Fiesole

Fiesole, Mino da: see Mino da Fiesole.

Fiesole, town (1991 pop. 15,096), Tuscany, central Italy. The villas and gardens of this tourist center are beautifully situated on a hill overlooking the Arno valley and the city of Florence. An ancient Etruscan town called Faesulae, it was enriched with fine buildings by the Romans. In 63 B.C. the town served as the headquarters of Catiline, the Roman statesman and conspirator. Of note in Fiesole are a well-preserved Roman theater (c.80 B.C.); the ruins of Roman baths; a Romanesque cathedral (11th cent.), with works by the sculptor Mino da Fiesole; and a Franciscan church and convent (on the site of the Roman acropolis). On the lower slopes of the hill is the Church of San Domenico di Fiesole, which has paintings by Fra Angelico.

(born 1429, Poppi, Republic of Florence—died 1484, Florence) Italian sculptor. Probably trained in Florence, he was active both in Florence and Rome, where he created monuments (especially wall tombs) and busts of cardinals and other prominent individuals. Among the earliest Renaissance portrait sculptures, his works were greatly admired in the 19th century but are now considered less inspired than those of Desiderio da Settignano, Antonio Rossellino (1427–79), and other eminent contemporaries.

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Fiesole is a town and comune of the province of Florence in the Italian region of Tuscany, on a famously scenic height above Florence, 8 km (5 mi) NE of that city. According to the 2003 census, its population was 14,100.

History

Fiesole was probably founded in the 9th-8th century BC, as it was an important member of the Etruscan confederacy, as may be seen from the remains of its ancient walls.

The first recorded mention on the town dates to 283 BC, when the town, then known as Faesulae, was conquered by the Romans. In pagan antiquity it was the seat of a famous school of augurs, and every year twelve young men were sent thither from Rome to study the art of divination. Sulla colonized it with veterans, who afterwards, under the leadership of Manlius, supported the cause of Catilina.

Fiesole was the scene of Stilicho's great victory over the Germanic hordes of the Vandals and Suevi under Radagaisus in 405. During the Gothic War (536-53) the town was several times besieged. In 539 Justinus, the Byzantine general, captured it and razed its fortifications.

It was an independent town for several centuries in the early Middle Ages, no less powerful than Florence in the valley below, and many wars arose between them; in 1010 and 1025 Fiesole was sacked by the Florentines, before it was conquered by Florence in 1125, and its leading families obliged to take up their residence in Florence.

By the 14th century, rich Florentines had countryside villas in Fiesole, and one of them is the setting of the frame narrative of the Decameron.

Main sights

• Remnants of Etruscan walls.
• Roman baths.
• Roman theatre.
• Palazzo Comunale (Town Hall) of the 14th century.
• The cathedral of Fiesole (Il Duomo), containing the shrine of St. Romulus, martyr, according to legend the first Bishop of Fiesole, and that of his martyred companions, also the shrine of St. Donatus of Fiesole.
• The Badia or ancient cathedral of St. Romulus, built in 1028 by Bishop Jacopo Bavaro with materials taken from several older edifices, at the foot of the hill on which Fiesole stands, supposed to cover the site of the martyrdom of St. Romulus; it contains notable sculptures by Mino da Fiesole. The old cathedral became a Benedictine abbey, which passed into the hands of the regular canons of Lateran. It once possessed a valuable library, long since dispersed. The abbey was closed in 1778.
• The room in the bishop's palace where St. Andrew Corsini lived and died.

• The little church of the Primerana in the cathedral square, where the same saint was warned by Our Lady of his approaching death. Built in 996 and further expanded in medieval times, has maintained the Gothic presbytery from that period. It received a new façade in the late 16th century, with graffito decoration by Ludovico Buti. The interior, on a single hall, has a 13th century panel portrayin Madonna with Child. In the transept are two marble bas-reliefs by Francesco da Sangallo, and a terracotta from Andrea della Robbia's workshop.
• The church of S. Alessandro, with the shrine of St. Alexander, bishop and martyr.
• The monastery of S. Francesco on the crest of the hill, with the cells of St. Bernardine of Siena and seven Franciscan Beati.
• San Girolamo, the home of Venerable Carlo dei Conti Guidi, founder of the Hieronymites of Fiesole (1360).
• San Domenico, the novice-home of Fra Angelico da Fiesole and of St. Antoninus of Florence.
• Fontanelle, a villa near S. Domenico, where St. Aloysius came to live in the hot summer months, when a page at the court of Grand Duke Francesco de' Medici.
• Villa Medici in Fiesole.
• Villa Le Balze
• Villa Palmieri
• Villa Schifanoia.
• Fonte Lucente, where a miraculous crucifix is greatly revered.

In the neighbourhood are:

• Monte Senario, the cradle of the Servite Order, where its seven holy founders lived in great austerity and were cheered at their death by the songs of angels
• S. Martino di Mensola, with the body of St. Andrew, an Irish saint, still incorrupt.

Famous people from Fiesole

• Francesco Landini (c.1325–1397), composer, singer, poet, organist and instrument maker
• Lorenzo Monaco (1370-1424), painter
• the greatest name associated with the city is that of Fra Angelico or Blessed Giovanni Angelico, called da Fiesole (1387-1455). His baptismal name was Guido, but entering the convent of the Reformed Dominicans at Fiesole, he took Giovanni as name in religion; the surname Angelico 'angelic' was afterwards given to him in allusion to the beauty of his works and purity of spirit.
• Mino da Fiesole, Florentine sculptor (c.1429—1484) ?and painter
• Andrea Barzagli, soccer player, member of the 2006 Italian World Cup champion team.

See also

• Diocese of Fiesole

Sources and external links

• Official site
• History and pictures of Fiesole
• Satellite image from Google Maps