Borgo San Lorenzo

Borgo San Lorenzo, Tuscany, Italy

Situated 27 km from Florence, this is the main centre among the 9 communes of the Mugello, a green hilly area where the Sieve river flows, already civilized in Etruscan times and later one of the privileged possessions of Florence.

The Medici family originated here, as well as great artists as Giotto and Beato Angelico and architects worked to strengthen the 9 boroughs, called the "terre murate".

spazio
spazio

Info

Altitude: 193 m a.s.l -- Population: about 17,000 inhabitants -- Zip/postal code: 50032 -- Phone Area Code: 055 -- Patron Saint: St. Lawrence celebrated on 10 August -- Frazioni & Localities: Casaglia, Grezzano, Luco di Mugello, Panicaglia, Polcanto, Razzolo, Ronta, Sagginale

History

A roman settlement, Annejanum, existed in the place, and it became in the early Middle Ages a fiefdom of the Ubaldini family. In the mid-10th century it came under the rule of the Florentine bishops, against whom rebelled in 1273, and after that became a free commune. In 1351 it was surrounded by walls, of which two gates are extant, the Porta Fiorentina and the Porta dell'Orologio. From the Renaissance onwards was included in the Grand Duchy of Tuscany (1569 to 1859) until the latter became part of the Kingdom of Italy, soon after the Second War of Italian Independence. In 1906 the Chini family established the San Lorenzo ceramics laboratory.

What to see:

the medieval Palazzo del Podestà, rebuilt in the 1919 earthquake
the Romanesque church of San Lorenzo, with a belltower dated 1263 attached to the apses, hosting inside glassed terracotta works and paintings of the Giotto school
3 km outside, along the road leading to Faenza, the church of San Giovanni Maggiore, with an 8-sided belltower of the 11th century, and inside a beautiful ambon decorated with marble tiles in the Florentine style.

Events

Carnival events, on the last 3 Sundays and Fat Tuesday, parades of allegorical wagons
Second weekend in June, the Fiera Agricola Mugellana, a trade fair of local agrigultural and farming products
Third Sunday in September, the oldest marathon event in Italy, held since 1974
Third weekend in November, market fair of the white truffle, with tastings in the restaurants of the town