Empoli

THE TOWN OF GREEN GLASS

Empoli's territory is crossed by four rivers, the Arno, the Pesa, the Orme and the Elsa and is equidistant from the main Tuscan towns.

The old town was inhabited in Roman times, during the first Imperial age and at least until the 4th century AD. After the domination of the Medici and the advent of Habsburg-Lorraine, the city was enclosed within the leopoldine reform, which in 1764 foresaw the merger of the three leagues of Empoli, Pontorme and Monterappoli in one community. Not far from the Centre is the village of Pontorme, birthplace of the painter Jacopo Carucci, said the Pontormo (1494-1556). Here is the birthplace of the artist who keeps la Madonna del libro, old copy of one of his paintings. From the middle of the 800, the town recorded a population growth that culminates in the industrial take-off and in the development of glass production and packaging industry, the latter born in the first World War.

 

Traditions

The production of the green glass of Empoli, whose color is the result of the use of iron oxide-rich silica sands of the Arno, was the launch pad for the country's modern glass manufacturing.

 

Typical products

Typical product of Empoli is the Artichoke Empolese PAT (Traditional Food Product). Plant native to Ethiopia that in Tuscany took its peculiarities such as lack of thorns, relatively late production and the green colour tending to purple.

 

 

Photo Credits [wikipedia.org]