Montevarchi is one of the largest towns in the Upper Valdarno, founded towards the end of the 12th century. This area was already populated in Roman times, and there are findings of settlements from around the year 1000.
The name Montevarchi derives from Castrum Montisguarchi, a castle that was located on today’s Colle dei Cappuccini, from which the name Montevarchi comes.
The highly strategic position made the city very important and well-known, in fact it was located, then as now, exactly at the point where the roads leading to Arezzo, Florence and Siena intersect.
Montevarchi has much to offer visitors, including some very important museums and historic buildings. Its historic centre, with its famous almond shape, welcomes many shops and excellent restaurants. Let’s see together what you can see and do in Montevarchi.
What to see in Montevarchi
Paleontological Museum
The Paleontological Museum of Montevarchi, recently renovated, is located in the premises of the ancient Franciscan convent of San Lodovico and houses over 1,500 finds mainly from the Upper Valdarno. Many interesting historical finds, among which a mammoth skeleton stands out.
Inside the Valdarno museum there is also a Restoration Laboratory, an indispensable tool for the maintenance of museum collections, both fossil and archaeological.
The Collegiata di San Lorenzo
Overlooking Piazza Varchi is the splendid Collegiata di San Lorenzo, a late Romanesque structure that has undergone significant internal and external structural changes over time.
The bell tower was added to the main structure around 1440, also undergoing various changes over the years, such as the addition of the spire on its top. The interior of the Church, composed of a single nave, contains various frescoes that are now unfortunately almost lost.
Museum of Sacred Art of the Collegiata di San Lorenzo
The Museum of Sacred Art, adjacent to the Collegiata di San Lorenzo in Montevarchi founded in 1973, collects works such as sculptures, frescoes, objects of fine goldsmithery, sacred furnishings, reliquaries and illuminated manuscripts.
Inside, works such as the Roman Temple, the Reliquary of the Holy Milk and the bas-relief “The Delivery of the Relic” stand out.
The Cassero for Sculpture Museum
The Cassero for Sculpture, located in the premises of the Cassero of Montevarchi, is a museum that houses a vast collection of bronzes, marbles, plasters, terracotta and drawings by Florentine, Tuscan and Italian artists dating back to the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Among the many works there are creations by artists such as Michelangelo Monti, Timo Bortolotti, Arturo Stagliano, Alberto Giacomasso, Mentore Maltoni, Valmore Gemignani, Firenze Poggi and Donatella Bortolotti. Furthermore, the Cassero Museum has incorporated the old Ernesto Galeffi Museum, creating a section entirely dedicated to the modern works of the Montevarchi native.
Villa Masini
Villa Masini, one of the most beautiful Art Nouveau buildings in Tuscany, is located in the hamlet of Pestello, just outside Montevarchi, near Arezzo and Florence. The Villa was built in the 1920s and nicknamed “Grandfather’s House“.
The Villa, also famous for having hosted some scenes of Benigni’s film “Life is Beautiful“, is open to visitors in the summer months (from April to October) and is sometimes the venue for concerts and shows in the garden.
Church of Santa Maria Al Giglio
The construction of the Church of Santa Maria al Giglio was agreed by the Bishop of Fiesole in 1589 after insistent requests from the faithful. At the point of the church’s construction there was originally a tabernacle, on which the image of the “Madonna and Child” was frescoed, which had become a place of pilgrimage for many faithful as it was considered miraculous and the subject of apparitions.
The Church has the architectural characteristics of that period and of the Valdarno area, sober and restrained in decoration. The building is structured with a single nave with a Latin cross plan and a terracotta floor. On the presbytery there is a square tympanum that supports an agile dome.
On the front of the Church there is also a loggia with 15 round arches in full Tuscan style.
The major events in Montevarchi
The Gioco del Pozzo (Well Game)
During the Feast of the Pardon, in Montevarchi the Gioco del Pozzo (Well Game) is played between the 4 gonfalons of the historic centre. The invention of the game, whose objective is to throw the ball into a central well of a round field, probably originated with the need to establish which of the 4 gonfalons had priority in drawing water from the town well.
Still today, every year on the first Sunday of September, the game takes place which calls the crowd of citizens in Piazza Varchi called by the spectacle of this traditional game. If you are in Valdarno during that period, go there, it is really worth it.
Antiques Market
The “Via dei Musei” association organises the Antiques Market in Via de’ Musei, which takes place throughout the day every fourth Sunday of the month. It winds along Via dei Musei, Via I. Del Lungo and Via P. Bracciolini. On sale there are antiques, modern antiques and handicrafts.
Here is also a small map where you can find directions to get to these interesting places to visit in Montevarchi: