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From Florence to Barberino Val d'Elsa along the via Cassia, Tuscany

Leaving from Florence in a southerly direction, we join the via Senese and after around 2 km we reach the Certosa del Galluzzo, a charterhouse built on the Monte Aguto hill.
The charterhouse was founded by Niccolò Acciaioli in the 14th century to give hospitality to young Florentine men who wished to learn the liberal arts, and over the years it has received many bequests. The Certosa is made up of different buildings, including the imposing Palazzo Acciaioli which gives it the appearance of an austere fortress.

The Palazzo houses an interesting Pinacoteca where 5 fanlights with scenes from the Passion of Christ are kept. These were previously in the large cloister frescoed by Pontormo between 1523 and 1525, during his stay here to escape from the plague that had struck Florence. The San Lorenzo church dates back to the 1300s but was renovated in the 16th century and contains several seventeenth century works of art. Arranged around three sides of the large, Renaissance style cloister, are the monks’ cells. A small community of Benedictine Circesten monks lives in the charterhouse, who accompany tourists and the faithful who wish to visit the monastery.
Opening times: 9:00-12:00 / 15:00-17:00. Closed on Monday. Guided visits.
For information telephone: 055/20.49.266

From the Certosa we follow the state road S.S.2 via Cassia as far as the hamlet of Sambuca Val di Pesa.
If we leave the via Cassia and take the road from Sambuca to Greve, we come to the imposing Badia a Passignano founded in 1049 by the monks of the Vallombrosa order. The abbey is deep in the countryside, surrounded by flourishing olive plantations and is striking for its fortress-like appearance with its surrounding wall and crennelated towers. The oldest parts of the monastery complex date back to the 13th century, whereas the cloisters and the enlargements are from the 1400s, and the crypt of the church of S. Michele Arcangelo is in Romanesque style.

Among the numerous works of art preserved in the abbey, we should point out the frescoes by Passignano (1601) in the main chapel of the church, and especially the Ultima Cena frescoed by Domenico and Davide Ghirlandaio (1476-77) in the monastery refectory. It is possible to visit the Abbey on request, and visitors are accompanied by the monks of the small Vallombrosan community which lives in Passignano.
Opening times: Sunday 15:00-17:00
For information telephone: 055/80.71.622

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