Visiting the town	Territory and art	History in brief
Bagno a Ripoli	Tourist information
	How to get there
	Economy and typical products

The council territory of Bagno a Ripoli of today only corrisponds in part to the historically famous mediaeval League of the Florentine countryside whose name it bears.

Parish Church of S.Maria dell'Antella

The Leagues were associations of parishes and their subsidiary churches;the League of Bagno a Ripoli included the parish territories of Santa Maria at Antella and San Donnino at Villamagna, almost all of San Pietro a Ripoli and some parts of the parish of San Giovanni a Remole.
The parish of Antella stretched as far as San Donato in Collina, a village that stood on the important mediaeval road that linked Florence with Arezzo and thence with Rome.
The parish of Ripoli was situated along the right bank of the Arno, whose crossing was guaranteed by the ancient roads in the area.
We should remember that the parishes formed important ecclesiastic districts in the Middle Ages and, at the same time, represented the one of the basic structures in the civil organization, often carrying out administrative, and therefore ÒlayÓ, functions. For example every "parish" had to see to the upkeep of the roads in its area while, in times of war, the parishioners were also expected to contribute towards its costs.
There were as many as thirty-six parishes in Bagno a Ripoli at the beginning of the modern era.

For further details, please see the following:

Origins

The ancient roads

Villages and castles

Ancient houses

Traditional occupations

Traditional feast days and events

There were as many as thirty-six parishes in Bagno a Ripoli at the beginning of the modern era. The communities that were set up with the reforms of Grand Duke Pietro Leopoldo in 1774 reduced the territory in favour of the present borough of Rignano sullÕArno. In the beginning of the 19th century the portion on the righthand side of the Arno was detached to create the community of Rovezzano; however the community suffered many further changes and alterations when the "great city of Florence" was set up, until it eventually acquired its present composition after the First World War.

Bagno a Ripoli has gradually become more and more a residential town in the last few decades thanks to the fact that it stands so close to the metropolitan area of Florence. At present it has about 27.000 inhabitants, who not only live in the towns in the district - Grassina and Antella are the largest - all of which have grown vastly in recent years, but also in the surrounding countryside, where many of the old farmhouses - in the past castles or tower houses - and ancient houseshave been restored.

We should remember that the parishes in the Middle Ages were composed of a main parish church and several subsidary churches, and thus formed an ecclesiastic district; they also carried out much of the fundamental civil organization, including many administrative and therefore "laical" functions, like local road maintenance, as well as having to contribute towards the costs of war.