Ancient hamlets of Montaione
Discover Montaione
The origins of the municipality of Montaione are lost in the dawn of time. Around the year 1000 a series of independent agricultural communities sprang up barricaded on the highest hilltops. As time went by they came under the dominion of Florence, San Miniato, Volterra and Lucca. Still today the names of some of the villages, such as Castelfalfi, Barbialla, Collegalli, Mura, Alberi, Iano, Tonda, Santo Stefano, San Vivaldo and Sughera are reminders of the presence of those ancient castles.
That era only came to an end towards the 16th century when the state of Tuscany came into being. At that time the castles became part of a single commune with the largest castle, Montaione, becoming the main town.
In 1880, when the town was at the height of its expansion, the municipality of Montaione stretched over an area of around 187 square kilometres, with a population of more than 9,000 inhabitants.
For over one thousand years, Montaione has been protected by its defensive walls, and it was only after the Second World War, spreading poverty and destruction, that the town was rebuilt and its appearance changed.
For centuries, the area of the municipality of Montaione has kept a mainly rural economy, though crafts such as glassmaking and ceramics have survived and been preserved over time to the present day.
Industrial development after the war drew a large part of the workforce away from the countryside, and it is only thanks to tourism that it has been possible to safeguard a landscape that was fated to fall into decay.
