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Gracciano dell'Elsa
OLD TOWN
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Gracciano dell'Elsa
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During ancient times, the village was simply known with the name Elsa , name that already appears on X century documents . Important is the fact that the ancient Via Francigena crossed the village. Between 990 and 994 the Archibishop of Canterbury, Sigerico, that had been appointed in Rome by Pope John XV with the consignment of the Pallio, paused for a while in Elsa. In Sigerico’s diary, the village represented the XVII halting station , as decided by the Archibishop of Canterbury Aelse and identified in the Pieve (parish) in Elsa, that doesn’t exist anymore. Later on Elsa is described as a fortress or castle with annexed village, but of which no trace remains. During the XIII century, it had to endure the incursions of the Sienese army, that destroyed it in the first half of 1200, while its inhabitants had already taken refuge in the Castle of Colle Val d’Elsa. The territory of Gracciano was the stage for the famous battle between the Guelphs and the Ghibellines (1269) that saw the triumph of the Guelph faction. It seems that the Pieve was destroyed by order of the Bishop of Colle in 1760.
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