Ruggeri Ubaldini, son of Ubaldino Della Pila, was born in the golden age of the dynasty and followed in the footsteps of his uncle Ottaviano in the city of Bologna, where he became archdeacon. In 1278 he became archbishop of Pisa, where he came into contact with the ruling class of the city, ruled by the Ghibelline Ugolino Della Gherardesca and the Guelph Nino Visconti.
Witness of the decline of Pisa after the defeat of the Battle of Meloria (1284), after getting rid of both, he assumed power and sentenced Count Ugolino Della Gherardesca to death by having him locked up in the “Torre Della Fame” together with two children and two grandchildren.

One of the most famous passages of the Comedy is dedicated to this episode.
However, “[….] All the light of Dante’s verses is projected on Ugolino; Ruggieri is inert: only a skull to gnaw on, some hair with which to “wipe” his mouth as with a rag “(from Enciclopedia Dantesca, 1970).

In 1290 the City of Florence bought this borgo, this district, which would remain faithful to Florence and Guelphism. It would, in fact, have to bear the incursions of the enemy for tens of years afterwards: in 1303 it was invaded by the Ghibellines of Romagna together with the exiled Florentines; and in 1312 it was invaded again by the Ubaldini. In 1351 Florence, therefore, decided to build new, more solid walls around the city along with a tower.

Of the 14th century walls only few traces remain: these can be seen in via S. Martino and the gate at the end of Malacoda (via Mazzini), which is called Porta Fiorentina. In the historical centre we find the 14th century Palazzo Podestà, the Pieve di San Lorenzo, which was built in 941 and holds a Madonna that is attributed to Giotto. Not far from the historical centre we find the 18th century Oratorio del Santissimo Crocifisso dei  Miracoli and Villa Pecori Giraldi, which houses the Chini Museum and the works of Galileo Chini and his family.

From the station in Ronta we reach Pulicciano on foot. The town is set in a beautiful  location on a hill. Santa Maria Church, which was probably a chapel, is all that remains today of the ancient castle. On the façade we find a plaque dating back to the six hundred year anniversary of the death of Dante Alighieri:

“This Fortress, which was, for centuries, no stranger to sieges and battles, attests, in what remains of its walls ―today, on the six-hundredth anniversary of Dante’s death―the assault and escape of Scarpetta Degli Ordelaffi together with the exiled Florentines, the harsh reprisals of Fulcieri de’ Calboli, in March 1303 the happy escape of Dante, and now a symbol of peace …1321-1921”

Ordelaffi―Lord of Forlì, head of the Ghibellines in Romagna, and a man who was tied to the Ubaldini family in political faith and in his marriage to Chiara Ubaldini da Susinana―departed from Montaccianico with a company of Ghibellines and White Guelphs. Dante, who was Scarpetta’s protege and secretary, and who had fought in Caprona and Campaldino, was most likely also with them. The expedition of March 12, 1303 was the second of five attempts by the exiled Florentines to return to Florence after the convention of San Godenzo (1302). Fulcieri  da Calboli, the Black Guelph and Podestà of Florence, defeated his adversaries. In their flight to the fortress of Montaccianico, more than 500 White Guelphs were killed, taken hostage, tortured and condemned to death.
After this event, Dante lived his exile far from the “bad and foolish company” with which he had been exiled, “For all ingrate, all mad and impious/ Will they become against thee; but soon after/ They, and not thou, shall have the forehead scarlet” according to the prophetic words of his ancestor the knight Cacciaguida in Paradise Canto XVII, who alludes to the battle of Lastra (1304), and continues to state that “so ’twill be well for thee/ A party to have made thee by thyself”, that is to say that Dante did well to distance himself from them.

STRIANO
Villa Striano, just outside Pulicciano, stands on the ruins of an ancient Ubaldini lookout tower. In 1875 Michele Gordigiani, portrait artist of many great queens, bought the villa. Gabriele D’Annunzio, Eleonora Duse, Arturo Toscanini, Guglielmo Marconi, Giovanni Papini, the Belgian painter De Groux, the philosopher Balbino, the violinist Joachim, and the cellist Cassadò spent many summers here.

RONTA
Ronta is a quaint holiday resort. Here you can visit the majestic Villa Gerini, the new church dedicated to St. Michael and the old one also dedicated to St Michael.
In the vicinity of Ronta there is the MADONNA DEI TRE FIUMI, with the Oratory and the ancient  Margheri water mill, which was probably built around 845, and continues to function. It offers the sale of mill ground products: chestnut flour, corn flour, and common wheat flour.

