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History of San Piero a Sieve in Mugello Valley, Province of Florence, Tuscany

The first information about San Piero dates back to 1018; the village grew between the ancient Via di Cafaggio and Piazza Colonna, on the eastern hill over the Medici fortress of San Martino. It owes its name of “burgus” to the fact that from the 12th century until the middle of the 18th century, it was the main post on the principal road connecting Florence to Bologna.

It was property of the Ubaldini in feudal times and then became dominion of the Medici, who seized many of the surrounding castles. They contributed to the urbanistic and demographic development during the 1300’s and 1400’s by building villas and castles everywhere, of which the Castle of Trebbio and the Cafaggiolo Villa.

In the 1400’s, San Piero was part of the Tagliaferro League and in 1551, it passed under the vicariate of Scarperia. Around the end of the 1500’s, Ferdinando I and Cosimo I built the imposing San Martino Fortress, projected by Buontalenti.

The most prevalent economic activities in the past were agriculture or those connected with forestry. In the 1700’s, linen and hemp spinning were popular. Kitchenware production was diffused until the middle of the 16th century. Today San Piero a Sieve is mainly an industrial centre.

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