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Inhabitants in 1991: 12.131
 The
municipal territory extends for 19,90 square kilometres in the Valdarno
di Sotto, at the opening, in the plain, of the valley of the river Cascina,
tributary of the Era, in a prevalently flat land and on the slopes of
the nearby hills.
The first documented news regarding Ponsacco goes back to 1197, but
for some long time the settlement must have had a modest growth, figuring
above all as a “market” by the nearby ancient castles
of Appiano and Camugliano. When both of these were destroyed one shortly
after the other (Appiano in 1341 by the Fiorentine troops, Camugliano
in 1345 by the Visconte) Ponsacco, who took in the majority of the inhabitants,
became a fairly conspicuous centre and in the following years was walled.
For centuries the Pisa republic had extended its jurisdiction
over the whole of the area and when Firenze in 1406 incorporated the
territory, Ponsacco also became part of the Fiorentino State. Two
episodes of rebellion towards its new dominators marked the history of
the 1400s: one in 1431 provoked by Niccolò Piccinino, and another
in 1495 in consequence to the revolt by Pisa, but they were quickly put
down.
In 1637 Grand Duke Ferdinando II conceded the community in feudal
with the title of Marquisate, to the noble Filippo Niccolini, to whose
family it remained until almost the end of the 1700s; suppressed under
the feudal jurisdiction, it returned under the direct dominion of the
Grand Duchy, and shared their fate until the Unity of Italy.
Historical info reproduced upon authorization of Regione Toscana - Dipartimento della Presidenza E Affari Legislativi e Giuridici
Translated by Ann Mountford |
