| 
Inhabitants in 1991: 6.598
 The
municipal territory of Massa e Cozzile extends for 16,01 square kilometres
in the hills of high Valdinievole. Seat of Podesta office from the XIV
century, the community constituted by two centres reached its present
day aspect with the Leopoldini regulations in 1775.
Village fortified during the Medieval, Massa and the overlooking castle
of Cozzile were recorded in documents of the X and XI centuries as the
property of the Bishops of Lucca, who ceded houses and land in
this location to the Maona Counts under the title of emphyteusis (legal
possession after a certain number of years of occupation). In 1330,
after a long contest for the possession of the territory between Lucca
and Firenze, Massa e Cozzile became Fiorentine and new fortification
works were put into action. With the definitive subjugation of Pistoia
at the beginning of the 1400s, in the general administrative reorganisation
of the Valdinievole, the Fiorentino governor decreed that the Verruca
castle should belong to the municipality of Massa and that the military
garrison be stationed at Cozzile and maintained by local money with a
contribution by Firenze, while in 1404 the Vicar of Pescia established
the layout of the borders between the municipalities of Massa and Buggiano:
the jurisdiction of the latter Podesta office was finally posted under
Massa e Cozzile in 1420.
Places to visit:
S. Maria Assunta, with a Romanic
bell tower, it was remodelled in the Renaissance era. In its interior
are preserved precious works of art and inlaid furniture from the
1400s. |
Historical info reproduced upon authorization of Regione Toscana - Dipartimento della Presidenza E Affari Legislativi e Giuridici
Translated by Ann Mountford |
