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History of Pontassieve in the Val Di Sieve in Tuscany

The nobles of Quona were the first to dominate the territory, whose lordship was documentated in the 11th century. They moved to Florence at the end of the 12th century and in 1207, sold the majority of the landholdings under their jurisdiction to the Florentine bishops.

In 1375, Florence decreed the construction of a castle for strategic use on the land of Pontassieve which would have the name Sant’Angelo Castle. As the years passed, the name Ponte a Sieve became more associated with the area, thanks to the importance of the bridge, many times destroyed and always rebuilt, which since ancient times was the antique passageway connecting Florence to the Mugello, Casentino and Arezzo. The first houses were built around the bridge and the area developed into a village, located in the low valley in respect to the castle built by the Florentines.

The town did not have much opportunity for development until the end of the 18th century, when new roads were opened for Casentino crossing Consuma, and later, the road for Romagna crossing San Godenzo. It was then that Pontassieve grew rapidly, and in 1859, it received new life with the construction of the Florence-Rome railway. During the last World War, Pontassieve, important for its railway, sufferred major damage, being almost completely destroyed until its reconstruction in the post-war period.

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