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00 Certaldo
Stemma di Certaldo

Tuscany · Firenze

Certaldo

The brick-built upper town in the Valdelsa where Boccaccio spent his last years, twenty-five kilometers from Florence on the medieval road to Siena.

Best time
Apr–Oct
By car
46 min from Florence
By train
Station in the comune
Population
15,515

Known for

  • BOCCACCIO

    The author of the Decameron spent his last years and died here in 1375, buried in the Chiesa dei Santi Michele e Jacopo.

  • MERCANTIA

    Five-day street-theater festival every July since 1988, the most important of its kind in central Italy.

  • CIPOLLA ROSSA

    Sweet red onion grown on the Valdelsa hills since the fifteenth century, present on Boccaccio's coat of arms.

When to visit

Best · Apr–Oct

  • J11°
  • F14°
  • M16°
  • A19°
  • M24°
  • J29°
  • J34°
  • A33°
  • S28°
  • O22°
  • N16°
  • D13°
  • Best
  • Hot or crowded
  • Quiet
  • Mostly closed

Daytime averages, 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.

The festa: Tommaso, 3 July

Why come

Certaldo sits in the Valdelsa twenty-five kilometers southwest of Florence, with a lower town on the plain and the medieval Certaldo Alto on the hill above, reached by a funicular. The upper town is built almost entirely of red brick rather than the usual Tuscan stone, an unusual visual signature for the region. Giovanni Boccaccio lived his last years here, dying in 1375 in the house on Via Boccaccio that is now the Casa Boccaccio museum and study center.

He is buried in the Chiesa dei Santi Michele e Jacopo across the street. The Palazzo Pretorio, fifteenth-century seat of the Florentine vicar, holds frescoes by Pier Francesco Fiorentino and the courtyard coats of arms of seventy-four podestà. Mercantia, the street-theater festival that fills Certaldo Alto every July, has run since 1988 and turns the brick streets into stages for European companies. The local plate is cipolla rossa di Certaldo, a sweet red onion grown on the Valdelsa hills since the fifteenth century.

The Sunday letter

Certaldo is on our list. Its letter is still to come.

We are writing about all 1,000 of these towns, one at a time, in a free letter every Sunday: the photo, the food, the festa. That is our mission. Sign up and you will be there when Certaldo comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Pietrasanta.

Read on

Certaldo in our articles

How to get there

From Florence / Pisa (PSA), about 1h 26m by car.

Bologna (BLQ) is about 1h 38m away.

By car from the centre of Florence 46 minutes, Siena 52 minutes or Pisa 1h 19m.

There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.

Coming from Florence, Pisa or Bologna?

Coming by train into Firenze Santa Maria Novella? Certaldo is about 45 minutes away by road.

Every town within reach of Florence / Pisa airport.

Certaldo, photo 1
Certaldo, photo 2

What to see

  • Certaldo Alto

    Medieval brick-built upper town on the hill above the plain, reached by funicular from the modern lower town.

  • Casa Boccaccio

    The house on Via Boccaccio where the poet lived his last years and died in 1375, now a museum and study center.

  • Palazzo Pretorio

    Fifteenth-century seat of the Florentine vicar, with frescoes by Pier Francesco Fiorentino and seventy-four podestà coats of arms in the courtyard.

  • Chiesa dei Santi Michele e Jacopo

    Romanesque parish church in Certaldo Alto, holding Boccaccio's tomb and a marble bust by Giovan Francesco Rustici.

  • Mercantia

    Street-theater festival running every July since 1988, turning Certaldo Alto into stages for European theater companies.

The slow-trip planner

Building a trip? Find where Certaldo fits in a slow Italy circuit.

Answer five questions. We will shape a geographically coherent slow trip from the 1,000 Italian towns most travelers skip. Yours to save and share.

Plan your trip

We recommend

Where to eat

Not our picks, but places the guides put their name to: a Michelin star, a Gambero Rosso fork, a Slow Food snail, a Michelin Key for the hotels. Worth a table, a counter, or a night when you pass through.

Through the year

What happens here

Feasts and festivals that come back year after year. We give the month rather than the date, because the date moves and the month rarely does. Check with the source before you plan a journey around one.

Living here

  • Population 15,515
  • In-betweeni
  • Pharmacy in town
  • High school within a 30-minute drive
  • Train station in the comune
  • Nearest airport Florence / Pisa, 1 h 26 min drive
  • Regional capital Firenze, 46 min drive

Common questions

What is Certaldo known for?
Certaldo is the brick-built upper town in the Valdelsa where Boccaccio spent his last years, twenty-five kilometers from Florence on the medieval road to Siena.
Where is Certaldo?
Certaldo is a comune in the province of Firenze, in Tuscany, at 67 meters above sea level.
What is the nearest airport to Certaldo?
Florence / Pisa (PSA), about 1h 26m by car.
Can you get to Certaldo without a car?
Yes. There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive by train.
How long is the drive from Florence to Certaldo?
About 46 minutes by car.
When is the best time to visit Certaldo?
Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 34 degrees, and December the wettest, with about 13 rain days.
Is there a sagra or a festival in Certaldo?
Yes. Boccaccesca. October is when the first of them falls.
Which other towns are like Certaldo?
Cividale del Friuli, Canelli and Pontedera.
How many people live in Certaldo?
15,515 at the 2023 count.
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources

The numbers

  • Elevation: 67 m
  • Population: 15,515
  • Surface area: 75.28 km²

These figures were compiled from public directories: ISTAT, OpenStreetMap and Wikidata, and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.

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