Pontedera (; la, Pons Herae) is an italian comune with a population of 29.270 inhabitants, located in the
province of Pisa
The province of Pisa ( it, provincia di Pisa) is a province in the Tuscany region of central Italy. Its capital is the city of Pisa. With an area of and a total population of 421,642 (), it is the second most populous and fifth largest province ...
central
Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object.
Central may also refer to:
Directions and generalised locations
* Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known a ...
Italy.
The town is located 20 km (12 miles) from Pisa and 50 km (31 miles) from Florence.
It houses the headquarters of the Piaggio company, of the Castellani winery and of the
Amedei
Amedei is an artisan chocolate manufacturing company located in Pontedera in the Tuscany region of Italy, considered to be one of the finest chocolate producers in the world. Their products range from chocolate bars to truffles and pralines. Th ...
premium artisan chocolate factory.
Pontedera is in the Arno Valley at the confluence of the
Era River
The Era is a river in Tuscany in Italy. It rises near Volterra and flows into the Arno river at Pontedera.
The Era is 54 km long, and its main tributaries are: (to the left) Cascina river, Ragone torrent, Sterza torrent, and (to the right) ...
and the
Arno River
The Arno is a river in the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the most important river of central Italy after the Tiber.
Source and route
The river originates on Monte Falterona in the Casentino area of the Apennines, and initially takes a s ...
. Its territory is also crossed by the
Scolmatore dell'Arno
Lo Scolmatore dell'Arno (The Arno floodway) is a artificial flood control channel of the river Arno from Pontedera to the Ligurian Sea at Calambrone. As a consequence of the Arno flood of 1949, it was decided to start the construction of ''Scol ...
canal, and by the Roglio, a tributary of the Era. There is also a small lake, in the '' frazione'' of La Rotta, known as Braccini lake.
The football team in the town is called U.S. Città di Pontedera, and they are currently placed in
Serie C
The Serie C () is the third-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie B and Serie A. The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico (Lega Pro) is the governing body that runs the Serie C.
The unification of the Lega Pro ...
.
History
Pontedera was the seat of several historical battles. In 1369, the Milanese army of
Barnabò Visconti Barnabò is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
*Guglielmo Barnabò (1888–1954), Italian actor
*Alessandro Barnabò
Alessandro Barnabò (2 March 1801 – 24 February 1874) was an Italian Catholic Cardinal and Prefect of the Co ...
, led by
John Hawkwood
Sir John Hawkwood ( 1323 – 17 March 1394) was an English soldier who served as a mercenary leader or ''condottiero'' in Italy. As his name was difficult to pronounce for non-English-speaking contemporaries, there are many variations of it i ...
, was defeated here by the Florentine troops. On June 11, 1554, was the scene of a
pyrrhic victory
A Pyrrhic victory ( ) is a victory that inflicts such a devastating toll on the victor that it is tantamount to defeat. Such a victory negates any true sense of achievement or damages long-term progress.
The phrase originates from a quote from P ...
in the last effort by the Republic of Siena to retain ita independence, when
Piero Strozzi
Piero (or Pietro) Strozzi (c. 1510 – 21 June 1558) was an Italian military leader. He was a member of the rich Florentine family of the Strozzi.
Biography
left, Portrait of Piero Strozzi
Born in Florence, Piero Strozzi was the son of Fil ...
won against the Florentines. Tao Montes latero he was decisively defeated at the
Battle of Marciano
The Battle of Marciano (also known as the Battle of Scannagallo) occurred in the countryside of Marciano della Chiana, near Arezzo, Tuscany, on August 2, 1554, during the Italian War of 1551. The battle marked the defeat of the Republic of Si ...
, an event which marked the end of the Senese independence.
World War II
Pontedera was heavily bombed during World War II by the Anglo-Americans because of the presence of military aircraft manufacturing plants by Piaggio. The 3 main bombings were on January 6, 1944, which hit the station area. January 18, which hit the open-air area of the "Orto dei Rosati" where people had taken refuge believing it to be a safe place, when instead it was the place where the bombs fell. The last one, on January 21, 1944 that hit factories and houses. By the end of the conflict, half the city was devastated, 370 people lost their lives and thousands were injured.
°C
The degree Celsius is the unit of temperature on the Celsius scale (originally known as the centigrade scale outside Sweden), one of two temperature scales used in the International System of Units (SI), the other being the Kelvin scale. The d ...
(65,48 °F). In summer months, temperatures can reach as high as 40°C (104°F), while in winter months sunrise temperatures can be below freezing.
Education
Pontedera boasts great secondary schools in Tuscany, located in an urban area called "Villaggio Scolastico" (''school village'').
Guglielmo Marconi
Guglielmo Giovanni Maria Marconi, 1st Marquis of Marconi (; 25 April 187420 July 1937) was an Italian inventor and electrical engineer, known for his creation of a practical radio wave-based wireless telegraph system. This led to Marconi bei ...
Graphics
Graphics () are visual perception, visual images or designs on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, screen, paper, or stone, to inform, illustration, illustrate, or entertain. In contemporary usage, it includes a pictorial representation of dat ...
and Communication
and a high school address of study:
* High school of Science - Applied Science option
Eugenio Montale
Eugenio Montale (; 12 October 1896 – 12 September 1981) was an Italian poet, prose writer, editor and translator, and recipient of the 1975 Nobel Prize in Literature.
Life and works
Early years
Montale was born in Genoa. His family were che ...
Antonio Pacinotti
Antonio Pacinotti (17 June 1841 – 24 March 1912) was an Italian physicist, who was Professor of Physics at the University of Pisa.
Biography
Pacinotti was born in Pisa, where he also died. He was the son of Luigi Pacinotti and Caterin ...
