Borgo San Lorenzo

The history

The original nucleus, at a moderate altitude, not far from the river Sieve, has perhaps been inhabited since ancient times, and was certainly fortified in the late Middle Ages. At first under the contol of the Ubaldini then, in the 11th century, it went to join the vast territories belonging to the bishop of Florence.
During the 13th century, some form of self-government was developed, the first germs of a rural village, which soon conflicted with the bishop’s feudal authority. The people of Borgo pressed for the intervention of the Florentine authorities which, in 1290, for the sum of 3.000 florins bought from the bishop all rights to lands and people living on them in the Mugello, including Borgo San Lorenzo.
Florentine authorities proceeded to build defensive walls and a local government building, seat of power and justice.

Borgo San Lorenzo, a market town, saw important changes after the opening of the Florence-Faenza railway line in 1893, with the development of activities connected mainly to the transformation and commerce of farm produce. In 1919, Borgo San Lorenzo, too, wass eriously damaged by the major scale earthquake which hit the Mugello, claiming some hundred victims and causing thousands to become homeless.
The Second World War bombing caused further serious damage in 1943 (200 people were killed).

During the last few decades the town has grown considerably, becoming the main administrative centre and the centre for facilities in the whole of the Mugello, where new economic enterprises and industrial areas have sprung up.