Firenzuola

Not to be confused with Fiorenzuola d'Arda.
Firenzuola
Comune
Comune di Firenzuola

Coat of arms
Firenzuola

Location of Firenzuola in Italy

Coordinates: 44°7′N 11°23′E / 44.117°N 11.383°E / 44.117; 11.383Coordinates: 44°7′N 11°23′E / 44.117°N 11.383°E / 44.117; 11.383
Country Italy
Region Tuscany
Province / Metropolitan city Florence (FI)
Frazioni Borgo Santerno, Bruscoli, Casanuova, Castelvecchio, Castro San Martino, Coniale, Cornacchiaia, Covigliaio, Giugnola, Le Valli, Montalbano, Piancaldoli, Pietramala, Rifredo, S. Jacopo a Castro, San Pellegrino, Sigliola, Valle Diaterna, Visignano
Area
 • Total 271.9 km2 (105.0 sq mi)
Elevation 422 m (1,385 ft)
Population (1 January 2007)[1]
 • Total 4,921
 • Density 18/km2 (47/sq mi)
Demonym(s) Firenzuolini
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code 50033
Dialing code 055
Patron saint St. John the Baptist
Saint day June 24
Website Official website

Firenzuola is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Florence in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 40 kilometres (25 mi) 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.

History

Firenzuola is one of the largest communes of the so-called “Tuscan Romagna”. Its territory includes the mountain valley of the Santerno 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 31,000 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. Ninety-eight percent 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.

Main sights

See also

References

  1. ↑ All demographics and other statistics: Italian statistical institute Istat.
  2. ↑ (Italian) The frazioni of Castel del Rio (municipal website)
  3. ↑ (Italian) Map and infos of Firenzuola and its frazioni
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