Certaldo is a municipality belonging to the metropolitan city of Florence, famous for being the birth and death place of the poet and writer Giovanni Boccaccio. It is located in the center of the Val d'Elsa, in the Chianti area.

The medieval part of the village, which includes Palazzo Pretorio, is called Certaldo Alto and represents the most interesting nucleus from the historical-architectural point of view. This can also be reached by a rail funicular equipped with a rack, departing from Piazza Boccaccio.

Of Etruscan-Roman origin, its territory has been affected by numerous archaeological excavations, and the finds of Etruscan and Roman origin found are today in the museum housed on the ground floor of the Palazzo Pretorio. One of the two palace gardens is transformed into a Japanese garden by artist Hidetoshi Nagasawa and houses a Japanese tea house.

Among the other places of interest in Certaldo, one cannot overlook Casa Boccaccio, the residence of the well-known writer, which overlooks the main street of the village, via Boccaccio. It is the seat of an important library containing documents from the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and of the Boccaccio study center.

The historical bond of the village with Boccaccio also lives on in an event that has now become traditional, called "Boccaccesca". For the occasion, in the autumn period, usually in the first week of October, in the Borgo Alto exhibitors from many Italian regions present their food and wine and artisan excellences, while great chefs give life to particular cooking demonstrations.

Foto: di Vignaccia76 - Opera propria, CC BY-SA 3.0