Photo credits: Sara Fabbri

After the Etruscans and the Romans, the town was destroyed during the barbaric invasions together with Pieve Santa Maria (the parish church), which rose on the remains of a pagan temple. It was reconstructed and dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The structure of the church is Romanesque and there are traces of frescos in the style of Giotto from the14^th century and other 16^th and 17^th century paintings from the Florentine school. The massive belltower found on the side of the church is perhaps part of an ancient fortified complex that stood on the hill.

In the Middle Ages, together with the fortress of Belforte and that of Gattaia, Dicomano was sold to Florence in order to control the Wheat Route and the castles of the Count Guidi family. It later became an inland port for the supply of wood for the Pisa and Livorno shipyards. In the 18^th century, Giuseppe Del Rosso realised the elegant Neo-classical Oratorio di Sant’Onofrio for the Dalle Pozze family. The interior is bright and particularly refined; it has a grey and white tiled marble floor, a dome and semicircular domes, and white marble decorations. The economic wealth of Dicomano grew under the Lorraine family and with the opening of the new road to Forlì (1824-1859).

The Archeological Museum of Mugello and Val di Sieve, found in City Hall in Dicomano, holds archaeological remains from the territory: sculptural masterpieces from the tombs of important families and elaborate jewels from Poggio Conca (Vicchio).
The Archaeological site in Frascole is a great square Etruscan structure, which is divided into three areas, stands. It is the mysterious “fortress” of the Velasna family and dates from 4^th to early 3^rd century B.C.. Some of the bricks inside the building, which are now being examined, may date back to an even more distant past. In summer the site hosts cultural  events.

The Ubaldini family controlled as many as 32 castles and fortresses on the territory in the town of  Firenzuola.
Firenzuola,  like Scarperia, was a “terra nuova” desired by Florence in 1306 and founded in April 1332 to gain control over the road to Bologna. In 1341 the Ubaldini “burnt it to the ground and abandoned it” (Villani, Cronica). What remains is the southern gate, Porta Fiorentina, and the northern gate, Porta Bolognese. In 1373 the construction of the fortress was begun: it would be the home of the Podestà. Today the structure houses an underground museum dedicated to the art sandstone.
Cornacchiaia, “Castrum Rivi Cornuclari”, property of  Ugolino Ubaldini, in 1332 was expunged by the Florentines and demolished as was the nearby Castrum Castri.
In Castro San Martino we can still admire the medieval gate that gave access to this small village and traces of the ancient walls.

Vasari writes about Giotto that “[…] the origins of this great man could be found in the Florentine countryside, near the city at mile fourteen, in the Villa di Vespignano.”
These origins, in the light of modern-day research, date back to 1266-1267.
Today, the place where, according to legend, the artist was born houses a museum narrative which invites us to delve into the creative spirit of the artist. The three main thematic areas―that is to say, the life of Giotto, Giotto’s relationship with the land, and his activities―are narrated through the use of interactive multimedia, a video-environment and laboratories that allow us to study of the figurative art of the great master. It also houses temporary exhibits and labs for children of all ages. It is surrounded by a small botanic garden that offers a magnificent view of the valley and the Apennines chain.
Up until the end of the 13^th century, Vespignano was an important castle: the church, the keep, and part of a circular tower still remain. The geometry of the tower is not common in Longobard towers, which are built on a square bae, but finds similarities with Byzantine towers. The territory, in fact, bordered with the exarchate of Ravenna. Analogies and rare examples are found in the castles in Mugello, for example: Castel Potente which stands at a short distance above the locality of Gattaia (Vicchio) and Belmonte in the town of Firenzuola. The most important and renowned example of a circular base tower is found in the most ancient late medieval nucleus in Florence: it is the Torre dei Pagliazza, a lookout tower of circular Byzantine style, built between 541 and 544 to defend the city of Goti di Totila. First mentioned in 1048, Vespignano castle and the tower were damaged in the great earthquake of 1919.