* Polo Sant'Anna Valdera
* Polo Didattico Universitario Daniela Donati dell'Università di Pisa, including:
** Corso di scienze infermieristiche (''nursing science'')
** Segreteria studenti di Pontedera (''Student secretariat Pontedera'')
Culture
Pontedera is home to the "
Giovanni Alberto Agnelli
Giovanni "Giovannino" Alberto Agnelli (April 19, 1964 – December 13, 1997) was an Italian businessman and member of the Agnelli family, an Italian industrial dynasty associated with Fiat. Agnelli's father was politician and industrialist Umbert ...
" Piaggio Museum. Created in 2000 from part of the old Piaggio workshops, it now houses numerous models produced by Piaggio as well as a vast historical archive named after Antonella Bechi Piaggio, while the Valdera Campus of the
Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies
, latin_name =
, image =
, motto = L'eccellenza come disciplina
, mottoeng = Committed to excellence
, established = 1987 from previously existing institutions
, type = State-supported
, administrative_staff ...
in Pisa was carved out of the old Piaggio canteen.
Infrastructure and transportation
Roads
Pontedera is crossed from west to east by State Road 67 Tosco Romagnola, which connects it directly to Pisa and Florence ending in Ravenna.
The city is also served by the FI-PI-LI Great Communication Road, which serves as a major arterial road connecting the provinces of Florence, Pisa and Livorno. The road starts in Florence and splits near Lavaiano into the northern section, ending in Pisa connecting with the A12 Motorway, and the southern section, ending in Livorno.
Bus
Urban public bus transportation is operated by
Autolinee Toscane
Autolinee Toscane S.p.A. (also known as AT) is a private Italian company, wholly owned by RATP Dev, active in the local public transport sector. It manages several urban and suburban bus lines in Tuscany for a total of 1.7 million kilometres tra ...
( CTT Nord before the merger of activities in 2021) with two paid urban routes (previously three) and two free shuttle services.
There are suburban lines connecting it with a variety of Tuscan cities.
Railway
Pontedera train station is an important hub placed on the Leopolda Railway between Pisa and Florence, due to the many services in the Valdera area, in the field of education and the piaggio factories, with a daily flow of 4,000 passengers. The station is served by trains about every 15 minutes in both directions, as well as various connections including Livorno,
Viareggio
Viareggio () is a city and ''comune'' in northern Tuscany, Italy, on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea. With a population of over 62,000, it is the second largest city within the province of Lucca, after Lucca.
It is known as a seaside resort as ...
Lucca
Lucca ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the Serchio River, in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. The city has a population of about 89,000, while its province has a population of 383,957.
Lucca is known as one ...
regional
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...
service. It takes 10–15 minutes to travel to Pisa and 35–40 minutes to travel to Florence.
In the early 20th century the
Lucca
Lucca ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the Serchio River, in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. The city has a population of about 89,000, while its province has a population of 383,957.
Lucca is known as one ...
-Pontedera-
Saline di Volterra
Saline di Volterra is a village in Tuscany, central Italy, administratively a frazione of the comune of Volterra, province of Pisa. At the time of the 2001 census its population was 1,218.World War I.
After World War II it lost importance because of the nearby
Pisa airport
Pisa International Airport ( it, Aeroporto Internazionale di Pisa) , also named Galileo Galilei Airport is an airport located in Pisa, Italy. It is the main airport in Tuscany and the 10th in Italy in terms of passengers. It is named after Gali ...
. The same passed into use by Piaggio until it was completely dismantled. In its original place today stands the new Pontedera industrial zone (PIP III).
Anthropogenic geography
Neighborhoods
Centro
Extending westward to the railway station, it's bounded on the north by the
Arno river
The Arno is a river in the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the most important river of central Italy after the Tiber.
Source and route
The river originates on Monte Falterona in the Casentino area of the Apennines, and initially takes a s ...
, on the east by the
Era river
The Era is a river in Tuscany in Italy. It rises near Volterra and flows into the Arno river at Pontedera.
The Era is 54 km long, and its main tributaries are: (to the left) Cascina river, Ragone torrent, Sterza torrent, and (to the right) ...
, and on the south by the railway.
The main pedestrian street is Corso Matteotti, home to stores, bars, bakeries and businesses. Other main streets are Via Gotti, Via Lotti, Via Roma and Via I° Maggio. In the 2007 municipal census, the neighborhood had 7943 inhabitants.
Bellaria
It is the area south of the railroad. It is home to the headquarters of Piaggio, its museum, the Polo Valdera, and the "Felice Lotti" hospital.
The residential area consists mainly of small villas. The newly developed western area can be divided into Sozzifanti to the north and Galimberti to the south. The former is the only area in all of Pontedera that does not have its own church. In the 2007 municipal census, the neighborhood had 4648 inhabitants.
Oltrera
It's the neighborhood across the Era River; In Pisan dialect it's called "Foriderponte" or "Forderponte" (outside of the bridge).
It has seen an extensive expansion from the late 1950s with the construction of the " Gronchi" Village - Viale Italia. Today it is home to the weekly market, annual Fair, Era Theater, "Ettore Mannucci" stadium and Cineplex, multiplex cinema and shopping center. In the 2007 municipal census it had 6779 inhabitants.
Villaggi
The Villaggio Piaggio (''Piaggio Village'') neighborhood was built by Piaggio for its employees and inside it contains all the necessary infrastructures to be autonomous.
Another one is the
Antonio Gramsci
Antonio Francesco Gramsci ( , , ; 22 January 1891 – 27 April 1937) was an Italian Marxist philosopher, journalist, linguist, writer, and politician. He wrote on philosophy, political theory, sociology, history, and linguistics. He was a fo ...
communal village, which is developed north of the railway east of the Villaggio Piaggio.