 15 km from the Le Spugne guest house is Montelupo Fiorentino which was one of the major centres of ceramic production during the Renaissance at Italian and European level.
Its history began at the end of the thirteenth century with the production of articles decorated in Hispanic-Moorish style (blue motifs and prevalently green decorative work).
From then on, for over three centuries, the kilns multiplied within the city walls (built in the mid fourteenth century) to over 50 by the end of the fifteenth century. The level of production was such that the Authorities had to introduce an Edict to prevent the enormous quantities of waste material from being thrown into the adjacent River Pesa and potentially altering its flow.
 In about the mid fifteenth century, Montelupo became instrumental in the circulation of techniques and knowledge that characterised that historical period. Artists from Montelupo went to work in the towns of Faenza and Cafaggiolo, and the presence of potters from Montelupo is also documented in Caltagirone where they boosted the local pottery traditions which still continue today.
At the end of the seventeenth century, after the production of beautiful articles for the Florentine pharmacies of the Dominicans of San Marco and Santa Maria Novella was stopped, Montelupo’s pottery production began to slowly but inexorably decline. It was only thanks to the production of cooking pots in Capraia that the tradition survived through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Montelupo’s great ceramic tradition was therefore forgotten. At least until 1977 when some amateur archaeologists (who later formed the Montelupo Fiorentino Archaeology Group) discovered the opening of a large well (known as the “washing well”), brim-full of pottery fragments, inside the castle that dominated the medieval village.
Places to visit to learn about Montelupo pottery include the Montelupo Archaeology and Pottery Museum.
Pieces of Montelupo pottery have been discovered in archaeological sites in Central America connected to the first European settlements in that area and also in the Philippines and Scotland.
Local potteries to visit:
- ND Dolfi owned by Silvano and Daughters
- Le Maioliche owned by Otello Dolfi
- La Galleria di Mirenda
- The potteries in the old town
Supplied with this trip:
- List of bars and restaurants for a complete tasting experience
- List of traditional local shops where visitors can buy the products they have tried
- Detailed map of the Montespertoli wine route
- Map of the Montelupo Fiorentino potteries
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