Popolano

Popolano is the gateway to Marradi, a village of great historical value located along the Lamone River, in the Tuscan-Romagnolo Apennines. Here, the obligatory passage through the bridge made it a strategic point since ancient times. Before the Unification of Italy, there was a customs office, testifying to its importance in the trade and controls between the Tuscan and Romagnolo territories. One of the most significant events that involved Popolano took place during the Risorgimento, when Giuseppe Garibaldi and his most faithful followers passed through the village in July 1849, during their escape to Venice after the fall of the Roman Republic. The local population, despite the risk, offered help to the Garibaldians, thus strengthening the village's bond with the struggle for Italian independence. The strategic importance of Popolano is also evidenced by the presence of a medieval fortification, built to guard the territory. However, over time, the structure lost its defensive function and was transformed into a bell tower. This fact is confirmed by the historian Emanuele Repetti, who in his Geographic Physical Historical Dictionary of Tuscany (1846) writes: "The parish church of Popolano stands above the ruins of the fortification, whose ancient tower serves as a bell tower for the church." To this day, traces of the old fortification remain inside the church of Santa Maria, such as a crossbow window and a lookout window, typical elements of medieval defensive structures. Furthermore, next to the church, there is a cloister with a well and a series of arches, architectural elements suggesting the existence of an ancient monastery. The church of Santa Maria in Popolano preserves precious artistic testimonies, including a polychrome terracotta tabernacle from the workshop of the Della Robbia family, a sign of the wealth of the priory and the religious importance of the place. The building underwent several transformations over the centuries: from a fortification to a bell tower, it probably was also a dependency of the Abbey of the Borgo, as some architectural and documentary evidence suggest the presence of an ancient monastery. Inside the rectory, there are still paintings with figures of monks and the admonition Silentium!, as well as an ancient tombstone dated 1318 dedicated to Saint Nicholas. From the Middle Ages to the Modern Age, Popolano was a fiefdom of the Guidi Counts of Modigliana, confirmed to them by the emperors Henry VI and Frederick II in the 12th and 13th centuries. A document from 1126 attests that the men of Popolano granted the lordship of the village to the abbot of the Monastery of Santa Reparata in Marradi. In the 18th century, with the administrative reorganization desired by the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, Popolano was divided into two municipalities, Popolano di Sopra and Popolano di Sotto, until the reform of December 4, 1774, which merged them under Marradi. In more recent centuries, a part of the church and monastery complex was transformed into a noble residence. Numerous rooms are frescoed with mythological scenes depicting Juno, Venus, and Diana, details that do not belong to a monastic environment but to a nineteenth-century noble residence. The coats of arms of the Fabroni family, owners of numerous surrounding lands, testify to the residence passing into their hands. Subsequently, the building was purchased by the Church and, after a long period of abandonment, is now undergoing a renovation that will transform it into an accommodation facility for groups.

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