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History of Vinci in the Province of Florence

Vinci was a medieval Podestà, but until the 15th century the communities of Collegonzi and Vitolini were distinct from it. In 1774, it was incorporated with Cerreto Guidi and it was constituted as an autonomous municipality only in 1860.

In 1954, on the 500th anniversary of Leonardo, Vinci was decreed a city. There is no news about the territory of Vinci prior to the year 1000. A Castle belonging to the Guidi Counts became part of the Florentine county in two rounds, in 1255 and in 1273, when all of the branches of the powerful family decided to ally all of their possessions in the Lower Valdarno with Florence.

The people of Vinci rebelled against the Florentine dominion in 1315, following a victory by Uguccione della Faggiola in Montecatini, and managed to maintain their independence for some time under the lord Binduccio degli Adimari, a Florentine exile. But it was a brief period: Adimari came to an agreement with Florence and again transferred the castle for money.

Afterwards, Vinci distinguished itself for its strong defense against the mercenaries of Giovanni Acuto (1364) and again repressing, by force, the Pistoiese who wanted to over throw it and deliver it to the lord Giovanni dell’Agnello (1368). After the period of territorial fighting stopped, Vinci and its strong fortress remained firm in the hands of Florence, which periodically sent its castellan to the area.

Its fame derives above all, as is well known, from being the birthplace of Leonardo, the genial artist and scientist born there in 1452.

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