SCARPERIA | FLORENCE PROVINCE

Scarperia is one of the most interesting historic centres in the Mugello zone, the Apennine passes of which connect it to Bologna and the region of Emilia-Romagna. There has also been a revival of the art of hand-made knives, once a major industry here.

From the 15 C onwards, Scarperia, in the "New Land" of the Florentines, was a vicariate and therefore housed the offices of the Florentine Civil Service for this large part of the Mugello. The Medici family, whose policy was to maintain progressive control of the Republican Magistrature, was particularly interested in holding the office and appointing a member of a loyal family as Vicar. The members of these families took turns running the office throughout the 15 C. The heart of the fortified settlement is the Vicars Palace. Its residential section on the side facing the square, stark and turreted, presents a 14 C plan, while the fortified section lies behind.

History of Scarperia

• 1299: in order to reorganise and better control its territory, the Council of One Hundred of the Municipality of Florence established two new fortified settlements, one on each side of the Giogo Apennine pass, an important communication route between Florence and the region of Emilia-Romagna.
• 1306: Florence defeated the Ubaldini, the ancient feudal lords of the Mugello district, and on 18 July ordered the construction of a new fortress, Castel S. Barnaba, in the locality known as the Scarperia. On 7 September, in the presence of peasants summoned to the new centre, the streets and city walls were sketched out. The village was officially founded on the following day, with a 10-year exemption from taxes and duties for all of those who built their homes there.
• 1355: 55 day siege by the Milanese troops of Giovanni Oleggio.
• 1415: Scarperia became the seat of a Vicar, representative of the administrative and judicial power of Florence, and the castle was enlarged to accommodate him. Over time, all of the vicars left their blazons in the palace, either sculpted or painted. The vicariate of Scarperia included the podestà jurisdictions of Barberino di Mugello, Borgo S. Lorenzo, Campi, Carmignano, Dicomano, S. Godenzo, Sesto Fiorentino, Fiesole and Vicchio. Commercial activity in Scarperia expanded thanks to its strategic location along the Giogo road, which leads to the Emilia regions and to northern Italy. In the 15 C and 16 C, the Scarperia housed numerous hospices, as well as many workshops, particularly those for forging iron and producing agricultural instruments and knives.
• 1542: a ruinous earthquake damaged the city walls and almost all civic and religious structures. The following years were devoted to reconstruction.
• 1551: the population of Scarperia was 978.
• 1752: in order to improve trans-Apennine transit conditions, the new Lorraine government  of Florence constructed the Futa carriage road, cutting off Scarperia from the flow of traffic which had made its fortune. Public houses, hotels and taverns went out of business, and life became difficult for the knife-makers as well. In the first decades of the 19 C, only 50 knife-makers remained.
• 1908: a law prohibiting the trade and use of pocket knives longer than a palm's length reduced the artisanal knife-making industry to almost nothing.