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Placed on the slopes of Montalbano, the Commune of Larciano extends for 21 square kilometres and includes the hamlets of S. Rocco, Larciano, Cecina, Castelmartini and the centres of Baccane, Colonna and Biccimurri. Larciano Alto has maintained the medieval urban structure and the enclosing walls of the 13th century, with three access gates to the borough. On the hightest point rises the" Rocca "(the fortress), probably realized by the "Pistoiesi" (people of Pistoia) after the purchase, in 1226, of the Castle of Larciano.
Larciano
Castello Larciano Castello is one of the fewest famous centres of the province of Pistoia, owing to its position far from the main streets; but just such position has maintained intact the fascination of the ancient atmosphere which pervades this place . We can reach it from Monsummano, following the State Road 436 to Fucecchio, or from S. Baronto, the most comfortable and also the most interesting way, or from Pistoia. Larciano, situated at 160 mt. of height, dominates the whole Valdinievole;it was an important fortified village during the Middle Ages , being one of the bases of the defensive
system of Pistoia . About the origin of the name there are various hypotheses: the Roman derivation is supported from the fact that in the 4th century BC existed here a settlement called "Villa Larziana" , or, like others assert , the toponym would derive from the name of a Roman centurion , Laertia. Beginning from 122 BC he would have founded a village on the south-western slopes of Montalbano, called Laertiano, from which later Larciano. Others simply think the toponym derives from "larice"(larch), because it seems that the zone, in past times, was rich in larches woods. Archaeological and toponymical documents make to think to an overlapping between Etruscan and Ligurian settlements. Larciano was mentioned for the first time in a document of 936 as "Villa". From other documents, we can deduce that around the half of the 10th century, it belonged to the Counts Guidi. The building of the castle dates back probaly to this period. In 1226 it was acquired by Pistoia. With the castles of Lamporecchio and Cecina, the " larcianese castrum " was one of the strong points of the territory towards the south, on the western slopes of Montalbano. Also economic reasons pushed Pistoia to such acquisitions: the zone of Larciano was fit for the cultivation of olive trees and vines and above all, being near the ancient " lacus focensis " today " Padule di Fucecchio", it had an important trade role: the goods through the marsh reached the Arno river, then the sea and back . In 1302, during the war between Pistoia and Lucca, Larciano passed to Lucca. At the beginning of the 15th century the Pistoiese " districtus " passed under Florence rule and therefore also Larciano. In 1818 Larciano and Lamporecchio united. Only in 1897 Larciano obtained administrative autonomy and became commune. Its seat is at San Rocco, where in the 17th century developed a new settlement.
Castelmartini Castelmartini can be reached from Monsummano by taking the State Road 436, towards Fucecchio. The first settlement, which gave the name to the hamlet of the Commune of Larciano, is situated to south of the present "via Francesca". Its ancient origins date back to the end of the 13th century; the locality in fact, is mentioned for the first time in the " Liber Censuum " exactly in 1297, when Martinus Jacobi Admannati get build a "domus" and a "castrum" (from which the name Castrum Martini = Castelmartini), then an other fortified building near a " hospitium " called S. Donnino, not far away from the place where Pistoia had a port which, through the channels of the swamps and the Arno, placed it in connection with Pisa. This ancient hospital was connected moreover to a road of particular interest which went through Montalbano. The " castrum " of Martino di Jacobo Ammannati passed to the Commune in 1226 (Berti), year of purchase of the fief of Larciano, to which belonged also S. Donnino. Between 1315 and 1325, a period of serious crisis for Pistoia, the hospital of S. Donnino was destroyed. About the castle, belonged to Martino di Jacobo, from whom derives the name of the locality where the castle rose, we do not know exactly its history ; today, part of the ancient building is probable included in the "Villa-fattoria" of Poggio Banchieri, built in the 19th century.
Cecina, placed on a hill in a panoramic position, is an interesting and pleasant village of ancient origins which in the medieval age played a considerable role as protecting castle of the southern boundaries of the territory of Pistoia. It can be reached from Pistoia by taking the road for San Baronto as far as Cantagrillo,from there for Baco and then by crossing over Montalbano. Coming from Monsummano instead, take the State Road 436 towards Montevettolini as far as Cecina. Cecina, derived from Caecina, Kaiknas, is certainly an Etruscan toponym; it would have been founded by a Roman-Etruscan " gens " ; depended, in the early Middle Ages, from the parish church of S. Lorenzo at Vaiano, it was then, as villa,a Counts Guidi's estate . Redeemed in 1226 from the Commune of Pistoia, with the castle of Larciano, of which it constituted one of the main settlements , Cecina was furnished in the following years , in a period of political and military upheavals for Pistoia, of fortifications and in 1335 Cecina is mentioned as castle .In the following years the village followed the events of Larciano; the castle was attacked, but it does not know when that happened. In 1369 political crisis, economical difficulties, the Black Death (1340 , 1348) and the consequent famines caused a series of peasant revolts. From the end of the 14th century ,when Pistoia definitively was submitted to Florence, Cecina gained some autonomy, and maintened it until the 18th century.
