The origins of San Miniato go back to Etruscans and Roman times as can be seen
by the remains of those civilizations: the ruins of the necropolis of Fontevivo,
tables, marble statues and bronze works found in the Montenecalenne and
Montappio excavations. Colonized by the Augustan legionaries San Miniato later
was a military post with the name of "Quarto", but only as a consequence of the
Longobards' invasion it became a village. In 783 the Longobards built a church
here and consecrated it to the martyr Saint Miniato, whence the present name of
the town. The castle was built in 962 by the Emperor Ottone I who founded there
the seat of the Imperial Vicars with jurisdiction the all of Tuscany. It was
also the residence of those marquis among which there was Boniface, marquis and
vicar of the Emperor, father of the Countess Matilde of Canossa, born in San
Miniato, it seems, in 1046.
Many German Emperors visited San Miniato and remained
here stayed in the Imperial Palace (today the Bishop's Palace): Frederic
"Barbarossa" was there in 1167 and in 1178; Henry IV in 1184, 1186 and in 1194; Ottone IV in 1209. A part from Emperors,
San Miniato also had the honor of
welcoming three Supreme Pontiffs, that is Gregory V in 996, Eugene IV in 1434
and Clement VII in 1553. On his way home from Pisa, Saint Francis of Assisi
traveled to the top of the San Miniato hill and founded the historic Convent on
the year 1211.
In the municipal period, the village, of Ghibelline faction,
received many privileges from Emperor Frederic II who had also built, around
1236 a complex of fortifications, the Rocca, where, according to historians,
Pier delle Vigne, Frederic's chancellor, was imprisoned and died. From the XII
century San Miniato began to be ruled by its own authorities and was involved in
the fights which broke out among the surrounding towns. Having broken down the
power of Ghibelline Pisa (1284), to which the town was subjected, the people of
San Miniato were afterwards subdued by Charles of Anjou. They rebelled against
his rule to set up a free commune, belonging to the Guelph League (1291) until
they were absorbed by the Florentine Republic.
However the habitants of San
Miniato also rebelled against Florence in 1370 and 1396. The town was attacked
twice by the Florentines and once, in 1530, by the Spanish troops of Charles V,
lead by the Duke of Amalfi. They occupied the town on February 1st, 1530, but
they were defeated November 1st of the same year by Francesco Ferrucci who once
again flowed over the tower the lily, emblem of the Florentine Republic. When
the town of the lily fell under Charles V's rule, San Miniato was subdued by Duke
Alexander of Medici and it later came to be part of the Grand-ducal rule. Under
the grand-duke's rule, with the powerful family of Grifoni, San Miniato became
one of the most important towns of Medicean Tuscany.
In 1620 Mary Magdalene of
Austria, Cosimo II's wife, obtained her husband's agreement to call San Miniato
"Town" and Pope Gregory XV's authorization so that the town became a
Diocesan
center. On June 28th 1797, Napoleon I came to visit his canonical uncle Philip
and in the house of him Napoleon held a council of war. in 1860 San Miniato
came to be part of the kingdom of Sardinia after giving its contribution to the
1st war of Independence.
Repetti called San Miniato "The seedbed of illustrious
men and famous talents of all time and types". In fact, many brilliant people
are bound to it. Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan, the Baron dei Mangiadori who
commanded the Florentine cavalry at the battle of Campaldino, the naturalist
Michele Mercati junior, the painter Ludovico Cardi, called "Cigoli", the chemist
Gioacchino Taddei, the philosopher Augusto Conti, the poet Pietro Bagnoli and
professor Pietro Rondoni, scientist and genius. Also the Borromeo family of
Milan and the Buonaparte of Corsica are descendents of San Miniato noble blood.
SAN MINIATO - THE CITY OF FLAVORS -
Culture and the quality of life intertwine in San Minato: both in the urban
context of the city center and the uncontaminated rural hinterland. A meeting
point for the city and the countryside is the material culture of food that, in
San Miniato, has deep roots in their ancient agricultural economy. San MIniato
is a truffle-rich area that is one of the most ample and fruitful in Europe.
