On the trail of a great past: from Prehistory to the Etruscans.

The territory of Montelupo Fiorentino extends between the middle Valdarno and the lower Val di Pesa. There is evidence of human settlement in these regions from the most remote prehistoric times.

This fact can undoubtedly be attributed to the geographical features of the area; beyond its role as a crucial water resource, the river Arno has always been an important channel connecting the hinterland with the Tyrrhenian coast.

Many of the prehistoric finds displayed in the Archaeological Museum have been provided by surface gathering performed by the Montelupo Archaeological Group, and stretch as far back as the Lower Palaeolithic (200 thousand years ago). The Petrognano site has yielded thousands of artefacts that can be referred to the Middle Palaeolithic, and in particular to the Acheulean facies (80 thousand - 60 thousand years ago), while excavations in the area of Turbone have brought to light an area of stone chipping dating to the Upper Palaeolithic (35 thousand - 10 thousand years ago), as illustrated by extensive processing residue and numerous unfinished implements. Dating to the same period are the settlements discovered on the site of the Pianali di Montalbano.

More clearly visible are the remains of Bibbiani excavation, where a number of huts have come to light that were probably part of a village of notable dimensions, the finds enabled it to be dated to the late Bronze Age (12th - 10th century BC). Clear evidence of the Etruscan period is to be found on the hill of Montereggi, where excavations have rendered distinctly visible the remains of a hilltop settlement complete with wall circle, with a principal phase of settlement stretching from the 6th to the 2nd century BC. Inside this area a well-cistern was identified and excavated to a depth of approximately four metres, yielding finds ranging from the Hellenistic Age through to the Early Mediaeval period. Also found here was a mysterious horn-shaped trumpet made of terracotta (olifant) datable between the 7th and 9th century AD.

Roman and Mediaeval periods.

The Roman expansion in the Valdarno marked the decline of the Etruscan presence in the region, characterised by the occupation of the hilly areas. The new arrivals - this was in the first century BC - settled mostly in the valley, dividing the territory between the various colonies (limitatio or centuriazione) and building a series of rural villas. Thus the territory of Montelupo came to be located at a crucial communication node, created by the conjunction of the route of the Arno river and the military land route in the form of the road linking the colonies of Florentia and Pisae.

The discovery in this area of a bridge over the Arno dating to ancient times, still recorded in the thirteenth century, also confirms the theory that there was a mansio (or official stopping place) here, and more specifically that indicated as "Ad Arnum" in the Roman road map known as the Tabula Peutingeriana. Even after the decline of the Roman Empire the area continued to be inhabited, and evolved into an initial institutional settlement under Lombard rule. In view of its strategic importance, it was incorporated into the lands of the Empire, after which these particular districts of the middle valley of the Arno came into the hands of the first exponents of the feudal lords. Between the ninth and the twelfth century, the Cadolingi family held most of the Montelupo territory, including the district of the church of San Quirico (now the church of Saints Quirico and Lucia all'Ambrogiana).

With the death of the last male heir of the Cadolingi, the Alberti of Capraia won over control of the area. This was the period in which the first castle nucleus was built on the hill of Montelupo. The strategic importance of this part of the Valdarno rapidly whetted the appetite of the nascent Florentine power which, exploiting to its advantage of a series of favourable circumstances, managed to take possession between 1180 and 1203. In the following three years Florence built an authentic fortified castle on the hill of Montelupo, equipping it with a garrison to control the expansionist ambitions of nearby Capraia. However, the Florentines had no easy time of it until, with the death of Frederick II and the defeat of the Ghibelline party, the Florentine supremacy over the district was definitively consolidated (1260-70). Nevertheless, the battles dating to the time of the Emperor Henry VII (1312) led to the destruction of the village of Montelupo, and convinced the Republic to construct fortifications on the banks of the Arno (for example the massive tower which we can see in the Torre district, later transformed into a mill).

The effects of human depredation were then joined by natural calamities in the shape of the flood of 1333, which caused drastic damage to all the castles of the Valdarno, obliging the Florentine Republic to pass resolution on the construction of the new wall circle of Montelupo. The settlement of Montelupo had by this stage achieved the character of an average size village (with approximately 600 inhabitants), girdled by the typical town walls of the terra murata, after which the urban area continued to expand up to the second half of the fifteenth century.

Renaissance: Montelupo the Florence manufactory.

The Renaissance conception of man as the master of his own destiny disseminated the ideals of individual freedom and creativity. Working in Florence were artists such as Brunelleschi, Masaccio and Beato Angelico.

Montelupo, geographically so close, was profoundly influenced by this period of intense fertility in Italian art and culture. Economic growth, stimulated by the development of trade, gave a major impetus to the ceramic production of Montelupo, which enjoyed its period of greatest splendour and expansion precisely in the Renaissance, to the extent that at the end of the fifteenth century there were over 20 potteries operating inside the town walls.

The conquest of Pisa by Florence in 1406 had in fact enabled the potters of Montelupo to enter into contact with the Mediterranean market, and to pit their skills against those of the centres of eastern Spain; this engendered a decisive improvement in the quality of the products, while also providing inspiration for more sophisticated decorations.

The expertise of the Montelupo masters was such that the town became the centre of production for the vases of the ancient Florentine pharmacies, both public and private, as well as for other precious artefacts commissioned by the nobles of the city, first and foremost among them the Medici themselves.

The strong connection between Montelupo and Florence was further underscored by the Medici Villa. .