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The landscape Fonte Santa

THE LANDSCAPE

Even if agriculture is no longer one of the leading economic sectors in the area, it still interests roughly 3500 hectares as well as characterizing much of the environment, especially on the lower slopes of the hills.

The fortified Villa delle Corti at Ruballa, previously property of the Peruzzi family

Vineyard in Spring

Unfortunately many of the areas that were farmed up until the 1950's - when the large share-cropping families were still able to provide a plentiful supply of labour - and cultivated in the traditional way, partly under vineyards and partly under olive groves or sown with crops, have since been abandoned and are now overrun with weeds and wild herbaceous and arboreous plants. Some of the uncultivated land shows clear signs of this gradual deterioration of the traditional agricultural landscape, often due to the loss of the old and complicated land drainage systems (ditches, etc.) that had the important task in the past of irrigating and above all giving stability to the soil.

The long rows of olive trees and the vineyards, planted with selected grapes, that can still be seen growing on the embanked or terraced slopes of the hills, are instead really beautiful.
The forests cover about 1500 hectares overall and are mainly formed of very old coppice woods, Turkey oaks, pubescent oaks, black hornbeams, holm oaks, cypress and umbrella pine trees. Certain characteristics to be found in the flora, fauna and climate at Fonte Santa or the Holy Spring make these woods an ecological sanctuary that is really special and quite unique.

Hare and pheasant can often be seen on the farmland in these hills

The hilly countryside around Picille

Much of the council territory is situated in the valley of the River Ema, in the central and southern sector. The other minor watercourses are the streams of Grassina, Antella, Rimezzano and Ritortoli. In the northern sector several rivulets run down from the hills of Incontro and Alberaccio to join the River Arno, among them the Rimaggio (certainly the most important, as its name implies), and the Fosso di Borgo; the only other stream of mention in this area is the Borro di Vallina.
The presence of the Arno and the large number of rivers and streams in the area was, from the late Middle Ages onwards to the beginning of this century, to favour the development of numerous kinds of work dependent on the water resources: the fulling mills at Remole are a case in point, together with the large number of flour mills that grew up at various points along the streams, the laundering and bleaching of cloth (washers and bleachers), the "boat" ferries across the Arno, and fishing, etc.The hill area is certainly the physical element that most characterizes Bagno a Ripoli's environment and landscape: the strong contrasts and differing shapes of these heights give the entire area a well constructed and varied aspect that is, at the same time, united and harmonious.

A stretch of the river Ema just above Grassina

The Borro (gulley) of San Giorgio as it descends the wooded slopes of San Donato

The most important heights are Poggio Alberaccio (497 m), Poggio a Luco (417 m), Poggio Incontro (557 m), Poggio Piglie (595 m), Poggio di Firenze (693 m); the entire stretch of this ridge of hills is extremly beautiful with wonderful views over Florence and the surrounding hills; from ancient Etruscan and Roman times the presence of several mountain passes (Poggio a Luco (457 m), between Poggio Crociferro and Poggio Gorioli (457 m), the Pass of Terzano (420m) and the pass at S. Donato in Collina (388 m)), was to favour the birth of important routes of communication that linked up the Vale of Florence with the upper Arno valley.

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FONTE SANTA, an ecological niche

The immense forests that cover the south eastern area of Florence are crossed by the Via Maremmana, an extremely important stretch of road that marks the territorial borders of Bagno a Ripoli at this point, running along the ridge of the hill that divides the Arezzo side of the upper Arno from Florence. The woods of Fonte Santa are very popular at all times of the year because the air here is particularly healthy while the climate is always mild and temperate.

The great chestnut tree in the meadow of Fonte Santa

The Atlantic air currents that flow through the Arno Valley arrive at Poggio Firenze still containing much of their humidity - in spite of the fact that this hill is ninety kilometres from the Tyrrhenian Sea and 6/700 metres high - thus creating a microclimate that favours the development of certain kinds of vegetation, like the umbrella pine tree, that is normally only to be found in the coastal regions.

Country feast at Fonte Santa

Thick clumps of Ulex europaeus (creeping thistle) grow here together with Cistus scoparius (rock rose), and one of the largest extensions of Genistra pilosa (broom) in Italy, while the Staehelina dubia, very rare in Europe and the Mediterranean basin, flourishes here. Squirrels, porcupines and wild boar - though shooting parties are often organized to keep the boar population down - inhabit these chestnut and oak forests, while buzzards nest in the pine trees.

In 1954 botanist Giuliano Montelucci classified the area as being an ecological niche, scientifically confirming what people had instinctively realised for centuries.

The intense humidity caused by the condensation gives rise to a series of natural springs in the Costa al Sole, which slopes down from the ridge of the hill; in the late 17th century these springs were channelled to carry water down to the Medici villa of Lappeggi. This place is called Fonte Santa (Holy Spring) and its name alone shows that it has long been considered a hallowed area; documents dating back to the 15th century tell us that its healthy air and pure waters had been well known for centuries. From the archeological discoveries excavated here we can presume that a religious centre once stood on this site, a place where people could stop and pray before starting out on the long journeys they were forced to make to move their flocks and herds to new pastures
This was in fact a meeting point for the shepherds travelling to and from the Mugello and eastern Sieve Valley as well as from the northern part of the Casentino; the pass of San Donato in Collina was where the route from Pontassieve and Rignano to the Consuma Pass met up with the road to the pastures at the Lake of Accesa and Boccheggiano.

This beauty spot has always been a very popular place to visit and in 1935 volunteers from the town of Antella built a lodge up here which is used by the many hikers walking through this area.