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00 Fiesole
Stemma di Fiesole

Tuscany · Firenze

Fiesole

An Etruscan hilltop above Florence, still looking down on what later replaced it.

Best time
Apr–Oct
By car
24 min from Florence
By train
Station in the comune
Population
13,659

Known for

  • ETRUSCAN ROOTS

    Founded in the ninth century BC, a member of the Etruscan confederacy, with surviving polygonal walls on the north flank.

  • ROMAN THEATRE

    Built in the first century AD with 19 tiers and a 34-meter diameter, still active as the venue for the summer Estate Fiesolana.

  • THE VIEW

    The 295-meter ridge directly above Florence, the source of the panoramic Florence-from-the-hills photograph everyone takes.

When to visit

Best · Apr–Oct

  • J9°
  • F12°
  • M14°
  • A17°
  • M21°
  • J27°
  • J31°
  • A31°
  • S25°
  • O20°
  • N14°
  • D11°
  • Best
  • Hot or crowded
  • Quiet
  • Mostly closed

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

The festa: Romolo di Fiesole, 6 July

Why come

Fiesole was Viesul to the Etruscans and Faesulae to the Romans, who took it in 283 BC. Florence claimed it in 1125 and never let it go, which is the reverse of the usual order: the hill town came first, the valley city second, and the ridge has watched its own successor grow across the centuries since. The convent that crowns the highest point, sits at the same height Boccaccio gave the brigata in the Decameron's frame story, a detail that ties the summit to the plague-fleeing storytellers rather than to any building fact already given.

Today the town functions as the hill seat of Florentine villas, the Villa Medici among them, so the relationship between Fiesole and Florence is not just historical but residential: those with means built upward, toward the older settlement, to look down on the newer one. The panorama from the piazza is the view that supplies the standard image of Florence from above, which means the town that Rome conquered has ended up owning the picture of the city that conquered it back.

The Sunday letter

Fiesole 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 Fiesole comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Pietrasanta.

Read on

Fiesole in our articles

How to get there

From Bologna (BLQ), about 1h 30m by car.

Florence / Pisa (PSA) is about 1h 44m away.

By car from the centre of Florence 24 minutes, Siena 1h 27m or Pisa 1h 30m.

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? Fiesole is about 24 minutes away by road.

Every town within reach of Bologna airport.

Fiesole, photo 1
Fiesole, photo 2

What to see

  • Teatro Romano

    Stone tiers set into the hillside below the cathedral, still used each summer for the Estate Fiesolana, so the seats fill for performances the way they once did in antiquity.

  • Cattedrale di San Romolo

    Romanesque cathedral founded in 1028, flanked by a 42-meter bell tower, with a marble altar from 1273 and two Pietro Perugino frescoes.

  • Convento di San Francesco

    Romanesque-Gothic Franciscan convent at the ridge's highest point, 345 meters, with cloisters and a panoramic view back over Florence.

  • Area Archeologica e Mura Etrusche

    Etrusco-Roman temple, Roman baths and surviving Etruscan walls, the largest archaeological zone in the Florentine countryside.

  • Museo Bandini

    Civic collection of medieval and Renaissance painting, della Robbia ceramics and Byzantine icons, founded from a private bequest in 1795.

  • Piazza Mino

    Sloping main square named for sculptor Mino da Fiesole, with the cathedral and the Palazzo Pretorio facing each other.

The slow-trip planner

Building a trip? Find where Fiesole 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 and stay

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 13,659
  • Commuter belti
  • Pharmacy in town
  • High school within a 30-minute drive
  • Train station in the comune
  • Nearest airport Bologna, 1 h 30 min drive
  • Regional capital Firenze, 24 min drive

Common questions

What is Fiesole known for?
Fiesole is an Etruscan hilltop above Florence, still looking down on what later replaced it.
Where is Fiesole?
Fiesole is a comune in the province of Firenze, in Tuscany, at 295 meters above sea level.
What is the nearest airport to Fiesole?
Bologna (BLQ), about 1h 30m by car.
Can you get to Fiesole 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 Fiesole?
About 24 minutes by car.
When is the best time to visit Fiesole?
Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 31 degrees, and December the wettest, with about 16 rain days.
Is there a sagra or a festival in Fiesole?
Yes. Sagra del Tartufo. September is when the first of them falls.
Which other towns are like Fiesole?
Magione, Monteprandone and Avigliana.
How many people live in Fiesole?
13,659 at the 2023 count.
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources

The numbers

  • Elevation: 295 m
  • Population: 13,659
  • Surface area: 42.19 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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