MY TOWN

 

Impruneta is a Tuscan hill town located between the valleys of the Greve and the Ema streams, about half an hour south of Florence. It was known in ancient times as "in prunetis" or "in pineta" (within the pine woods) and indeed remnants of beautiful pine forests may still be seen interspersed among the olive groves on some of the surrounding hills. During the Mediaeval period, Impruneta and the surrounding villages were part of the fief of the Buondelmonti family whose castle was in the village of Montebuoni. The family first appears in history in the 10 C in the person of Sichelmo and they were finally driven from their castle in 1135 by the Florentines. The family retreated to Florence where the Buondelmonti and the Fifani families played a significant role in exacerbating the division of the Florentine population between the Guelf and Ghibelline factions. Their responsibility arose most notably from an infamous drunken fight and subsequent macchinations regarding whose daughter would marry whom, leading up to the murder of Buondelmonti di Buondelmonti, on his wedding day during Easter 1216, by Oddo Arrighi of Fifanti. Years of factional bloodshed are said to have begun with this event.

The church of Impruneta became ever more well-known for the sacred and miraculous effigy of the Madonna housed there.The last sunday of September have the Grapes Festival allegories and varius events.

 Pilgrims came in large numbers and a famous fair took place and still takes place on the feast of Saint Luke, 18 October. Originally a feast associated with the movement and sale of livestock, it is now celebrated with stalls dinners, and horse races.

A small village important for the production of pottery had developed near the church. The first record of terracotta manufature dates from 1098 and the production of terracotta tiles, pottery and bricks has continued to flourish to the present time. The church and its treasure, and the pottery kilns and their output are the principal reasons to visit Impruneta.