Origins & development
One of the main characteristics of Vicopisano, although its limited extension, is to be composed of many small towns:San Giovanni alla Vena, Uliveto Terme, Lugnano, Caprona and Cucigliana, Cevoli, Guerrazzi and Noce), una netta controtendenza rispetto ai comuni circonvicini, che sono al massimo formati da 2-3 frazioni.
Vicopisano’s territory is rich of small medieval villages, architectural pearls, culinary and handcrafted traditions waiting for you!
Another peculiarity is that those “fractions” are not just an administrative choice: they are real entities with a strong individuality and they reflect the traditional Tuscan local rivalry.
The reasons behind this strong rooting are deeply connected with the stories that during the centuries characterized those small cities: each one of them had a specific area of activity, commercial outlet and diversified interests. Consequently, they all developed a strong sense of belonging to their own community. We must say that, seeing how everything tends to the homogenization nowadays, those peculiarities stand out as a point of interest: differences are meant to be highlighted and they should not create a division.
In this section we will closely analyze each fraction, seeing their history and their cultural heritage. In general we can say that Vicopisano’s fractions are all dislocated following the Via Vicarese and they are all in the territory between the fiume Arno and the slopes of Monte Pisano. For that reason, this area is not suitable for extensive farming. This peculiarity has influences the development of those small cities and the choice to explore other
activities like pottery (in San Giovanni alla Vena and Cucigliana), quarry lime mortar (Uliveto and Caprona and, after some time, San Giovanni alla Vena) and inland navigation made by the Navicellai (all the fractions).
The toponimy of places and some archaeological finds made clear that those small towns came from the Romanian age. Cucigliana, Lugnano and Caprona were probably place of rural villas straight from Roman age. Also we can say that, seen the morphology of the area and the Arno river, it must have been populated since more ancient times: this hypothesis is confirmed by the recent discovery of Etruscan materials in the area facing the river.
During the Medieval period, all the cities next to the mountains became really important for Pisa’s political and economic life: they were strategic military points and many of the most wealthy Pisan families had proprieties in this area.
The military and strategic interest for this area ceased after the Florentine conquest, but we must say that important and rich families invested in the area: during the 16th century, they chose those peaceful places to build their sumptuous residential villas that still can be seen today in the whole territory of Vicopisano.
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