San Miniato

San Miniato
Country	Italy
region	Tuscany
province	Pisa (PI)
Coordinates	43 ° 41 ' N , 10 ° 51' E Coordinates: 43 ° 41 '0 " N , 10 ° 51' 0" E
height	140 m slm
surface	102.5 km²
Residents	27,997 (Dec. 31, 2019)
Population density	273 inhabitants / km²
Post Code	56028
prefix	0571
ISTAT number	050032
Popular name	Samminiatesi
Patron saint	Genesius of Rome (August 25)
Website	San Miniato
	; Panorama of San Miniato

San Miniato (until 1945 San Miniato al Tedesco ) is a town with 27,997 inhabitants (as of December 31, 2019) in the Italian province of Pisa in Tuscany . The city is a member of the Cittàslow , a movement founded in Italy in 1999 to slow down and increase the quality of life in cities through environmental policy, infrastructure policy, urban quality, appreciation of autochthonous products, hospitality, awareness and quality of the landscape.

geography

San Miniato lies between the mouths of the two rivers Elsa and Egola in the Arno , one of the prerequisites for the early development of the city. In addition, two important medieval traffic routes intersect here. From the range of hills on the edge of the Arno Valley, which is rich in villages and settlements, the city looks out over the Via Francigena , the European connecting road to Rome, as well as the road from Pisa to Florence . From a regional point of view, the "Samminiateser Hills" form the fulcrum between the Florentine area of Montespertoli and San Casciano, the Val d'Elsa and San Gimignano and the Pisan hinterland to the once Etruscan city of Volterra , whose monuments can be seen on clear days from the castle hill of San Miniatos are seen.

The place is in the climatic classification of Italian communities in zone D, 1513 GR / G.

The districts include Balconevisi, Bucciano, Cigoli, Corazzano, Cusignano, Isola, La Catena, La Scala, La Serra, Molino d'Egola, Moriolo, Ponte a Egola, Ponte a Elsa, Roffia, San Donato, San Miniato Basso, San Romano and Stibbio.

The neighboring municipalities are Castelfiorentino ( FI ), Castelfranco di Sotto , Cerreto Guidi (FI), Empoli (FI), Fucecchio (FI), Montaione (FI), Montopoli in Val d'Arno , Palaia and Santa Croce sull'Arno .

history

San Miniato was first mentioned as a settlement in 936 , when the Bishop of Lucca handed over the local castle and church to Adalberto dei Lombardi of Corvaia , which were documented as early as 783 . The castle was built near San Genesio , on the plain, to monitor the important intersection of the Via Francigena and the Roman road from Florence to Pisa .

Because of this strategic importance, San Miniato was fortified by Emperor Friedrich Barbarossa , who also made the place the center for the imperial finances of all of Tuscany. This fact and the city's history, which is closely linked to Germany, as well as the great importance of the place for the German emperors led to the nickname “al tedesco” (“the German”). Otto the Great built a fort here in 963. At the end of the 12th century the city was then divided into two areas: the "Incastellatura", the imperial castle, and the "Castrum", the civil town at the foot of the castle with its traders, craftsmen and farmers.

Federico II Tower

San Miniato's importance reached its peak in the 13th century when Emperor Frederick II granted the city numerous privileges, but also had it completely rebuilt for military reasons and finally assigned it as the official residence of the Imperial Vicar of Tuscany. The rise of San Miniato coincides with the descent of San Genesio, which first lost its function as a parish and was finally completely destroyed in 1248.

After the end of the Hohenstaufen rule and years of threat from the war between Siena and Florence for supremacy in Tuscany, San Miniato came under the rule of Florence in 1347 and in 1370 became the seat of the Florentine vicar of the lower Valdarno .

San Miniato is also known as the ancestral seat of a branch of the Bonaparte family , whose burial place is in the Franciscan church. Emperor Napoleon I , who came from the branch of the family belonging to the patricians of Sarzana since around 1200 and who had gone to Corsica in 1490 , visited his distant relatives in San Miniato several times.

