Piero. In the sketch you see the fence round the walls as soon as hatched, while more clearly delineated is the gateway facing downstream. The road runs through the castle, but not detached from the director principrale it touches the walls. Inside the Church is seen, dominated by the tower that still characterizes the distance Legri. Both the family 
Fingiovanni, later that of Cattani were concentrated at their disposal vast lands around the castle that stretched from Marinella Fisciano up to and beyond including the fine group of medieval houses in Castle Hill calls itself La Massa . The emblem of Cattani, with the cardinal signs of sandstone and Baroque lines, there's still a walled building of the castle. Without losing all of its physical characteristics of the castle, this place also features villa-farm. As such it is indicated by Lami in 1758. Even in the land of Leopold early nineteenth century is still shown on the plan for the Castle, and especially in this century, when the properties of the whole area passed into the hands of the Knight Leopoldo Cattani Cavalcanti, the Castle Legri, restored and refurbished, Reiterates its agricultural function as the center of Castle Farm Legri. At the beginning of this century the estate passed under the new management of the brothers Rindi who maintain high productivity. A photo exhibition of the early thirties the soaring white tower of stone covered with a limestone roof and the mass of the lower buildings around it without that currently adorn the battlements. A romantic Restoration style has in fact partly transformed the face of the castle, the walls have been greatly expanded, so that the ancient castle door is now inside the fence, on the north side was once a garden full of statues , flowers and fountains. The castle is inhabited by the owners.
where the Emperor Henry VI or Henry Drive to confirm the possessions they had on the Monte Morello in Calenzano and precisely to Legri. A diploma of the Emperor Frederick II of 1220 which confirms the Guidi their feudal rights, cites these among the possessions of the fourth part of the Castle of Legri. In the thirteenth century the castle lost much of its strategic importance in connection with the decadence of the ancient road that led in Mugello passing through the populace of Legri for the new director coming up more quickly along the Val di Marina. The Castle Legri the thirteenth century onwards was almost blocked in its development, but remained viable inside the Church of San Pietro and the few houses built inside and outside the walls, inhabited mostly by farmers and sharecroppers who worked the land intorno.All 'inside of the Castle is the home of Fingiovanni, urbanized family in Florence in the Santa Maria Novella, but originally from Legri. Castle on the banks and charcoal Fingiovanni planted lush cypress. In the sixteenth century. Castle Legri found in plants of the Captains Party, drawn to the center of the parish of San Piero. In the sketch you see the fence round the walls as soon as hatched, while more clearly delineated is the gateway facing downstream. The road runs through the castle, but not detached from the director principrale it touches the walls. Inside the Church is seen, dominated by the tower that still characterizes the distance Legri. Both the family 
Fingiovanni, later that of Cattani were concentrated at their disposal vast lands around the castle that stretched from Marinella Fisciano up to and beyond including the fine group of medieval houses in Castle Hill calls itself La Massa . The emblem of Cattani, with the cardinal signs of sandstone and Baroque lines, there's still a walled building of the castle. Without losing all of its physical characteristics of the castle, this place also features villa-farm. As such it is indicated by Lami in 1758. Even in the land of Leopold early nineteenth century is still shown on the plan for the Castle, and especially in this century, when the properties of the whole area passed into the hands of the Knight Leopoldo Cattani Cavalcanti, the Castle Legri, restored and refurbished, Reiterates its agricultural function as the center of Castle Farm Legri. At the beginning of this century the estate passed under the new management of the brothers Rindi who maintain high productivity. A photo exhibition of the early thirties the soaring white tower of stone covered with a limestone roof and the mass of the lower buildings around it without that currently adorn the battlements. A romantic Restoration style has in fact partly transformed the face of the castle, the walls have been greatly expanded, so that the ancient castle door is now inside the fence, on the north side was once a garden full of statues , flowers and fountains. The castle is inhabited by the owners. Area Botanical Oak Mencola:
Area Botanical Oak Mencola is set on the lower slopes of the northern slope of Mount Morello.Vi you come from Calenzano along the main road to Barberino di Mugello and arrived in La Closed, diverting to Legri until you reach the area of \u200b\u200bthe Unity Day where you can park with ease. Hence, Marinella crossed the river with a large iron bridge, take an easy path through the riparian forest, leading to the houses at Oak Mencola which is the Area Botany 
The access to the botanical is free. In the months April, May, June, July, September and October can be arranged by appointment, guided tours for groups or schools. .
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Where to eat:
There are many restaurants in Calenzano, but if I give you advice, you must try the restaurant La Terrazza, the unique position and with a glass terrace overlooking a cliff on Calenzano from which to admire the city of Florence is already something interesting that it deserves a visit, the kitchen is Tuscan, grilled meat, mushrooms in season, the legendary Florentine steak done must be done as a wine cellar meditated and charged with the most honest ever seen, and a careful selection of brandies, and Armagnac, the patron will Michele feel very comfortable in this restaurant because of its tradition and simplicity, with simple and delicious dishes in a quiet and charming atmosphere, tel: 055/8873302
Where to stay:
A very comfortable hotel where you will find the link on this site is the 'Hotel Valmarina, clean and very friendly staff, is located near the highway exit Calenzano (A1 Milan / Rome), turning left at the roundabout and left again at the next roundabout you will arrive; Valmarina Hotel is family run and offers you 34 rooms recently refurbished with all service, from double glazing to ensure a peaceful night's sleep, first-run films to TV, satellite TV, wireless, air condzionata etc., and the prices are unbeatable for the area, and is the only hotel in Calenzano to have a garage for your car, tel: 055/8825336
Well, at this point I still really wish you bon voyage!
people who saw him ride in the dark or in fog at dawn dressed all in black, with blond hair, rubbed his eyes, believing in a sort of vision for us was normal to see him around town with pythons around your neck or with small tigers as to what he loved to introduce young children and that was in captivity, but in the way and in accordance with best, and carrying with him everywhere, even in the swimming pool to make the bath, resulting in general stampede, and then snow owls, ferrets, cheetahs, etc., a magician fascinated by American genre of large numbers and the shadow of the great spectacle of Siegfried & Roy, not surprisingly Cristal had achieved his specialization in Las Vegas. 
An aggressive design of the "Mongoose" that were sold with two engines: 4728 cc and 306 horsepower for Europe, 4949 cc, 230 hp for the U.S. version. And it will end up overseas by 280 of the 400 "Mongoose" that were produced between 1967 and 1970. 
De Tomaso is today the only fully independent Italian car brand. The recent Alejandro De Tomaso and his can look after more than forty years with pride. 
