Buti in Tuscany

Buti is a town at the foot of Mounts Pisani and it has a population of 5,000 inhabitants. Historically, the birth of the town is attributed to the Romans, even if numerous devastations happened during the Middle Ages erased the any trace of the presence of this population in the territory.

Castel Tonini raised in the XV century overlooks the old town centre. Inside, there are numerous noble residences of the XVI and the XVII centuries. In the town, the Romanesque church of St. Francis and the "Francesco di Bartolo" Theatre built in the XIX century according to the style of the academic theatres of the time. Walking down the "via dei Molini", instead, it is possible to arrive at the church of the Assunzione.
Historically, the first news on the territory of Buti date to the year 1000 approximately when the village was part of a system of fortifications. Among them, there are the castles of Panicale, Farneta, Santo Stefano in Cintoia, Nocco, San Giorgio, Sant' Agata and Castel Tonini. Not all of them have come to our days, obviously, but some of them are still well preserved. In 960, the bishop of Pisa ceded part of these properties as a feud to Giovanni called Belizio, a Lombard-born nobleman.
In the Middle Ages, the town was famous for its production of wine, above all. Even if the town still preserves its medieval structure, it endured destructions, fires and occupations several times. First, it was involved in the harsh disputes between Pisa and Lucca. Later, it experienced incursions on the part of the Florentines, who since the XVI century started a series of military manoeuvres to submit the most famous towns in Tuscany (also Siena and Pisa) to the Tuscan Grand Duchy.
In the XVI century, Buti experienced a phase of development due to the afflux of immigrants from the Frignano and from the Garfagnana who enhanced the local economy based on agriculture. Under the aegis of the Grand Duchy, the production of oil and of chestnut timber flanked the production of wine, since there were numerous lumberjacks among the people coming to the village looking for fortune.
Buti is a centre with an incredible cultural variety and it has given life to numerous leisure groups and manifestations keeping and divulging its own folklore and preserving its local dialect. This was possible thanks also and above all to the "Maggi", poems chanted by the poets from Buti who had been telling stories and legends linked to the town and to its foundation from the XIX century on. In the XIX century, this activity was sided by a rich theatre production with the building of a theatre.