Bagno a Ripoli may seem no more than an outlying suburb of Florence that has grown up over the centuries on the flat land at the southwestern end of the Florentine valley traversed by the Arno, called Pian di Ripoli. Its territory, however, includes not only the plain but many low hills, at times vainly aspiring to the status of mountains, as with Poggio dell'Incontro, which rises to 560 meters, and Poggio Firenze, to 680. The arc formed by these hills serves as natural barrier dividing the territory of Ripoli from the Valdarno and the Florentine Chianti. Nestled between the City of Florence, the Upper Valdarno and Chianti, the territory of Bagno a Ripoli is the felicitous outcome of a meeting between an environment favored by nature and the skillful hands of the people who have lived here since ancient times. With centuries-long devotion they have cultivated the fields, terraced the hills, built sober parish churches and splendid villas to forge those breath-taking panoramas still unique to them today.

Photos by Andrea Rontini. Texts by Silvia Diacciati.