Quattro Strade
Quattro Strade: a recent Tuscan hamlet
Hello everyone! Today I want to talk about Quattro Strade, a small hamlet in the municipality of Bientina, in the province of Pisa, Tuscany. With just over 1300 inhabitants, Quattro Strade is a village with a recent history, whose birth is closely linked to the reclamation of Lake Bientina, which took place in the 18th century.
Quattro Strade: an enviable location
Located on a slightly hilly position, about 50 meters above sea level on the hills of Cerbaie, Quattro Strade is located between the territories of the Lucca plain, the Valdera and the Valdarno. The village is north of the hill of Santa Colomba (Bientina), north of the river Arno and south of the rio Nero, which flows into the Usciana canal near Santa Colomba.
Quattro Strade: a borderland
Quattro Strade borders to the north with Tavolaia and Staffoli, east with Santa Maria a Monte, south with Santa Colomba and west with Bientina, the municipal capital which is about 5 km away. Pisa, on the other hand, is just over 26 km away.
Quattro Strade: from customs to prehistoric relics
Before the birth of the current village, the area where Quattro Strade now stands hosted a grand ducal customs house, the Vajano (or Vaiano) customs. Following the reclamation work that affected this territory in the pre-unitary period, numerous relics of prehistoric animals were found here, such as elephant and Bos taurus primigenius bones.
Quattro Strade: a growing hamlet
The village of Quattro Strade was born in the mid-19th century with the construction of the provincial road of the Val di Nievole, built by the grand duke, at the point where there is the crossroads with the road that connects Bientina and Santa Maria a Monte: hence the toponym ''Quattro Strade'' (four roads). The village of Quattro Strade, initially a simple inhabited nucleus dependent on the hamlet of Santa Colomba (Bientina), experienced a strong demographic growth after the 1970s to the point of being raised to an independent hamlet. From just 190 registered inhabitants in 1961, it reached 553 in 1981, then increased to 1338 in the last census of 2011.
Quattro Strade: monuments and places of interest
At the former Vajano customs house there is a historic farm with an estate of about 120 hectares, which once belonged to the Bini family.
Quattro Strade: between history and traditions
Quattro Strade is one of the nine contrade (districts) that participates in the historical event of the Palio di Bientina, which won three times (1995, 1998, 2018). Its colors are green and white.
And so, with its strategic location and recent history, Quattro Strade is a small jewel of our Tuscany. If you have the opportunity to visit this small hamlet of Bientina, don't hesitate to do so: you won't regret it!
