Walking in Tuscany
WANDERWAY ONE
FIESOLE - MONTECECERI – SETTIGNANO
But that ungrateful and malignant race,
Who in old times came down from Fiesole,
Ay and still smack of their rough mountain-flint… Dante’s Inferno
Before setting out, the best way to interpret our wanderway from Fiesole to Settignano, over Montececeri, and back down to Florence, is to observe it from afar.
From the city centre, let’s take a bus up to Piazzale Michelangelo, one of the most frequented landmarks of the city. Standing at the front balustrade of the Piazzale, we look down over the river Arno to the cupola of the Cathedral, and then directly up to the horizon.
Facing the river, we now walk to the left and round the balustrade and come to a flight of steps leading down to a small piazza. At the end of this area is a board-map showing the most eminent buildings of the city and our hilltop. FIESOLE
The bus ride to Fiesole from the city centre takes twenty minutes. On the way up today we pass old wayside churches, shrines, crosses, great villas once frequented by the Medici, illustrious artists and writers, now somewhat oppressed by modern hi-tech buildings in what seems intentional defacement.
A century ago, the walk uphill from Florence to Fiesole was only for the energetic. The electric tram was tedious and long-winded, and downright punishing for the horses dragging their carriages of goods and passengers.
Every Latin historian had something to say about Fiesole. Rambling and strange at times as their stories might seem, they do contain a grain or two of truth. Some asserted that it was built by the Tyrrhenians, others by the Pelasgians, or even by the Phoenicians. It was certainly one of the