The two towns became one on January 1st, 2014.
San Piero a Sieve is an ancient hamlet grew around the church by the same name in roughly the 11th century; in the 14th and 15th centuries it lived its most important moment in history wiith the Medici family, who built numerous villas in the area. Fortezza di San Martino, built by Cosimo I in 1569, stands on the highest hill in the town. Bernardo Buontalenti contributed to the construction of the magnificent fortress.
Trebbio Castle, a marvellous Medieval structure, was commissioned by Cosimo de’ Medici and built by Michelozzo. Lawrence the Magnificent loved to hunt there, Giovanni dalle Bande Nere, his wife Maria Salviati, and their son Cosimo I lived there, and in 1476 a young Amerigo Vespucci, who was fleeing the plague ridden Florence, was a guest there. In 2013 Trebbio Castle was classified a UNESCO world heritage site.
Not far from the town we find Bosco ai Frati Convent. Founded by the Ubaldini family before the year 1000, later it was donated to Saint Francis of Assisi. In 1273 San Bonaventura resided there and the church holds his name. The Medici left the convent numerous precious gifts. Among these we find a wooden Crucifix attributed to Donatello.
For years the Ubaldini family dominated the area, but on September 8, 1306, the Florentine Republic decided to oppose their hold on the land and founded a “new land” called Castel San Barnaba, today known as Scarperia (from the word scarp, of the Apennines). Palazzo dei Vicari, the home of the Museo dei Ferri Taglienti (Museum of Cutting Blades), which now presents a new exhibition on the art of blade making that has made Scarperia famous the world over. On via Solferino, the ancient Cutler’s shop allows visitors, with the help of expert craftsmen, to participate in the production of cutting blades using ancient tools and methods.
Scarperia is also home to the Mugello Circuit.
Along with shopping for the perfect knife, we suggest a visit to the surrounding churches which are rich in art, for example Fagna and the Romanesque church in Sant'Agata. The hamlet of Sant’Agata also offers delightful little museums: the Raccolta di Arte Sacra (Collection of Sacred Art), the Centro documentazione archeologica di Sant'Agata (Centre for archeological documentation) and the Sant’Agata Artigiana e Contadina (Crafts and Farming) by Leprino, with its display of moving characters that mime the crafts and farm life of the past.
In the locality of Ponzalla it important to visit the Centro Documentazione e Ricerche Storiche di Gotica Toscana (Centre for Research and Historical Documentation of the Gothic Line in Tuscany), founded to preserve the memory of WWII and the consequences it held for the territory.
