Vicchio

Vicchio is part of the “new lands” of Mugello, which Florence established to gain control over these areas and reduce the power of the Ubaldini.

Vicchio is a delightful town, and is remembered by the inhabitants for having been a stronghold during the partisan period and for being the birthplace of Giotto and Beato Angelico.

Very little is known about Giotto: he was born into a peasant family in 1267 in Vespignano, a hamlet of Vicchio. It is said that Cimabue, the master with whom Giotto collaborated on many of his works, noticed the latter’s abilities when he saw him drawing a sheep that he was taking to pasture on a stone. Artistically speaking, Vicchio offers its visitors various attractions, such as Piazza Giotto, with the 1900 monument to Giotto in the centre, erected thanks to Carducci who founded a committee for Giotto’s works, Giotto’s birthplace in the hamlet of Vespignano and the Museum of Fra Angelico.

In Corso del Popolo is the house where Benvenuto Cellini lived from 1559 to 1571.

Today Giotto’s birthplace is used as a permanent exhibition of the artist’s works. The house was renovated in 1987. Between a church and a square, you can go to the shores of Lake Montelleri for a walk or go on an excursion to Gattaia: to get there you pass by a country road where you can admire the mountains surrounding the Mugello valley.