A bit of history
The territory of San Casciano was already inhabited during Etruscan times as can be shown by the findings of Montefiridolfi (Tomb of the Archer) and Valigondoli (excavations of Poggio La Croce). The first written document naming the place is found in a parchment of 1043 housed in the nearby abbey, Abbazia di Passignano, but from numerous Etruscan findings we know the locality was inhabited from the 8th century before Christ. Furthermore, the history of the area, that is often confused with legend, is found in the numerous places that are much older than the main town, the Pieve di Santa Cecilia a Decimo, the Pieve di Santo Stefano a Campoli, the Pieve di San Pancrazio and the Pieve di San Giovanni in Sugana, which have abundant records going back over a thousand years.
In these "Pievi" Corrado, Marquis of Tuscany, gave up his right to a fee for offering lodgings in favour of the Florentine Bishop Gottifredo in the year 1127. In Roman times it was a relay post (mansio) in the ten miles from Florentia. The label "Decimo" remains in the nearby church of Santa Cecilia, of which there are records from 1043. It was a fief of Florentine Bishops that in 1241 conceded the first civil statutes. In 1278 administration passed to the republic of Florence. Deprived of any defence it became prey to adventurers. It was, in fact, occupied, in this order, by: Arrigo VII Emperor from November 1312 to January 1313, Castruccio Castracani in February 1325, and by Fra Moriale in July of 1343. After these events, the Florentine republic decided in 1354 to fortify the village. The vaguely polygonal walls were ready by 1355 and, to improve defence, a bridge-house was added in 1356, of which part has remained to this day. Formerly, the Duke of Athens had planned to transform the village into a castle and rename it Ducal Castle. The project faded together with he that conceived it. In 1494 Charles VIII, King of France, set up camp nearby without entering. Before leaving he made a conspicuous donation to the local Franciscan convent. In 1512 at L'Albergaccio (near Sant'Andrea in Percussina) Niccolò Machiavelli began his period of exile. It was in that time that he was able to write his best-known works such as the Prince and the Mandragola. With the birth of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, the town no longer had a military function and its history followed that of the rest of the region. On 26 July 1944 San Casciano suffered devastating damage after being bombed by the Allies which, together with German mines, reduced the village almost to rubble. Reconstruction was slow.
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