Calcinaia
Let's discover Calcinaia, a beautiful Tuscan municipality!
Hello to all our readers, today we are delving into the landscapes of Tuscany to discover a beautiful municipality located in the province of Pisa: Calcinaia. With its 12,721 inhabitants, this small town offers a perfect mix of culture, history, and natural landscapes.
Physical geography
The first thing that strikes you when you arrive in Calcinaia is that the municipality is located on the banks of the Arno River, about 4 km from the capital of Fornacette. Right in front of the watercourse is the suggestive town hall, while in via Aurelio Saffi you can visit the Lodovico Coccapani Ceramic Museum. But what makes these landscapes even more fascinating is that they are in a seismic zone, classified as zone 2 (medium-high seismicity).
Regarding climate, Calcinaia is classified as zone D with low atmospheric diffusivity, as confirmed by Ibimet CNR 2002. But the storms and floods that have marked the history of this municipality have never affected its beauty and serenity.
The History of Calcinaia
The municipality of Calcinaia was founded before the year 1000, in the medieval era, on the right bank of the Arno with the name "Vicus Vitri". According to some local historians, the name would derive from the workshops for the processing of glazed dishes present in the area. However, some sources believe it is more plausible to interpret the word "vitri" as a corruption of the Latin "veteri", meaning old, to distinguish Calcinaia from the other Vico nearby, the current Vicopisano, of more recent foundation.
Subsequently, the citadel changed its name to "Calcinaia" (first attested in 1193) due to the lime kilns built in the territory. Its coat of arms depicts two clams (or tellines) in relation to water, sand, and the sea, probably in memory of the first settlers and founders who arrived upstream along the Arno.
In 1136, Ubaldesca Taccini was born in Calcinaia, who later became a nun in the convent of San Giovannino in Pisa and a member of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Considered a saint by the Catholic Church, she is the patron saint of Calcinaia and is celebrated on May 28. Her relics are currently kept in the Pieve.
During the Middle Ages, the Cadolingi of Fucecchio exercised the rights of Signoria, followed by the noble Ghibelline family of Upezzinghi di Pisa. The most famous of them, Gualtieri di Calcinaia, became Potestà of San Gimignano in 1221 and Arezzo in 1243.
Calcinaia was involved in the continuous rivalries between the Republic of Pisa and that of Lucca and was the place of the meeting between Pope Innocent II and Emperor Lothair II of Supplimburgo in 1138. In the 15th century, the Florentine Republic conquered Calcinaia and incorporated it into its possessions fighting against Pisa to obtain control of the most important maritime port in the region and the internal water communication routes. In 1555, Grand Duke Cosimo I de' Medici, using maps drawn by Leonardo da Vinci, had fundamental hydraulic works built to regulate the Arno's floods and prevent the frequent floods that devastated large areas of the town.
Conclusions
In conclusion, Calcinaia is the perfect place to admire the beauty of Tuscany through culture, history, and natural landscapes. The town has been skillfully shaped by its millennial history, and every stone, every road tells of past lives. Even though the area has been hit repeatedly by natural disasters, its beauty seems to be untarnished. If you visit Tuscany, don't forget to stop by Calcinaia and be thrilled by the millennial magic of these places!