Near the keep and the tower, at the highest point, we find San Martino a Vespignano Church, which is mentioned in 1218, and of which Giotto’s son, Francesco was the Prior in 1329. The building, which was restored between 1835-1838 and again in 1940, has a gabled façade and a portal surmounted by an opening; it has a single nave, a rectangular choir, and the high altar is covered by a ribbed vault. The church holds a ciborium that dates back to the second half of the 15^th century, an 18^th century organ, and a fresco that is attributed to Paolo Schiavo (15^th century). The original belltower of the church was destroyed in the 1919 earthquake. The tower we see today is nothing more than one of the watchtowers of the ancient walls of Vespignano castle, which was taken down when the “new land” of Vicchio was  founded in 1308 by the city of  Florence.
Legend has it that the episode that changed Giotto’s life, as recounted by Lorenzo Ghiberti in his “Commentarii” (1452), and also later by Vasari, took place on the Ponte alla Ragnaia―since called Ponte di Cimabue (Cimabue’s bridge)―while the boy was intent on depicting one of the sheep in his flock on a slate using a pointed stone. The Master was so taken aback that he asked the boy to follow him to his work shop in Florence. The bridge is found in the valley, and it is clearly marked and easy to  reach from the state road or by taking the artists’ trail which links the centre of Vicchio with La casa di Giotto e di Beato Angelico. An elegant 16^th century construction, today the bridge the crosses the Ensa River has replaced the medieval one.

A pleasant walk leads through the meadows and the magnificent landscape of Cappella della Bruna, which bears witness to the secular cult dedicated to Beato Giovanni Bruni, who was born in Vespignano in 1234, in Mugello. Already in his youth, Bruni showed a vocation for helping the poor, and he later exercised this vocation in Florence where he died in 1331.
The structure, where legend has it that the young Bruni was known to pray while the oxen carried out the work in the fields without him, has a rectangular base and holds the remains of a mural painting attributed to the painter Paolo Schaivo (15^th century), a pupil of Andrea del Castagno and of Paolo Uccello. The fresco represents a “Madonna del latte” with two saints. This type of image was an important object of popular devotion in the area.
The  remains of Bruni, buried in San Pier Maggiore, were moved in 1801 to San Giovanni Magiore near Ronta. One of his ribs, however, was venerated in Mugello in 1723 in Santa Maria  a Olmi (Borgo San Lorenzo).

By buying one ticket for the Museo Casa di Giotto (Home of Giotto Museum), you can also visit the Museo di arte sacra e religiosità popolare Beato Angelico (Beato Angelico Museum) in Vicchio, which houses paintings and lithurgical objects from the closed or unsafe churches in Mugello. Here we can find crucifixes, religious records, and the reconstruction of settings that are ecclesiastic and devotional, for example, sacresties and whole tabernacles. Sacred vestments and candelabras are on display inside original furniture.The narrative ends in a room that houses the works placed according to their original layout: from the baptismal font and a 13^th century bell to the sides of the altar with diverse furnishings and paintings. The museum holds works of famous artists (Francesco Furini, Taddeo Gaddi, Andrea della Robbia,…). In 2017, the museum was at the centre of an itinerary called “Sotto il Cielo di Giotto”. On the 750^th anniversary of the great artist’s birth (1267-2017) a monumental panel  painting of the Madonna with child by a very young Giotto was put on display. From the museum it is easy to reach the historical centre of Vicchio on foot.

VICCHIO was one of the three “new lands” founded by Florence to preside and control over Mugello. In 1324 the walls and gates of the city were built (some are still visible today). In Renaissance times the artist Benvenuto Cellini stayed in the town off and on for more than ten years. He bought a small estate there “which is two miles from Vicchio immersed in the Alps.” The Casa di Cellini is found on what is now Corso del Popolo: it was restored and holds modern goldsmithing machines and apparatuses, and it is also a venue for meetings, courses and exhibitions.

Legend has it that the woman portrayed on the town crest is Marzia, also known as Cia (1317-1381) the granddaughter of Maghinardi Pagani and the wife of the Lord of Forlì, Francesco Ordelaffi.
In Palazzuolo sul Senio every year we can enjoy “Medioevo alla corte degli Ubaldini”(Middle Ages in the Ubaldini court), the historical re-enactment of when the feudal lords ruled the town.
Today the 14^th century Palazzo dei Capitani houses the Upper Mugello Archaeological Museum and the Museum of the Mountain Folk.
The numerous restaurants that line the streets of the town centre serve delicious local cuisine, both sweet and salty, which is influenced by local dishes of the nearby Romagna. From the town centre, SOFT trail 16 leads to the remains of Castellaccio and the village of Lozzole, both Ubaldini military districts and both surrendered to Florence and then demolished at the end of the 14^th century.

In the surrounding area we find the Santuario della Madonna delle Nevi di Quadalto (15^th century) and the Badia di Susinana, which is a villa-farm complex today. It was founded in roughly 1050; and in 1302 Maghinardo Pagani was buried there. The actual site of the tomb is unknown, but legend has it that it is touched by a ray of sunlight once a year during the spring equinox.

