History | Montelupo | Terre degli Uffizi

Visitors can trace the history of Montelupo's ceramic industry in the Museo della Ceramica, while the Museo Archivio Bitossi provides them with an overview of the contemporary scene.

Sauntering through the streets of the town, one eventually comes to the highest part of what was once the medieval castle, offering a fantastic panorama and hosting site-specific works by contemporary artists.

The history of Montelupo set between two rivers, the Arno and the Pesa, is also associated with the Medici Villa known as L'Ambrogiana. Overlooking the Arno, it started out life as a farm before being converted into a villa, probably to a design by Bernardo Buontalenti, in the second half of the 16th century.

Ownership of the villa passed to the House of Lorraine and it was put to various uses before eventually becoming a criminal lunatic asylum. The asylum was finally closed in 2017 and plans are currently being finalised to restore it for cultural purposes.