Tuscany · Arezzo
Poppi
The Casentino borgo above the field where Dante fought at Campaldino in June 1289.
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 1 h from Florence
- By train
- Station in the comune
- Population
- 5,823
Known for
CASTELLO GUIDI
Late twelfth-century Counts Guidi castle, model for Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, with frescoed chapel and the Rilliana library.
CAMPALDINO 1289
Battle on the plain below the castle where Florence beat Arezzo and Dante fought in the Guelph front rank at twenty-four.
FORESTE CASENTINESI
National park east of Poppi covering the beech and fir forests of the Apennine watershed, one of the oldest managed in Europe.
When to visit
Best · Apr–Oct
- J9°
- F11°
- M13°
- A16°
- M20°
- J26°
- J30°
- A29°
- S24°
- O19°
- N13°
- D10°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime averages, 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
The festa: Torello da Poppi, terza domenica dopo Pasqua
Why come
Poppi rises above the upper Arno in the Casentino, the wooded valley set between Pratovecchio and Bibbiena. The Counts Guidi held this hill from at least 1169, and the castle they raised across the late twelfth and thirteenth centuries is attributed in its older part to Lapo di Cambio and in the later upper section to Arnolfo di Cambio. Dante Alighieri, who fought below the hill as a young man, returned to it later as a guest of the Guidi during his exile, so the borgo held him twice, once as a soldier and once as a household guest.
The town itself sits above the battle plain, the abbey church inside the walls, the castle over both. A further Romanesque pieve stands a short distance off, and the forested ridges of the Apennine watershed rise to the east, the same terrain the Guidi once ruled from their hill. What the place adds up to is a single family's hold on a valley, visible still in the line from castle to plain to church, with the forest marking where their lordship ran out.
The Sunday letter
Poppi 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 Poppi comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Pietrasanta.
Read on
Poppi in our articles
The best hill towns you can reach by train within 90 minutes of Firenze6 towns, Poppi among them.
The best hill towns in the province of Arezzo7 towns, Poppi among them.
The best towns inside a national park in Toscana8 towns, Poppi among them.
The prettiest villages you can reach by train in Toscana8 towns, Poppi among them.
How to get there
From Bologna (BLQ), about 2h 11m by car.
Rimini (RMI) is about 2h 11m away.
By car from the centre of Florence 1 hour or Siena 1h 52m.
There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.
Coming from Florence, Bologna or Pisa?
Coming by train into Firenze Santa Maria Novella? Poppi is about 1h 12m away by road.
What to see
Castello dei Conti Guidi
The castle keeps a working library and a fourteenth-century chapel frescoed by the school of Giotto, along with a hand-painted model of the battle below, more than four thousand tin soldiers set out on the table.
Piano di Campaldino
The plain sits directly beneath the castle walls, open ground still readable as a battlefield, with nothing built across it since.
Abbazia di San Fedele
Romanesque abbey church inside the borgo, with single nave and stone façade, dating from the early twelfth century.
Pieve di San Pietro a Romena
Twelfth-century Romanesque pieve a short distance from Poppi, dated 1152, built entirely of stone with three apses.
Parco Nazionale delle Foreste Casentinesi
National park covering the forested ridges east of Poppi, one of the oldest managed beech and fir forests in Europe.
The slow-trip planner
Building a trip? Find where Poppi 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.
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.
Il Casentino nel piattofood festival
usually held between June and August. Visit Tuscany - Calendario Ufficiale Eventi
Living here
- Population 5,823
- In-betweeni
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Train station in the comune
- Nearest airport Bologna, 2 h 11 min drive
- Regional capital Firenze, 1 h 4 min drive
Common questions
- What is Poppi known for?
- Poppi is the Casentino borgo at 437 meters above the field where Dante fought at Campaldino in June 1289.
- Where is Poppi?
- Poppi is a comune in the province of Arezzo, in Tuscany.
- What is the nearest airport to Poppi?
- Bologna (BLQ), about 2h 11m by car.
- Can you get to Poppi 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 Poppi?
- About 1 hour by car.
- When is the best time to visit Poppi?
- Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 30 degrees, and December the wettest, with about 17 rain days.
- Is there a sagra or a festival in Poppi?
- Yes. Il Casentino nel piatto. June is when the first of them falls.
- Which other towns are like Poppi?
- Chiusi, Lucignano and Massa Marittima.
- How many people live in Poppi?
- 5,823 at the 2023 count.
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources
The numbers
- Elevation: 437 m
- Population: 5,823
- Surface area: 97.09 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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