Benedictine Abbey of San Gaudenzio

In the heart of the town, we find the Abbey dedicated to San Gaudenzio, one of the most important Romanesque structures in Tuscany. It was built in 1028 by request of the bishop of Fiesole, Jacopo il Bavaro, and consecrated in 1070 by bishop Trasmondo. On June 8, 1302 the Abbey housed the meeting of the Florentine exiles, the Ghibellines and the White Guelphs; Dante Alighieri was among them. A long stair leads up to the church with its beautifully unadorned stone façade. The interior is vast and solemn and the works of art are very precious: the wooden sculpture of San Sebastiano by Baccio da Montelupo, the polyptych by Bernardo Daddi dated 1333, the Virgin of the Annunciation by the school of Andrea del Sarto (16th century). Of great interest is the 15th century pulpit. In the 20th century, the Abbey was enriched with the great mosaic on the subject of Dante on the roof of the apse, the pipe organ, the baptismal font, and the bell-tower. Tel. +39 333 407168

In the countryside:

• Pieve di San Babila a San Bavello
  The church dates back to 1073, and legend has it that Countess Matilda commissioned it. The Pieve can be visited upon request: Tel. Don Bruno +39 333 407168
• San Martino a Castagno D'Andrea
  The ancient church is in what is known as “San Martino”; in 1840 it was transferred to the place in which it is now and, hence, destroyed during WWII. It was faithfully reconstructed in 1947. In 1957, on occasion of the 500th anniversary of the death of the artist Andrea del Castagno, the painter Pietro Arrigoni presented the church with his famous frescoes of the Crucifix, of the Madonna, and of Saint John (1957-1968). It was on this occasion that the town of Castagno was renamed “Castagno D'Andrea”.
• San Niccolò a Casale
  In a document dated 1028 we find mention of the locality called “Casale” but nothing about the church which, however, was surely built only a few years later on the ruins of a small castle owned by Guido da Battifolle. The church has a simple, gabled façade and a single nave with an apse. The Romanesque style is made explicit and evident by the use of the beautiful dressed sandstone. Conserved inside are sacred objects prestige. Tel. Don Bruno +39 333 407168