In 1881, San Miniato had 3,147 inhabitants.

coat of arms

Blazon : "A crowned golden lion in red, holding a golden sword (dagger) in his right paw."

Above the shield there is a three-tower golden wall crown with all around, shield surrounded by two laurel branches connected with a green ribbon in natural colors, in the silver banner underneath the motto (motto) from Virgil’s Aeneid : Sic nos in sceptra reponis - “So you will bring us back to power “(P. Vergilius Maro, Aeneid I, 253).

Attractions

The cityscape and the art treasures of today's San Miniato are the result of epochs of economic and cultural prosperity. The architectural heritage, with the exception of the castle, has its origins in the first half of the 14th century. After a period of economic and social decline, structural renovation took place in the second half of the 16th century. After all, thanks to Bishop Giovanni Francesco Poggi, there was another time of urban change at the beginning of the 18th century .

Cathedral Square

The Santa Caterina Church

Renaissance palace Grifoni

A sight that gives San Miniato an unmistakable silhouette from afar is the "Tower of Frederick II" ( Torre di Federico II ). It is the only major remnant of the imperial castle of Emperor Frederick II from 1218, which was otherwise torn down to the foundation walls. German soldiers also blew up the tower in 1944; it was not reconstructed until 1958.

A triple entry system leads to the cathedral square . This is where the bishop's palace, built on three older buildings in the 14th century, and the palace of the bailiffs are located . The cathedral , the former parish church of Santa Maria from the 13th century with its Romanesque facade stands on the area of the old imperial castle. The Torre di Matilde bell tower, built in the 12th century, originally served as a watchtower and defense tower and was eventually integrated into the cathedral complex.

The church of Santa Caterina dates back to the 13th century . Until 1744 it was the domicile of a religious order of the Augustinians . The single-nave structure houses wood carvings by S. Nicola from Tolentino and from the workshop of Giovanni Pisano .

The historic Piazza Bonaparte lies between palaces from the 16th to 18th centuries . In the center is the monument to Grand Duke Leopold II created by Pampaloni . One of the most interesting buildings in San Miniato from the 16th century is the Bonaparte Palace . The Corsican branch of the Bonaparte family comes from a noble family from Samminiates. As a child, Napoleon I is said to have lived twice with his relatives in San Miniato and visited them many times as emperor.

The complex of the monastery of San Francesco, founded in 1211, leans against the slope of the main hill . It was a flourishing Franciscan center for many centuries. In the 15th century it was under the direction of S. Borromeo and S. Bernardo, who would later teach in Oxford and at the Sorbonne.

On the other side of the hill is the sanctuary of Santissimo Crocifisso from 1705, in which a wooden cross from the 12th century, considered to be miraculous, is venerated. The design of the building in the form of a Greek cross comes from Anton Maria Ferri, who managed to incorporate the baroque building into the medieval cityscape.

Opposite the sanctuary are the Palazzo del Comune (town hall) with the original, frescoed council chamber behind a facade from the 19th century. Next to the town hall is the Loretino Oratory with panels by Francesco Lanfranchi, brother of the famous Andrea del Sarto , and a wooden altar from 1527.

The Republic Square is bordered on its south side by the seminar palace . The seminary was opened in 1713. The building owes its characteristic exterior to the frescoes by Francesco Di Pietro Chimenti from Fucecchio.

Examples of Renaissance architecture in San Miniato are the Palazzo Formichini , seat of the collection of the Cassa di Risparmio (with works by Guercino, Lorenzo di Bicci , Jacopo del Sellaio , Cigoli and Giovanbattista Naldini ), and above all that of Giuliano di Baccio d 'Agnolo built Palazzo Grifoni . Going down the valley, behind the octagonal church of Santissima Annunziata, in which the relics of St. Dorothea are kept, you come to the monastery of Santa Chiara.

Regular events

Stand at the truffle market in San Miniato

Mostra Mercato Nazionale del Tartufo Bianco di San Miniato - This truffle market has been held annually on three weekends in November since 1969. There are white truffle ( Tuber magnatum offered Pico) from the area around San Miniato and other gastronomic products.