Inhabitants in 1991: 15.028
The
municipal territory of Impruneta extends for 48.76 square kilometres in
the hills to the south which belt the Fiorentina basin between Val di
Greve and Val d'Ema. Impruneta became autonomous municipality in 1928
raising a part of the suppressed municipality of Galluzzo upon which the
Podesta Office depended since the Medieval era.
It was feudal to the Buondelmonti, who had their ancestral castle
at Montebuoni. Defeated by Firenze in 1135 it was forced
to urbanise itself; but the development of the centre of
Impuneta (for the first time cited in a document of the middle of the
XI century) is tied to its parish church, named for the Madonna
and holder of a miraculous image of the Virgin. Around the sanctuary
there developed a well populated village, while in the surrounding
fertile hills sprang up a series of small rural agglomerates (called villas
in the terminology of the time) which today still characterise the countryside
of the municipalities of Bagnolo, Pozzolatico and San Gersolè;
The nearness to Firenze and the amenity of the territory favoured
the construction by the proprietary citizens of various "Manor Houses".
With Galluzzo, Impuneta was elected capital of a league of the county
and the hills to the south of Firenze; and Firenze made many appeals
of faith to the venerated image of the Madonna , which involved carrying
it in solemn procession to the city every time there was some catastrophe
which distressed it, should it be a plague epidemic or an atmospheric
inclemency. The sanctuary, because of its continual flow of public
and private donations, acquired a substantial patrimony and was
several times enlarged and restructured from the XII to the XVIII centuries;
grave damage was suffered throughout all the town by the bombardments
during the last war.
Places to visit:
Basilica - Sanctuary of S. Maria all’Impruneta, a
building position in the centre of the town, facing Piazza Buondelmonti,
has a 1600 arcade in the front. The actual basilica was founded on
a preceding Roman parish church. In the XIV century it was enlarged,
but reached its present day dimension around 1450 . There followed
other modifications and its perimeter was fortified by surrounding
walls. The single nave interior suffered severe damage during the
allied bombardment in 1944 and was reconstructed in the renaissance
style. The basilica is rich in works of art by various artists coming
from different eras. In 1987 the adjoining Museum of the Treasures
of S. Maria all Impruneta was inaugurated, where there is a collection
of precious testimonies and donations relative to the importance and
history of the basilica. |
Historical info reproduced upon authorization of Regione Toscana - Dipartimento della Presidenza E Affari Legislativi e Giuridici
Translated by Ann Mountford |