Founded in the seventh century BC as Vipsul, the city became one of the most important and earliest urban centres of the Etruscan civilisation.[3] Since the fourteenth century, the city has always been considered a getaway for members of theupper class of Florence and, up to this day, Fiesole remains noted for its very expensive residential properties, just as well as its centuries-old villas and their formal gardens.[4] The city is generally considered to be the wealthiest and most affluent suburb of Florence. In 2016, the city had the highest median family income in the whole of Tuscany.[5]
Fiesole is a centre of higher education. The campus of theEuropean University Institute is situated in the suburb and uses several historical buildings including the Badia Faesolina and the Villa Schifanoia. Additionally, the American universities,Harvard,[6]Georgetown,[7] andSaint Mary's of Minnesota all maintain campuses at Fiesole.
Excavation of the late-fourth-century BC Etruscan temple in Fiesole that later was used by the Romans
Fiesole (LatinFaesulae from theEtruscanViesul,Viśl,Vipsul) was probably founded sometime during the ninth century BC, as it was an important member of theEtruscan confederacy. The remains of its prehistoric walls and ancient structures have been preserved and an archaeological museum in the town presents artifacts from and information about these cultural periods.
The earliest known recorded mention of the town dates to 283 BC, when the Etruscan town, then known asFaesulae, was conquered by theRomans. In Roman antiquity, it was the seat of a famous school ofaugurs and, every year, twelve young men were sent there from Rome to study the art of divination.
The old town was either destroyed in theSocial War or alternatively bySulla in 80 BC, in reprisal for supporting thepopulares faction in Rome.[8]Sulla later colonized it with veterans. This colony who afterward, under the leadership of Gaius Mallius, supported the cause ofCatilina.[9][10]
Partial restoration of one of the Roman structures in Fiesole
The Roman theatre, below the cathedral to the northeast, has 19 tiers of stone seats and is 37 yards (34 m) in diameter. It has been restored partially enough to provide a good idea of its structure. Above it is an embanking wall of irregular masonry, and below it some remains of Roman baths, including five parallel vaults of concrete. More than 1,000 silverdenarii, all coined before 63 BC, were found at Faesulae in 1829. A small museum contains the objects found in the excavations of the theatre.[11]
Fiesole was the scene ofStilicho's great victory over theGermanic hordes of theVandals andSuebi underRadagaisus in 406.[12] During theGothic War (536–553), the town was besieged several times. In 539,Justin, the Byzantine general, captured it and razed its fortifications.
A fourteenth-century depiction from theNuova Cronica showing the sacking of Fiesole in 1010, Chig.L.VIII.296 49v
It was an independent town for several centuries in the early Middle Ages, no less powerful than Florence in the valley below, and many wars arose between them. In 1010 and 1025, Fiesole was sacked by the Florentines. Later, it was conquered by Florence in 1125, when its leading families were obliged to take up their residence in Florence. Dante reflects this rivalry in hisDivine Comedy by referring to "the beasts of Fiesole" (Inferno XV.73).[13]
By the fourteenth century, rich Florentines had countryside villas in Fiesole, and one of them is the setting of theframe narrative of theDecameron.Boccaccio's poemIl Ninfale fiesolano is a mythological account of the origins of the community.[14]
It is also documented that the artist and scientistLeonardo da Vinci experimented for the first time with early flying models on the hills of Fiesole.[15]
TheBadia or ancient cathedral of St. Romulus, built in 1028 by Bishop Jacopo Bavaro with materials taken from several older edifices at the foot of the hill on which Fiesole stands and were supposed to cover the site of the martyrdom of St. Romulus. It contains notable sculptures by Mino da Fiesole; the old cathedral became aBenedictine abbey that passed into the hands of theCanons Regular of the Lateran. It once possessed a valuable library, long since dispersed. The abbey was closed in 1778
The littleChurch of Santa Maria Primerana in the cathedral square, where the same saint was warned by Our Lady of his approaching death. Built in 996 and further expanded in medieval times, it has maintained the Gothic presbytery from that period. It received a new façade in the late sixteenth century, with graffito decoration byLudovico Buti. The interior, on a single hall, has a thirteenth-century panel portrayingMadonna with Child. In the transept are two marble bas-reliefs byFrancesco da Sangallo and a terracotta from Andrea della Robbia's workshop.
Fontanelle, a villa near S. Domenico, whereSt. Aloysius came to live in the hot summer months, while a page at the court of Grand Duke Francesco de' Medici
Villa San Michele (after drawings byMichelangelo)Piazza MinoView from the hills of Fiesole overlooking Florence
Helen of Greece and Denmark, queen mother of Romania (was awarded the honorary title of Righteous Among the Nations in 1993 for her humanitarian efforts to save the Jews of Romania)
^Gaius Mallius was a colonist of Fiesole who, according toSallust (Bellum Catilinae 24.2), was the first to raise an army and take the field against Rome. Hisnomen is often confused with the more commonManlius.
^Radagaisus was executed 23 August 406 (Herwig Wolfram, Thomas J. Dunlap, tr.,History of the Goths, 1988:169);Paulinus of Nola attributed the victory of Stilicho over Radagaisus's Ostrogoths near Fiesole, to the protection of Felix, Peter, Paul and other saints.
^Dante in Love, A. N. Wilson, p. 71 (Farrar, Straus and Giroux: 2011)
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