Vicopisano

The history

The village of Vico Auserissola, on top of a hill which rises between two important rivers, the Arno and the Auser, is definitely recorded at least from the 10th century. In the 12th century the castle by the same name was under the dominion of the archbishop of Pisa, soon substituted by the commune, for whom it served as a strategic point on the border with the territories of Lucca and Florence. The city towers, like the ones in San Gimignano, were mainly built by the most powerful local families who had made their fortunes during the golden age of the maritime republic of Pisa. At the beginning of the 15th century Vicopisano, too, fell under the jurisdiction of Florence, which renewed the fortifications of the city, starting with the new Rocca built according to a design by Brunelleschi.

During the Grand Duke’s rule, from 1560, important draining work was carried out when the course of the Arno, which was one of the major thoroughfares, was diverted. The Arno had been used for centuries by the boatmen of Vicopisano. The new waterway system favoured the development of agriculture and the incoming of capital from the city, for land purchase and construction of villas and farms by the nobility from Florence and Pisa.
Already, from the 16th century, ceramic activity had developed in San Giovanni alla Vena and, later, in Lugnano, while in the area of Uliveto and Caprona, the extraction of limestone for the production of lime was stepped up.

1847 saw the opening of the Leopolda Railway, and 1859 the final piece of draining. Near the village you can still see impressive waterwork buildings. Apart from the Lorraine locks (18th century) it is worth noting “La Botte”, the monumental work which allowed the effluent canal of Padule di Bientina to pass under the bed of the Arno.
After the Second World War, craftsmanship and small industries have prevailed over the agricultural sector, thanks to the furniture factories, ceramic productions and the famous mineral water, Uliveto.