Montelupo Fiorentino

CITY OF TUSCAN CERAMICS

The first condition which made of Montelupo the most renowned artistic ceramics production center of Tuscany is the fortunate geographical position of the municipality. In the town there were rich deposits of clay and plenty of water, due to its proximity to the Arno, as well as lumber from the forests around to feed the furnaces in which Cook ceramics. Already inhabited in prehistoric times, sees the passage for the territory of the Etruscans and the Romans as witnessed by the remains of an important Villa romana del Vergino (1st century BC). The first fortifications of the town are built between the 9th and 11th centuries. Around 1333 began the golden age by Montelupo Fiorentino, where the community obtains a new boundary wall to protect the settlements below the Castle, built in 1204 thanks to the Republic of Florence. The historicity of the village you can admire in the Prioria di San Lorenzo, which dates back to 1200 and placed in the upper part of the village or in the Villa dell'Ambrogiana, who with his four solid corner towers stands in the landscape.

 

Traditions

Montelupo Fiorentino has a long tradition in the manufacture of clay for the production of artistic ceramics. In 1300 the first workshops of potters and during the Renaissance consolidates this craft that will make of Montelupo Fiorentino a major Center for production of artistic ceramics of Tuscany. An art passed down from generation to generation in the shops that enliven the downtown and that is high praise and is documented in the Museo della Ceramica and in the annual Festa internazionale della Ceramica, an event with exhibitions Master potters, shows and exhibitions-art market.

 

Typical products

Typical sweet of Montelupo fiorentino is the Pan Bistugio, made of simple ingredients: sugar, eggs, flour, butter, to which are added lemon and pine nuts and a double firing for the dough and crust; to taste in bars and pastry shops of the town.

 

 

Photo Credits [wikimedia.org]