Driving from Florence to Panzano in Chianti you will take the “strada Chiantigiana”, a road that will lead you to Impruneta, a small Tuscan town where the famous “terracotta” pots and tiles are produced.

The production of “terracotta” in Impruneta is a very old tradition, dating back to Etruscan and Roman times, with the production of pots, amphorae, bricks... It can be explained because it is only in small areas on the territories of Impruneta and Greve that one can find the special type of clay that gives the terracotta its superb color and makes it unalterable to the cold. Various documents attest to this activity as early as the 11th century, with the creation in the Renaissance of a "guild" bringing together artisans who were producing terracotta. Such a production has continued during the middle Ages and the Renaissance until today, and is still the essential economic activity of Impruneta. Customers are coming from all parts of the world!

In 1419 Brunelleschi chose the bricks made with Impruneta clay to build the Dome of Florence cathedral. All other architects also used the terracotta products. It is again in Impruneta that were recently produced the bricks for the restoration of the Dome. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, but especially since the beginning of the twentieth century, new industrial processes were introduced, allowing a larger scale production of terracotta, especially for high quality construction materials, bricks and tiles.

There are still today in Impruneta many workshops where craftsmen are making amphorae used in some Chianti cellars, sculptures, as well as pots for the gardens, using traditional techniques.

The floors in Tuscany are traditionally made of terracotta, be it peasants houses, or villas or palaces, and floors in Villa le Barone, in Palazzo Larderel and in our Fattoria Vecchienna are made in terracotta from Impruneta!

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