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The history San Casciano in Val di Pesa
The toponym "Decimo", as in San Casciano a Decimo
and which is still linked to the parish church of Santa Cecilia,
near San Casciano, is the memory of a military mile stone (decimum
lapidem) of an important Roman road, perhaps the one that was to
unite the colonies of Florentia and Sena Julia.
Archaeological finds and toponymic stratification attest to the
antiquity of the settlement, the density of which seems to be confirmed
by the presence on the territory of four parish churches (pievi)
(in addition to Decimo, San Pancrazio, Sugana and
Campoli) and a large number of churches that depended on them,
relating to the various "popoli". This dense population, which today
distinguishes the landscape of the countryside around San Casciano, was
certainly already in place in the Middle Ages, initially supported by
the numerous castles that are documented there as fiefdoms to the
Florentine episcopate or to powerful factions, such as the Buondelmonti
and Cavalcanti, and which today appear to have been transformed into
villa-farms (Bibbione, Castelvecchio, Fabbrica, Lilliano, Monteridolfi,
Montepaldi, Pergolato and others) or downgraded to rural residences
(Argiano, Castelbonsi, Montauto, Monteclavi, Montecampolesi,
Montefolchi, etc). The growth in agricultural productivity linked to the
introduction of sharecropping was decisive in accentuating the spread of
scattered settlements and the formation of trading centres, such as
Mercatale and the castle of
San Casciano "a Decimo" which assumed the characters of large "terra
murata", equipped with strong defenses immediately after the mid-14
C, still widely visible today. San Casciano is initially remembered as a
fief of the bishop of Florence but later, starting from the second half
of the 13 C, it appears directly subject to the lordship of the
Florence. Shortly afterwards it became the capital of a League and
therefore of a Podestą which also included the League of Campoli, for a
total of over forty "popoli". Moreover, the importance reached by San
Casciano is such that, in the Statute of the Podestą of the Municipality
of Florence of 1325, one of the main roads that leave the city is called
"strada per quam itur ad Sanctum Cassianum", which is the one
that leads "versus civitatem Senarum et versus romanam Curiam".
That San Casciano was then intimately linked to the road network is
shown by its own urban form, originating from a crossroads: the one
mentioned and another that, with a prevalent ridge trend, ran through
the hills to the east of the Pesa, from
Chianti to
Montelupo,
on the Arno. San Casciano retains sections of its
mediaeval past in the 14 C walls, with some towers and one of the gates,
near which is the church of Santa Maria al Prato, with 16 C
additions and numerous works of art, including a crucifix by Simone
Martini, as well as the other churches (Collegiata, Santa
Maria del Gesł, San Francesco), which stand out more
than for their architectural value than their works of art. In the
countryside, theese parish churches retain important structures:
proto-Romanesque in San Pancrazio, of full Romanesque maturity in
Campoli and in Decimo, albeit partially disguised under
baroque decorations, late-Romanesque in Sugana, where there is
also a rare 12 C stoup. Still other churches are of architectural
interest, such as the Romanesque church of Sant 'Andrea in Luiano
and the Gothic churches of Santa Maria in Bibbione, which
belonged to an Augustinian convent, or of Sant' Angelo a Vico l'Abate,
where there is a table by Ambrogio Lorenzetti. The other noteworthy
churches include Santa Maria in Argiano, San Martino in
Argiano, Santa Maria in Monte Macerata, San Pietro in
Montepaldi, San Bartolomeo in Filtignano, Santa Cristina
in Montefiridolfi, Santa Maria di Casavecchia. Many villas
share the countryside of San Casciano in the immediate surroundings of
Florence, among them being Guicciardini, I Tattoli,
Villa le Corti, Villa Borromeo
and Villa Casarotta.
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