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Inhabitants in 1991 : 7,649
 The
Municipal territory of Civitella, extends for 100,40 square kilometres
divided between the Val d’Ambra and the Val di Chiana, partly on
the plain and partly hilly ; the capital is situated on a hill exactly
on the divide between the two valleys, between wood covered ridges - on
high, towards the Val d’Ambra - and a belt of cultivation which
closes the sides of the hill in terraces, towards the Val di Chiana. A
military settlement in the Dark Ages, then a Podesta office, it became
a community in 1774. S. Civitella in Val di Chiana was called
in ancient times Civitella del Vescovo as it was owned by the Bishops
of Arezzo
who had made it capital of their Viscounty, in Val d’Ambra and customary
residence in their rural estate. After the battle of Campaldino (1289)
it was occupied by the Fiorentini ; returned to Episcopal property,
in 1311 it received the Ambassadors of Arrigo VII who from there
summoned the municipality and the Tuscan Lords to swear allegiance to
the Emperor, with grave menaces but with scarce results. In the following
years the dominion over Civitella changed several times between the Bishops
of Arezzo
and the Republic of Firenze (which in 1338 made it the Seat of Podesta
of the so called Fiorentino Viscounty) Until it definitively entered
as part of the Fiorentino State in 1384. In 1554, during the war
with Siena, Civitella was assaulted by the troops Captained by Piero
Strozzi, who were not able to take it thanks to the strenuous defence
by the militia of Paolo da Castello, Captain in the service of Cosimo
I dei Medici. In June 1944 the town was subjected to a ruthless reprisal
which provoked more than one hundred victims and almost totally destroyed
the habitation.
Historical info reproduced upon authorization of Regione Toscana - Dipartimento della Presidenza E Affari Legislativi e Giuridici
Translated by Ann Mountford
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