Country House Nazzano holiday farmhouse and apartments are just 3km from Certaldo
A few kilometers from Florence, in the territory of Val d'Elsa, rises the charming medieval village of Certaldo, one of the favorite destinations of lovers of historic villages and
for anyone who wants to take a walk with a medieval flavor, inside an intact center
art town was the birthplace of Giovanni Boccaccio and, for its beauty, obtained the Orange Flag from the Italian Touring Club.
For the historical tradition and for the artistic beauty, Certaldo is a city to visit, a tourist destination of sure interest also for its position, near interesting places like Florence, Siena, San Gimignano, Volterra, Pisa, Chianti road an ideal excursion for tourists who choose to stay or spend their holidays in these areas of Tuscany.
Seat of settlements since the Etruscan era, Certaldo owes its name to the aspect that once had the hill that houses it, its name derives from the Latin cerrus altus or from the Germanic cerrus aldo - in any case two brief descriptions of hill covered with Turkey on which today sits the country.
Two important dates in the history of Certaldo were 1164, when the emperor Federico Barbarossa granted the dominion to the Alberti counts of Prato, who settled in the Palazzo Pretorio; and 1184, when the city became the domain of Florence. In Certaldo then lived the family of Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375), who lived here in various periods of his life in the house that now houses the Museum and the headquarters of the National Institute dedicated to him.
The historic village, also called Castello, is collected within walls on which the ancient access doors open: Porta Alberti, Porta al Sole and Porta al Rivellino. You can access the village going up the ancient steep streets called Costa Alberti and Costa Vecchia, from the more modern via del Castello, or via the funicular that starts from piazza Boccaccio. A unique feature of the place is that unlike most of the medieval villages in Certaldo lacks the main square, one on which usually overlooked the religious, political, civil and commercial powers. Certaldo in fact has developed on an elongated hill, where in ancient times it was believed that there was no space for an agora, whose function was thus assumed by the current Via Boccaccio, on which overlook the Church, the Praetorian Palace and the Lodges of the Market - now walled but whose blind arches are still recognizable on the walls of Palazzo Stiozzi Ridolfi. What we read today as squares at the time were nothing but gardens, used for the sustenance of the population in case of siege.
The most important monument of Certaldo is certainly the Palazzo Pretorio, the ancient residence of the Counts Alberti which was built at the end of the twelfth century on the ruins of the old houses of this family. The prisons, the audience hall, the archives, the chapel and the private quarters of the Vicars can be visited. On the façade and inside the building, many coats of arms can be admired, each of which represents the effigy of the family of each Vicar who governed the city. In the palace there are frescoes and sinopias of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Next to the Palace is the Church of St. Thomas and Prospero, from the early 13th century.
Also worth visiting is the Museum of Sacred Art, housed in what was originally an Augustinian convent of the fifteenth century. The exhibition rooms are dedicated to painting, sculpture and sacred vestments. In the picture gallery - once the convent refectory - the paintings from the 12th to 16th centuries are exhibited, with works by Cenni di Francesco di Ser Cenni, Ugolino di Nerio and Meliore. The wooden crucifix coming from the church of San Pietro a Petrognano, from the first half of the 13th century, and of an unknown artist is striking. Really unique in the panorama of Italian medieval sculpture, this amazing image of the christus triumphans - that is of Christ who triumphs over death - has always attracted great attention from critics.
Among the most famous festivals that every summer tourists visit in Certaldo there is Mercantia, which takes place in July. It is a village holiday that combines street theater, music, dance and crafts in the old village of Certaldo Alto, in a medieval atmosphere, with shows and stalls of craftsmen scattered in the streets and squares of the old castle. In September the historical parade takes place in typical medieval costumes at the end of which a representation is made inspired by the novels of the Decamerone by Boccaccio.
In June "A dinner with Boccaccio" (medieval dinner organized in the streets of the historic center) and "Boccaccesca" in October, in honor of local flavors and aromas.
