Certaldo

Certaldo is a town with approximately 16,000 inhabitants that rises along the layout of the Frankish Road in the province of Florence; it is at a distance of about 10 Km. from San Gimignano. This town, too, is divided in an upper part called "Rione Castello", surrounded by fortification walls that enclose medieval surroundings, and a lower, modern and industrialised part. It is the birthplace of Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375) (his house is in Upper Certaldo and is now the seat of the National Centre of Studies on Giovanni Boccaccio and of a library). Here it is possible to visit suggestive buildings like Palazzo Pretorio, seat of the Vicariate of Certaldo, where one can admire the "Tabernacle of the Executed" attributed to Benozzo Gozzoli. The cycle of frescoes in the former church of Saints Thomas and Prospero is another work by Gozzoli. Artists’ studios are located inside the suggestive Palazzo Giannozzi. The church of Saint Jacopo is also worth visiting. It conserves the ashes of Boccaccio and the skeleton of Blessed Giulia, who lived in a penance cell for 30 years. Next to the church there is a cloister with large base that narrows towards the bell tower. Every year, at the end of July, Certaldo is the setting of "Mercantia", a medieval trade fair; the Boccaccio literary prize is awarded in September.