Certaldo city of art, where Boccaccio was born

FLORENCE, ITALY – Inhabited since the Etruscan times, the name Certaldo derives from the Latin phrase “cerrus altus” or from the Germanic, “cerrus aldo,” meaning ‘a rise covered in oaks.

In 1164, Emperor Frederick Barbarossa conceded an area of ruins to the Alberti Counts in Prato, thus allowing them to take possession of the area where Palazzo Pretorio now stands.

In 1184, Certaldo came under the control of Florence. The family of Giovanni Boccaccio (1313 – 1375) lived in Certaldo during various periods in what has become today a museum dedicated to the great writer and poet.

Today, it is also the seat of the Giovanni Boccaccio National Institution.

TOWN CENTRE

The ancient centre, also called “Castle” in Italian, is located inside the city’s medieval defensive walls. Ancient doors gave access to the central core: Porta Alberti, Porta al Sole and Porta al Rivellino.

You can reach the ancient centre by taking the enchanting roads of Via Costa Alberti and Costa Vecchia, or the more modern Via del Castello. You can also reach the centre via a funicular railway, departing from piazza Boccaccio.

HIGHLIGHTS

The principal feature of most medieval hamlets, like Certaldo, is their main square. In medieval times, a town’s major buildings and local powers faced onto its main square, where the religious, political, civil and commercial headquarters were based. Certaldo, instead, is located on the slopes of a hillside and it didn’t have much space for a large piazza.

Thus, major buildings representing the local powers were located along via Boccaccio: the seat of the church; the building of civic power, Palazzo Pretorio; the Market Loggia, Palazzo Stiozzi Ridolfi (which is closed today but whose ancient walls can still be seen).

The squares that exist in Certaldo today were in the past gardens, set up to feed citizens in the event of siege.

PALAZZO PRETORIO

Palazzo Pretorio, the most representative monument in Certaldo, was the ancient residence of the Alberti Counts, which they built in the late-12th century atop the ruins of the family’s former homes.

Today, the prisons are still visible as are the meeting rooms, the archive, the chapel and the private lodgings of the vicars. On its facade and inside its courtyard are numerous coats of arms, representing the families of each of the vicars that lived in and governed from there.

In the Palazzo, there are frescoes from the 15th and 16th centuries. Next to Palazzo Pertorio is the San Tommaso and Prospero church, which dates back to the 13th century.

MUSEUM OF SACRED ART

Was originally an Augustinian convent from the 15th century. Beautifully restored and turned into a museum, it was inaugurated in 2001.

The exhibition rooms showcase paintings, sculptures and sacred relics and items. The painting gallery, or pinacoteca, is in the old frescoed refectory of the convent, and today showcases ancient paintings that date back to the 12th century to the 16th century.

Here, you can admire works by such distinguished artists as Cenni di Francesco di Ser Cenni, Ugolino di Nerio and Meliore. Among the important works present is a wooden crucifix, from the San Pietro a Petrognano church, which dates back to the early 13th century. It has been attributed to an unknown Tuscan sculptor.

It is, indeed, unique in the world of medieval Italian sculpture: the image of Christ, triumphant over Death, has gained much recognition in art criticism thanks to the sculpture’s expressive force.