Empoli

Working Arno valley town near Florence, with a Romanesque collegiate church and surprisingly rich Renaissance art museum.

Empoli is a working town in the Arno valley about 30 km west of Florence. It is not a tourist destination in the usual sense, but it has a compact historic centre organised around Piazza Farinata degli Uberti that rewards a short visit.

The most important building on the piazza is the Collegiata di Sant'Andrea, a Romanesque church with a striking green-and-white marble facade. Inside, the adjacent museum houses a collection of Renaissance art that would be the pride of a much larger town, including works by Masolino da Panicale and Filippino Lippi. The Palazzo Ghibellino, also on the square, houses the Museo Paleontologico and the town's historical archive.

Empoli appears in documents from the 8th century as a castle, but the town as a civic entity dates from 1119. Today it is a practical place — a transport hub on the Florence-Pisa rail line, handy for day trips to the smaller Tuscan towns of the Valdelsa.

Guide

Getting There

Empoli is on the main Florence–Pisa rail line, with regular trains from Florence (about 35 minutes) and Pisa (about 45 minutes). The station is a ten-minute walk from Piazza Farinata degli Uberti. By car, the A11 autostrada runs nearby, with an exit at Empoli Ovest. Parking is available around the ring road on the edge of the historic centre.

Guide

Things to Do

Empoli's historic centre is compact and easily covered on foot in a morning. The Piazza Farinata degli Uberti is the natural starting point — the Romanesque church of Sant'Andrea and its attached museum hold Renaissance art far above what a town this size would usually have. Nearby, the Palazzo Ghibellino houses a palaeontology museum and the town archive.