It is composed of two separate nuclei: Monsummano Alto, of Etruscan origins and with a castle (probably of Lombard origins) and a line of walls, overlook the lower Monsummano, built starting from 1602 around a sanctuary commissioned by Ferdinand I, Grand Duke of Tuscany.
The district is located in the central-eastern Valdinievole, and is bordered to the north by the hills of Montalbano, to the south by the wetland Padule di Fucecchio, to the west by the Piana di Lucca, and to the east by the semi-hilly areas the town of Larciano.
Given the proximity to the Padule, the area displays a wealth of flora and fauna and is a meeting place for birdwatchers. The rivers are very short, of which the Candalla stream is the most prominent, flowing through the city center. The mountains are formed from the Montalbano chain, in which Vinci is located, and Monsummano Alto, which is 340 metres (1,120ft), known for the unmistakable shape for its quarries, now disused, which have given unnaturally steep slopes on the mountain.
History
In Etruscan and Roman times, the Valdinievole was classified as a transit site, with some sacred resting places, as evidenced by a bronze piece of art from the 3rd century BC promachos of Hercules, found in 1887 at Castelmartini and today can be found at the city's museum. Going back to the Roman archeological sites (Villa San Paolo at Pozzarello, Vaiano and Segalare), on the slopes of Monte Albano.
The settlement of the castle of Monsummano Alto is documented from 1260, but probably existed since the previous century, or, as some have suggested due to the topology from the Lombard era. The castle was at the center of battles between Florence and Lucca, with its final conquest in 1331. The flat area was swampy (which can still be seen today through the Fucecchio Padule, close by), which became a human settlement in the second half of the 16th century with the construction of several farms and houses. The lower section of the town dates mainly to the seventeenth century, when, after the miraculous apparition of the Virgin on 9 June 1573, the Grand Duke Ferdinand I of Tuscany started the construction of the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fontenuova (1602-1605) as well as other buildings for the reception of pilgrims, such as Osteria dei Pellegrini, now the city's Museum.
During the 19th century Monsummano Terme was home of writer and former fascist politician Ferdinando Martini (his former Villa Renatico-Martini is now houses the Museum of Contemporary Art and of the Twentieth Century, and museum dedicated to the patriotic poet Giuseppe Giusti. His birthplace and a memorial at the center of the square have both become dedicated to him. The monument also symbolizes his distaste for the clergy, showing the poet facing way from the church.
The city, after a flow emigration with the advent of Fascism, became a place of immigration in the years 1951–61, mainly from southern Italy, passing rapidly from 9,708 residents (in 1951) to 11,631 (1961), due to the footwear sectors rise.
Main sights
Monsummano, as well as being the center of one of the most important Italian footwear districts in the past (from the 1920s and even parts of the 19th century), is a spa town with two natural caves: Grotta Giusti and Grotta Parlanti, the latter recently undergoing renovation following the closure.
Tower of the di Monsummano Alto castle.Entrance to the Grotta Giusti spa.
Other sights include:
The medieval castle and fortifications. The elliptical shape have led to suppose a Lombard origin, but the castle is mentioned for the first time in the 11th century. It was occupied by the Florentines in 1314, but was recaptured one year later by Castruccio Castracani after the battle of Montecatini. Florence recaptured it in 1331. Of the castle today several gates and long stretches of the walls, partly covered by vegetation, as well as a single tower, remain.
Church of San Nicolao (12th century), included in the castle. It houses a 14th- to 15th-century wooden crucifix.
Sanctuary of Maria Santissima della Fontenuova (17th century). This sanctuary was built in 1602 by the Grand Duke Ferdinand I De Medici and is the located at the heart of Monsummano Terme. Grand Duke Ferdinand I appointed the construction of the Sanctuary exactly where the miraculous spring appeared.
San Michele e Lorenzo; Church has a lunette painted by Giusto Utens and a Madonna with Child and Saints attributed by some to Piero di Cosimo.
Marquis Gino Capponi was an Italian statesman and historian of a Liberal Catholic bent.
Giuseppe Giusti was an Italian poet and satirist.
Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany was Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1587 to 1609, having succeeded his older brother Francesco I.
Montecatini Terme is an Italian comune (municipality) of c. 20,000 inhabitants in the province of Pistoia, in the Italian region of Tuscany. It is the most important center in Valdinievole. The town is located at the eastern end of Piana di Lucca and has a strong tourism industry, as well as industrial and commercial industries related to the spa, which in turn has increased the interest in hotel accommodation in the region.
Capannori is an Italian town and comune in the province of Lucca, in northern Tuscany.
Larciano is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Pistoia in the Italian region of Tuscany. The town hall is located in San Rocco.
San Casciano in Val di Pesa is a comune (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Florence in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 15 kilometres (9 mi) southwest of Florence.
San Giuliano Terme is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Pisa in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 80 kilometres (50 mi) west of Florence and about 5 kilometres (3 mi) northeast of Pisa.
Chianciano Terme is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Siena in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 90 kilometres (56 mi) southeast of Florence and about 50 kilometres (31 mi) southeast of Siena. It is located between the Valdichiana and the Val d'Orcia.
Rodolfo Ceccotti is an Italian painter and printmaker. After teaching in Carrara, he became a lecturer in Printmaking Techniques at the Fine Art Academy in Florence. Since 1996, he has also been Director of Studies at the Scuola Internazionale per la Grafica d'Arte Il Bisonte in Florence.
Quinto Martini (1908–1990) was an Italian artist and writer, born in Seano, Tuscany.
Valdinievole or Val di Nievole is an area in the south-western part of the province of Pistoia, Tuscany, Italy.
The Palazzo al Borgo di Corliano is a villa situated near coast of Tuscany, central Italy, in the valley between Lucca and Pisa, 2 kilometres from the Spa town of San Giuliano Terme. It is one of the numerous villas that built by the Pisan merchants as summer houses, along the fertile west slopes of Mount Pisano.
The Villa di Montevettolini is a Medici villa in the comune of Monsummano Terme, Tuscany, central Italy.
Cesare Spighi was an Italian engineer and architect.
Colle di Buggiano is a little medieval village in the Valdinievole. It is a frazione of the comune of Buggiano, in the province of Pistoia, Italy.
Vasco Ferretti is an Italian novelist, historian, professor and journalist from Buggiano, Tuscany. He has written books in the fiction genres of historical novels and the Romance novel. His most important books are Kesselring (2009), Vip & Stars (1983), Dante Alighieri e la battaglia di Montecatini (2015), Le stragi naziste sotto la linea gotica 1944: Sant'Anna di Stazzema, Padule di Fucecchio, Marzabotto (2004).
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Lucca in the Tuscany region of Italy.
The Villa Renatico Martini is located on Via Gragnano #349 in the town limits of Monsummano Terme, in the Province of Pistoia, Tuscany, Italy. The villa now houses the Museum of Contemporary Art and of the Twentieth Century of Monsummano Terme.
The Santuario di Maria Santissima della Fontenuova, or Sanctuary of the Holiest Mary of the New Fountain/Spring, is a Marian shrine (church) in piazza Giusti #305 in Monsummano Terme, Tuscany, Italy.
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