Background

Short historical news

The town of Montecarlo, located on the hill (163 mt above sea level) ridge separating Valdinievole ("Valley of the Clouds") and the Plain of Lucca, was built in 1333 in order to bring together, near the fort of Cerruglio, the inhabitants of the Community of Vivinaia (located where now is the village cemetery) and destroyed by the Florentines in 1331. The borough was named Montecarlo (the Mountain of Charles) in honour of Prince Charles, son of the King John of Bohemia, liberator of Lucca from occupation by Pisa. The prince, who became Emperor with the name of Charles IV, frequently came to Montecarlo to take care of fortification works on the fort, that revealed itself as a strategic presidium during the wars fought in the XIV century between Lucca, Pisa and Florence. At the beginning of its history, the land of Montecarlo was ruled by Lucca, and this state of affairs continued throughout the XIV century, with the sole parenthesis of the period from 1342 to 1369, when it was directly dependent on the Commune of Pisa. In 1437, during the war between Lucca and Florence, it fell definitively into the hands of the Florentines, in the district of which it remained until the Unity of Italy.

The history of the territory is intrinsically linked to the most  important settlements of the territory: the Parish of S. Piero in Campo, one of the richest diocese of Lucca, whose wealth is due to its strategic position as an obligatory route between the Valdinievole and Lucca. Furthermore in ancient times the Via Cassia ran through the village, as did the Via Francigena during the Middle Ages. The other two important settlements were: the Castle of Cerruglio (the present day castle) used in 1325 as a military base by Castruccio Castracani, the Lucchesi Commander during the battle of Altopascio, and the Castle of Vivinaia, once the residence of Emperor Conrad II and Pope Benedict IX.