Scarperia e San Piero
Scarperia e San Piero is a municipality in the Metropolitan City of Florence, at the heart of the Mugello area along the Sieve riv...
Updated 21 July 2026
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The story
The story of Scarperia e San Piero
Introduction and Location
Scarperia e San Piero lies in the northern part of the Metropolitan City of Florence, within the historic Mugello area, close to the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines. The municipal territory stretches along the valley of the Sieve river, a traditional passage between Florence and the Po Valley through the Apennine mountain passes. The municipality was created in 2014 by merging the two towns of Scarperia and San Piero a Sieve, which remain its two main settlements, surrounded by hills, woodland and small rural hamlets scattered across the countryside.
History and Origins
Scarperia was founded in 1306 by the Republic of Florence as a fortified border town, laid out on a grid plan designed to control the road to Bologna via the Futa Pass. It became the seat of the Vicariate of Mugello, still recalled today by the Palazzo dei Vicari, the former town hall decorated with the coats of arms of the vicars who governed there over the centuries. San Piero a Sieve, an older settlement centred on the parish church of San Pietro, was long a crossroads and defensive outpost under the Medici, who had fortifications built there to protect the territory.
Nature and Landscape
The territory of Scarperia e San Piero unfolds between the hills of Mugello and the first slopes of the Apennines, with chestnut and oak woods climbing toward the mountain ridges bordering Emilia-Romagna. The Sieve river crosses the plain, shaping a rural landscape of cultivated fields, olive groves and small hamlets linked by ridge roads. The area belongs to the wider Mugello district, valued for its fresh air, hiking trails and proximity to the Apennine passes that have connected Tuscany with the Po Valley for centuries.
What to Do and See
The historic centre of Scarperia, with its regular grid layout, invites a stroll through the main square, the arcaded loggia and the old workshops of the coltellinai, blacksmiths who have worked iron here since the Middle Ages. The Museo dei Ferri Taglienti tells this story through historic tools, blades and equipment. In San Piero a Sieve, visitors can see the Romanesque parish church and the Fortezza di San Martino, built by the Medici to defend the valley. Motorsport fans also know the municipality for the Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello, one of Italy's most famous racing circuits, set among the surrounding hills.
Flavours and Traditions
The cuisine of Scarperia e San Piero is rooted in the peasant traditions of Mugello: legume soups, porcini mushrooms gathered in the nearby woods, chestnuts and local cured meats accompany simple, genuine dishes. Yet the area's most distinctive feature remains its knife-making craft, passed down through generations of Scarperia's blacksmith workshops, still active today in shaping blades and handles using age-old techniques. Local markets and small village fairs offer a chance to discover typical products and handmade goods tied to this long history of ironworking.
Not to be missed
- Palazzo dei Vicari, the historic town hall in the heart of Scarperia
- Museo dei Ferri Taglienti, dedicated to the local knife-making tradition
- Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello, a famous motor-racing circuit
- Fortezza di San Martino in San Piero a Sieve, a Medici-built fortification
- Convento di Bosco ai Frati, an ancient Franciscan convent in the Mugello countryside
To see
What to see in Scarperia e San Piero
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