Castelfiorentino extends along the productive valley floor of the Elsa River. Perpetually hung between tradition and modernity, rurality and industry, this town has always been a middle ground, at the crossroads between the Via Volterrana and the Via Francigena, on the border between Florence and Siena.

Castelfiorentino, more than other nearby towns, road the wave of industrial modernity which, from the 1800s, on trains and four wheels, transformed both its urban layout and social fabric.

In Florence’s sphere of influence since 1149, Castelfiorentino has never betrayed the city of the lily, but it has often changed its skin, in step with the developments or implosions of its economy.This is why the town is a dialogue between the Middle Ages, 1700s Baroque and 1800s bourgeoisie. From Piazza Gramscithe heart of the Saturday market and Teatro del Popolo one of the most important theatres from the 1800s in Tuscany, cross through the roads of the centre. In Via Testaferrata, steps away from the train station, the Museo Benozzo Gozzoli shows the frescoes and sinopias that the Florentine master created for two local tabernacles between 1484 and 1490.

Another unmissable stop for art lovers is a visit to the Baroque church of Santa Verdiana

the patron saint of Castelfiorentino – and the connected Museo di Arte Sacra (Sacred Art Museum), with its illuminated codes, works by Annibale Gatti, Taddeo Gaddi, and a Madonna with Child attributed to Cimabue.

A few metres from Santa Verdiana, the Church of San Francesco is a rare example of Gothic architecture, a complex from the 13th Century, whose origins are connected to the presence of the Saint from Assisi in Valdelsa in 1217.

Going back toward the centre the steep Via Ferrucci passes through the only door left of the ancient walls, and continues to Piazza del Popolo, in the upper Castello Alto, the oldest part of Castelfiorentino. Here, the Palazzo del Comune (Town Hall), with its famous Membrino bell tower, counterbalances the Collegiate of Santi Lorenzo e Leonardo, a church from the 13th-14th Century that holds works by Annibale Gatti and numerous relics. If you keep going up, you reach the Pieve dei Santi Ippolito e Biagio, a church built at the end of the 1100s, on the hill that dominates the entire town.

Saturday morning, when the weekly market is held – you may find merchandise in Piazza Gramsci and fruit and vegetables in Piazza Kennedy – we recommend that you visit the shops in the city centre.