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00 Vicopisano
Stemma di Vicopisano

Tuscany · Pisa

Vicopisano

A medieval river port rebuilt by Brunelleschi in 1434 after Florence took the town from Pisa.

Best time
Apr–Oct
By car
34 min from Pisa
By train
Station in the comune
Population
8,563

Known for

  • BRUNELLESCHI

    The Florentine architect spent six years rebuilding the fortress and connecting passage, his only completed military commission.

  • EIGHT TOWERS

    More surviving medieval towers than any other Tuscan commune of comparable size, including the Torre delle Quattro Porte.

  • OLIVE OIL

    Monte Pisano slopes produce DOP extra virgin oil, with the harvest celebrated each November at the Festa dell'Olio Nuovo.

When to visit

Best · Apr–Oct

  • J11°
  • F14°
  • M16°
  • A19°
  • M23°
  • J28°
  • J32°
  • A32°
  • S27°
  • O22°
  • N16°
  • D12°
  • Best
  • Hot or crowded
  • Quiet
  • Mostly closed

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

Why come

Vicopisano sits at the foot of Monte Pisano where the plain of the Arno meets the hills, twenty kilometers east of Pisa. The town was a Pisan river port on the old course of the Arno until the river shifted south in the sixteenth century, leaving the walls inland. Florence captured the town in 1407, which is what brought Brunelleschi and his engineering to a place that had until then belonged to Pisa's river trade rather than to Florentine territory.

The fortress and its covered passage sit above the older watchtower and the parish church, all reachable by the lanes that climb from the walls toward the ridge of Monte Pisano. The hills above carry the olive groves that earned the town its Città dell'Olio listing, so the same slope that gave Brunelleschi high ground to defend also gives the town its oil. What the plain lost when the Arno shifted, the hillside above supplied instead: first a port town, then a fortified inland one, and finally an agricultural one.

The Sunday letter

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

Read on

Vicopisano in our articles

How to get there

From Florence / Pisa (PSA), about 41 minutes by car.

Bologna (BLQ) is about 2 hours away.

By car from the centre of Pisa 34 minutes, Florence 1h 14m or Siena 1h 50m.

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

Coming from Pisa, Florence or Bologna?

Coming by train into Livorno Centrale? Vicopisano is about 43 minutes away by road.

Every town within reach of Florence / Pisa airport.

Vicopisano, photo 1
Vicopisano, photo 2

What to see

  • Rocca del Brunelleschi

    Restored fortress open to visitors, built on the slope where the walls back onto Monte Pisano.

  • Torre delle Quattro Porte

    Twelfth-century watchtower with four arched gates, reinforced rather than built during the Brunelleschi works, the architectural symbol of the medieval town.

  • Pieve di Santa Maria

    Eleventh-century Romanesque parish church holding a wooden Deposition group carved around 1200, the second oldest such carving in Italy.

  • Palazzo Pretorio

    Medieval seat of the Florentine podestà, with coats of arms of the rectors set into the façade.

  • Centro storico

    Walled town of stepped lanes climbing the slope of Monte Pisano, connecting the towers, the fortress and the parish church.

The slow-trip planner

Building a trip? Find where Vicopisano 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 8,563
  • Commuter belti
  • Pharmacy in town
  • High school within a 30-minute drive
  • Train station in the comune
  • Nearest airport Florence / Pisa, 41 min drive
  • Regional capital Firenze, 1 h 14 min drive

Common questions

What is Vicopisano known for?
Vicopisano is a medieval river port rebuilt by Brunelleschi in 1434 after Florence took the town from Pisa.
Where is Vicopisano?
Vicopisano is a comune in the province of Pisa, in Tuscany, at 12 meters above sea level.
What is the nearest airport to Vicopisano?
Florence / Pisa (PSA), about 41 minutes by car.
Can you get to Vicopisano without a car?
Yes. There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive by train.
How long is the drive from Pisa to Vicopisano?
About 34 minutes by car.
When is the best time to visit Vicopisano?
Best in Apr–Oct. August is the warmest month, averaging 32 degrees, and December the wettest, with about 16 rain days.
Is there a sagra or a festival in Vicopisano?
Yes. Festa Medievale. September is when the first of them falls.
Which other towns are like Vicopisano?
Montecarlo, Cormons and Peccioli.
How many people live in Vicopisano?
8,563 at the 2023 count.
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources

The numbers

  • Elevation: 12 m
  • Population: 8,563
  • Surface area: 26.85 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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