The
White Truffle grown in the San Miniato Hills is the most valuable type known. If
the San Miniato Truffle is unique, there are numerous other agricultural
products that create a matchless constellation of taste and flavors. Their
story is intertwined with that of people of San Miniato, who, being of a jealous
nature, have always preferred to cultivate their products for their own use more
than selling them to others. The wines and olive oils are the fruit of a
territory that is very suited for it, especially the production of Vin Santo (
sweet raisin wine), made from the white grapes of San Colombano.
The artichoke
from San Miniato, one of the most abundant and flavorful of the varieties was
woven in the Medicean times. The Kentucky variety of tobacco has been imported
for two centuries from North America and from it the "Sigaro Toscano" or Tuscan
Cigar is produced. The quasi Romanesque shape of the tobacco drying structures,
similar to those found in Cuba where the tobacco is dried, punctuates the San
Miniato landscape and maintains its artesian traditions. The culture of food and
its flavors is also created by the intelligence and capability of the artisans
who are able to recreate ancient and new flavors.
Modernity has not dimmed this
centuries-old knowledge, but has instead revived it. For some time the treatment
and preparation of pork and blood products has once again come to life in the Longobard and medieval center of San Miniato. The art of baking and
Mediterranean treatment of flour also makes their pastries and baked goods
excellent. San Miniato is a City of Flavors that still today come from the
refectories of its ancient convents, its medieval tertiary's and over thirty
manorial farms that were already listed in a feudal deed dating back to the year
938 A.D.. Its territory is an open jewel-case. In the streets of the historical
town center and in the many itineraries of its extensive countryside that lead
to age-old parishes and villages, is the ancient culture of a simple and
reserved hospitality that has known how to preserve those flavors.
Truffle Market
SAN MINIATO - THE CITY OF TRUFFLE -
An old folk saying, still today taught to children living in San Miniato
countryside, recounts that a little golden calf can be found between Doderi,
Montoderi and Poggioderi (three sites mentioned in medieval documents kept in
the Historical Archives 0f San Miniato). It may seem odd, but the heart of the
San Miniato truffle ground can be found in that Valdegola triangle.
The White Truffle from the San Miniato hills, a geographical truffle-producing area that extends towards the
inland countryside of Pisa, is known as the Tuber Magnatum Pico. This kind of
underground fungi is the most valuable. Located a few centimeters deep, they can
only be found in a limited number of areas favored by nature for the
particular, almost mysterious combination of forest fauna and geological
substratum.
San Miniato holds the most records in this select area. Here the
largest truffle ever found, a very fragrant tuber weighing in at 2.520 grams,
was presented to President of the United States Truman in 1954 with great
fanfare.
But their truffle also hold a record of quality not only because of the
fertility of the woods, but also to the care taken and the deep respect for the
environment where they are gathered. Regulated by strict controls and a regional
law that defines how they are gathered and marketed, the White Truffle of San Miniato is served in the best restaurants in the world.
Gathered with moderation
and selectivity production is limited due to the brevity of their season (the
three months of October, November and December). In fact, the value of the White
Truffle of San Miniato lies in its rarity. Its roots date from the Middle Ages,
but it has only been a little more than 100 years that their gathering has been
organized by the area's family groups, the so-called Tartufai delle Colline
Sanminiatesi (Truffle-gatherers of the San Miniato Hills, created about twenty
years ago), that groups together more than 400 gatherers in the Egola, Elsa and
Era Valleys, all tributaries of the Arno River. More than just truffle finders,
the families each have their own secrets handed down through generations, their
truffle dogs and their hidden paths in oak, poplar and Holm Oak forests.
The
truffle, though, does not just mean a unique taste: it also is local culture and
business. For thirty years the Mostra Mercato Nazionale del Tartufo Bianco di
San Miniato (The National White Truffle of San Miniato Show), transforms the
city for the entire month of November into a huge open-air tasting workshop.
