Montecatini Val di Cecina

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Montecatini Val di Cecina is a small hilltown in the province of Pisa in Tuscany (Italy). Located approximatively 60 km south of Pisa, the medieval town sits on the Poggio la Croce hill overlooking the Cecina Valley and larger hilltown of Volterra, which lies just 15 km away.

1 History
2 Today
3 See Also
4 External links

[edit] History

Montecatini Val di Cecina's was first settled by ancient Etruscians who populated nearby Volterra.

In ancient times Montecatini Val di Cecina served as a Roman look-out post as it overlooks what was a busy Roman road.

The castle and tower that dominate the town were built by Filippo Belforti, whose family ruled the territory for about a century. By the 11th century, Montecatini Val di Cecina was in the Catholic parish administered from nearby Gabretto.

In 1351, the area came under the dominion of the Bishop of Volterra. In 1452, it was absorbed into the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. It remained in the Grand Duchy until unification of Italy in 1861.

[edit] Today

Inside the village walls, which feature cylindrical towers around the perimeter, medieval buildings are tightly spaced, separated by narrow streets or alleys, and a few small piazzas. The town is dominated by Belforti tower.

Other buildings include the Palazzo Pretorio, with an elegant porch that runs underneath a cross-ribbed vaulted roof supported by six Ionian columns, and the Chiesa San Biagio, built in the Romanesque - Gothic style during the 14th Century. The church has an asymmetrical shape with a very plain portal facing a side street. The church is divided by a central nave with two side aisles separated by columns.

Local agriculture and the old copper mine provided Montecatini Val di Cecina with a degree of prosperity in the early middle ages. Like many Tuscan hilltop towns, it's medieval aspect has been preserved precisely because ofits lack of economic development. Today, Montecatini Val di Cecina is enjoying a small economic revival through tourism though on a modest scale.

The town sits above a dramtic landscape providing rugged and wild views. The landscappe is dotted with farms, where wheat is cultivated on steep hillsides, and small forests teaming with wildlife. In the midst of one of these woods, is a charming village called Castel Querceto, where one finds the Romanesque parish church, the Chiesa San Giovanni.

Also on a hill, and also possessed of a fortified tower that offers a commanding view of the country stretching toward Volterra and the Tyrrhenian Sea, is the village of La Sassa. An old copper mine sits between two other very old villages, Casaglia and Gello.