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Grand Buildings such as Palazzo Machiavelli in Certaldo near Florence

By using the funicular railway from the station it is possible to reach the top of the hill in a minute (130 m of altitude) on which the old town centre stands, i.e. "Il Castello" (the castle); it is surrounded by the wall circle that is still very well preserved and on which you see three entrance doors; the centre is characterized by the reddish color of the terra cotta floor that lies both in the floor of the buildings and in the streets.

In the main road Via Boccaccio there are interesting buildings in medieval style. Among the houses of aristocracy: the Palazzo Strozzi-Ridolfi (of the 15th century), the Palazzo Giannozzi, the "tower house" Palazzo Machiavelli.
Casa Boccaccio, where it is said that the famous story writer of the 14th century (his parents came from Certaldo) spent his last years, was seriously damaged by the war and was rebuilt in 1947: from its tower the visitor can admire a beautiful circle landscape. Actually it is the seat of the national centre of study about Boccaccio (Centro Nazionale di studi su Boccaccio) and inside it has got a big library with different editions and many translations of the "Decameron".

The Praetorian Building dominates Certaldo Alta (highest part of Certaldo): it was built in the 15th century on the castle owned by the Alberti family of which there is still the “mastio” mast, i.e. the highest tower of the castle. Its facade is crowned by merlons and decorated by the coat of arms of the former vicars, made of stone and of glazed earthenware of the school of Della Robbia.

Restored in 1893, it includes a lot of interesting areas (Atrio, Camera delle sentenze, Sala delle udienze, prigioni, Sala grande, Sala del consiglio, cappella e alloggi)(Atrium, chamber of the sentences, audience room, prisons, main hall, council room, chapel and apartments), where the visitor can admire frescoes and sinopias of the 15th and 16th century

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