Here the truffle takes the throne where it is displayed in the historical Piazza
del Duomo at the foot of the Rocca. Other squares also have their own markets,
with typical flavors of the San Miniato hills, offered together with
specialties from other Italian culinary cities. The Truffle Show, however, is
just the peak of what this extraordinary season has to offer. In the heart of
the land of truffles, deep in the woods and countryside, smaller and hidden
festivals take place in October in little villages that are home to the oldest
truffle dynasties: The Corazzano Festival, at the foot of the Romanesque parish
of San Giovanni Battista and the Balconevisi Festival, in the ancient village of
the Florentine Strozzi family, when each quarter participates in a goose race.
And in March the early Marzuolo truffle can be tasted in Cigoli, birthplace of
Lodovico Cardi who rivaled Correggio as the leader of Mannerism.
Brillat Savarin writes: "the truffle makes women more tender and men more
amiable". And, poor fellow, he's only referring to the black truffle of Perigord
(France). What influence would have the "food of the king", the San Miniato
white truffle?
SAN MINIATO - THE CITY OF THEATRE -
Theatre plays, and all types of performance have very old roots in San Miniato
that are continually renewed. Many centuries ago the people of San Miniato chose
as their Patron Saint Genesio, an actor, martyred because he portrayed the
Passion of Christ on stage. Was this a fluke? A coincidence? A vocation?
When
the Second World War came to San Miniato, its symbol were destroyed: Frederick
II of Swabia's Rocca, the castle doors, many monuments and homes and also the
theatre that staged dramatic melodramatic plays.
But can these symbols really
and truly be demolished? The theatre in San Miniato has been revived in its
wonderfully scenic squares, and for over fifty years now, it is an extraordinary
workshop of plays and performances. Performance and culture blend together in
the squares and medieval sites of the ancient independent commune's villas and
castles during the summer months when a program of events attracting
international attention takes place. Since 1947, the Italian première of open-air
traditional plays with a religious subject have been staged. It is a unique
event of its kind, founded in collaboration with the Accademia di Arte
Drammatica (Academy of Dramatic Art) in Roma, and the most important
international playwrights as well as the most famous directors and actors in
Italian theatre participate.
LA LUNA E' AZZURRA ( The moon is blue ) - The week-long Festa Internazionale del
Teatro di Figure ( International Representation Theatre Festival), organized by
the cultural association Terzostudio, has enlivened the nocturnal squares of San
Miniato for almost twenty years now. Artists from every continent in the world
perform the simple arts of puppetry and mime, where, followed by the
spectators, they move from square for performances lasting past midnight.
SCUOLA EUROPEA PER L'ARTE DELLA RECITAZIONE ( European School for the Art of
Acting ) - is conducted by the Theatre of Pisa and the Accademia di Arte
Drammatica "Silvio D'Amico" ("Silvio D'Amico" Dramatic Art Academy) in
collaboration with the European Association Training Centers for Young Opera
Singers. The year 2000 marks its sixteenth season where the finest teachers and
most promising young talents in Europe gather together during the months of June
and July in San Miniato. Joseph Fiennes, the lead in Shakespeare in Love,
attended this school.
UN CASTELLO DI SUONI ( A Castle of Sounds ) - In springtime and summertime, the
parishes, castles and villages scattered throughout the countryside come alive
with classical music concert. Here, entertainment is just limited to
performances, but also incorporates the extraordinary scenery.
IL TEATRINO DEI FONDI ( Little Theatre of the Fondi ) - A European research
center for experimental and children's theatre, it is located ( together with
its sister organization, the Titivillus publishing house) in the country town of
Corazzano, where an ancient Roman village once stood. Here they put together and
stage ideas, projects and shows with the collaboration of the most prestigious
Italian theatrical Pergola and the Biblioteca Alfonso Spadoni.
IL CENTRO STUDI " PAOLO E VITTORIO TAVIANI" ( Paolo and Vittorio Taviani center
for Studies ) - Founded to further the appreciation of motion pictures in
collaboration with the Departments of Performing Arts of Florence, Pisa and
Siena Universities, it is dedicated to two famous men from San Miniato who
repeatedly in their films have narrated the legends, stories and events of their
native city, such as in their film " The night of the shooting stars", the epic
story of the massacre at the San Miniato Cathedral and the terrible ferocity of
war.
