What is Certaldo known for?

The author of the Decameron spent his last years and died here in 1375, buried in the Chiesa dei Santi Michele e Jacopo. Five-day street-theater festival every July since 1988, the most important of its kind in central Italy. Sweet red onion grown on the Valdelsa hills since the fifteenth century, present on Boccaccio's coat of arms.

When is the best time to visit Certaldo?

Apr–Oct. April through June brings the Valdelsa hills green and the lower temperatures bearable. Mercantia runs five nights in mid-July, and the upper town becomes a single open-air theater between dusk and one in the morning. September and October are the second window, with the new oil from the surrounding hills and the start of the cipolla rossa season. July outside the festival, and August, are hot on the plain; the upper town at 125 meters is a few degrees cooler but still empties in the afternoon. November through March is quiet. Casa Boccaccio and Palazzo Pretorio stay open, the brick walls hold a different light in winter, and the funicular runs through.

Certaldo is a comune in the province of Firenze, Tuscany region of Italy, about 42 kilometers from Firenze.

How do I get to Certaldo?

From Firenze, Certaldo is roughly 42 km by road.

Tuscany · Firenze

Certaldo

The brick-built upper town in the Valdelsa where Boccaccio spent his last years, twenty-five kilometers from Florence on the medieval road to Siena.

Known for

BOCCACCIO
The author of the Decameron spent his last years and died here in 1375, buried in the Chiesa dei Santi Michele e Jacopo.
MERCANTIA
Five-day street-theater festival every July since 1988, the most important of its kind in central Italy.
CIPOLLA ROSSA
Sweet red onion grown on the Valdelsa hills since the fifteenth century, present on Boccaccio's coat of arms.

When to visit

Best · Apr–Oct

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

The festa: Tommaso, 3 July

Why come

Certaldo sits in the Valdelsa twenty-five kilometers southwest of Florence, with a lower town on the plain and the medieval Certaldo Alto on the hill above, reached by a funicular. The upper town is built almost entirely of red brick rather than the usual Tuscan stone, an unusual visual signature for the region. Giovanni Boccaccio lived his last years here, dying in 1375 in the house on Via Boccaccio that is now the Casa Boccaccio museum and study center.

He is buried in the Chiesa dei Santi Michele e Jacopo across the street. The Palazzo Pretorio, fifteenth-century seat of the Florentine vicar, holds frescoes by Pier Francesco Fiorentino and the courtyard coats of arms of seventy-four podestà. Mercantia, the street-theater festival that fills Certaldo Alto every July, has run since 1988 and turns the brick streets into stages for European companies. The local plate is cipolla rossa di Certaldo, a sweet red onion grown on the Valdelsa hills since the fifteenth century.

The Sunday letter

We haven’t written Certaldo’s letter yet.

One town every Sunday, with the photo, the food, the festa. Be there when this one comes up. Free, by Peter & Sophia from Pietrasanta.

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What to see

Certaldo Alto
Medieval brick-built upper town on the hill above the plain, reached by funicular from the modern lower town.
Casa Boccaccio
The house on Via Boccaccio where the poet lived his last years and died in 1375, now a museum and study center.
Palazzo Pretorio
Fifteenth-century seat of the Florentine vicar, with frescoes by Pier Francesco Fiorentino and seventy-four podestà coats of arms in the courtyard.
Chiesa dei Santi Michele e Jacopo
Romanesque parish church in Certaldo Alto, holding Boccaccio's tomb and a marble bust by Giovan Francesco Rustici.
Mercantia
Street-theater festival running every July since 1988, turning Certaldo Alto into stages for European theater companies.

The slow-trip planner

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Living here

Population 15,515
In-betweeni
Pharmacy in town
High school within a 30-minute drive
Train station in the comune
Nearest airport Florence / Pisa, 1 h 26 min drive
Regional capital Firenze, 46 min drive

Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources

Recognised as

The numbers

Elevation: 67 m
Population: 15,515
Surface area: 75.28 km²

On the map

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These figures were compiled from public directories — ISTAT, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata — and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.

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