250px, Valdelsa between Certaldo and Castelfiorentino.">Castelfiorentino.html" ;"title="Certaldo and Certaldo and Castelfiorentino. Valdelsa or Val d'Elsa is the valley of the river Elsa (river)">Elsa, in Tuscany">Castelfiorentino">Certaldo and Castelfiorentino. Valdelsa or Val d'Elsa is the valley of the river Elsa (river)">Elsa, in Tuscany, central Italy. The valley is divided into two traditional regions: Alta Valdelsa ("Upper Valdelsa"), in the province of Siena, Poggibonsi being the largest town in the area; and Bassa Valdelsa, in the

Metropolitan City of Florence The Metropolitan City of Florence () is an administrative division called metropolitan city in the Tuscany region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Florence. It replaced the province of Florence. It was first created by the reform of local a ...

Empoli Empoli () is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Florence, Tuscany, Italy, about southwest of Florence, to the south of the Arno River, Arno in a plain formed by the river. The plain has been usable for agriculture since Ancient Ro ...

being the largest town (although technically the latter is in the

Valdarno The Valdarno is the valley of the river Arno, from Florence to the sea. The name applies to the entire river basin, though usage of the term generally excludes Casentino and the valleys formed by major tributaries. Some towns in the area: * R ...

). Other centers in the valley include

Castelfiorentino Castelfiorentino is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Florence, Tuscany, central-northern Italy, located between Florence (distance 30 km), Pisa (45 km) and Siena (55 km). The population numbers approxi ...

Certaldo Certaldo () is a town and (municipality) of Tuscany, Italy, in the Metropolitan City of Florence, located in the middle of Valdelsa. It is about southwest of the Florence Cathedral (50 minutes by rail and 35 minutes by car from the city), and 40 m ...

Colle di Val d'Elsa Colle di Val d'Elsa or Colle Val d'Elsa is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Siena, Tuscany. It has a population of c. 21,600 . Its name means "Hill of Elsa Valley", where Elsa (river), Elsa is the name of the river which crosses it and Val ...

and

San Miniato San Miniato is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Pisa, in the region of Tuscany, Italy. San Miniato sits at a historically strategic location atop three small hills where it dominates the lower Arno valley, between the valleys of the E ...

. The economy is now mostly based on high quality, small-quantity agricultural productions, and tourism.

History

The Valdelsa was a center of the

Etruscan civilization The Etruscan civilization ( ) was an ancient civilization created by the Etruscans, a people who inhabited Etruria in List of ancient peoples of Italy, ancient Italy, with a common language and culture, and formed a federation of city-states. Af ...

, as shown by a wide range of findings in the area, including several

necropolis A necropolis (: necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'' (). The term usually implies a separate burial site at a distan ...

es. In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, it was crossed by the

Via Francigena The Via Francigena (), also known as Francisca or Romea, is an ancient road and Christian pilgrimage, pilgrimage route running from the City status in the United Kingdom#Cathedral towns, cathedral city of Canterbury in England, through France and ...

, a pilgrimage road connecting

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and

Northern Europe The northern region of Europe has several definitions. A restrictive definition may describe northern Europe as being roughly north of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which is about 54th parallel north, 54°N, or may be based on other ge ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, and therefore saw an economic and religious development. There were numerous churches, convents and pleban churches, while its strategical role is testified by the presence of a series of towers and fortified boroughs, mostly from the 10th and 11th century, built by noble families such as the Alberti and the Cadolingi. The valley entered under the influence of the growing power of the

Republic of Florence The Republic of Florence (; Old Italian: ), known officially as the Florentine Republic, was a medieval and early modern state that was centered on the Italian city of Florence in Tuscany, Italy. The republic originated in 1115, when the Flor ...

in the 13th-14th centuries. Under the

Medici The House of Medici ( , ; ) was an Italian banking family and political dynasty that first consolidated power in the Republic of Florence under Cosimo de' Medici and his grandson Lorenzo "the Magnificent" during the first half of the 15th ...

, the economic role of Valdelsa lost importance, since the rulers of Florence exploited it as a merely agricultural area.

References

Elsa Geographical, historical and cultural regions of Italy Province of Siena Metropolitan City of Florence {{Siena-geo-stub