Photo credits: Comune di Palazzuolo sul Senio

In San Godenzo on June 8, 1302 Dante was among those who signed the agreement between the noble families who were exiled from Florence and the Ubaldini.
This was done in the Abbazia di San Gaudenzio (San Godenzo Abbey), which was built in 1028 by Jacopo il Bavaro, bishop of Fiesole. Dedicated to Saint Gaudenzio, who in the late Middle Ages was a eremite on these mountains, it is one of the most important examples of Romanesque architecture in Tuscany: the façade is in stone, and the interior is vast and solemn with three naves and three apses. Among the works of art in the church, we find a Dantesque mosaic in the apse, a wooden statue of Saint Sebastian by Baccio da Montelupo, and a polyptych by Bernardo Daddi, Giotto’s pupil, dated 1333. Below the altar of the crypt we find the mummy of the Saint. Legend has it that at his death, the oxen who were pulling the cart with his remains stopped here. In the sacresty we find the “Campana di Dante”: this bell was inaugurated on occasion of the nine-hundredth anniversary of the Abbey.

Photo credits: Comune San Godenzo, Sara Fabbri

Galliano is a characteristic village in the town of Barberino di Mugello, rises at the foot of the Apennines, and is linked to the Ubaldini family.

Galliano was an important source of  revenue for the Ubaldini family because it was the last fortified town before reaching the Apennines: it was a rest stop that offered hospitality for travellers who had to pay a transit fee. Pope Gregory X passed through the town at the end of the 13^th century on his way to the Council of Lyon, and―according to some scholars―so did Dante on his way to Bologna in the summer of 1286. With the Florentine conquest and the destruction of  Montaccianico (1306), Galliano, too, lost its importance.

GAMBERALDI
In medieval times it was the castle of the Guidi Counts and was later bought by Pietro and Bonifacio dei Pagani di Susinana, the father and uncle of Maghinardo Pagani―as stated in the contract that was drawn up on August 11, 1251 under the portico of Santa Maria a Rio Cesare Church in the nearby castle of Susinana, which also belonged to the Pagani family. Susinana castle is in fact, only a few kilometres away and can be reached on foot along a trail that crosses the mountains. Maginardo implemented the defensive structure of Gamberaldi, a crucial point of his fief along the boundary between the Senio and Lamone valleys. At his death the land passed into the hands of his brother Ugolino and, therefore, the Ubaldini who, in 1362, surrendered it to Florence. Since the land bordered on the Papal State along the wheat and salt routes, Gamberaldi was at the heart of a dense network of roads used by financiers and smugglers, patriots and Carbonari. The trail was also travelled by Giuseppe Garibaldi in 1849, and in his honour it bears the name “Sentiero di Garibaldi” (Garibaldi’s trail). Today the village is made up of  three ancient 14^th century towers set around the Pozzo delle Corti.

Badia Santa Reparata (BADIA DEL BORGO), as a Benedictine abbey in 1025 and became a Vallumbrosan abbey in 1090 until it was suppressed in the 19^th century. Of the original layout, we find the belltower, which makes the complex look more like a fortress than a convent, and the extensive remains of Romanesque walls on the left side of  the church. The façade is Baroque, while the interior, the high altar and the paintings, are in 18th-century style. The paintings, which were created by the Master of Marradi at the end of the 15th century, are today found in San Lorenzo di Marradi church.

BADIA DELLA VALLE stands in the Valle Acerreta, just below the monastery. It can be reached by taking trail 521/A and a dirt road. It was once one with Gamogna and founded in the same year (1053) by San Pier Damiani. The Rules of the abbey were very strict and stated that the monks had to spend a period of time in the Badia monastery and one in the Hermitage.  Of the church only the vaulted crypt with its supporting columns remains: it was made into a cellar for the conservation of wine. A ladder leads to the rectory, officiated on occasion of particular religious feasts. The monks also had a mill; and the millstones are found leaning against the entrance to the churchyard.

The ancient EREMO DI GAMOGNA on Alpe di San Benedetto was founded by San Pier Damiani in 1053. Dedicated to Saint Barnabas, it was used for spitual rites by the monks of the Badia della Valle that stands just below it and can be reached on foot. The church maintains its original Romanesque structure with the gabled façade which looks east, and its semicircular apse with a conical roof covered in slate and a bell-gable. The cloister, the monks’ cells, the oven, the drying-huts, and the barn complete the complex. After a period of neglect, the complex was restored to its ancient splendour and its role as a place of hospitality, spirituality, and prayer.