The town of Calcinaia in the province of Pisa houses the XVII-century parish church of St. John the Baptist and the church of the Compagnia del Crocifisso dating to the XVII century. It is also a lively industrial centre with a population of about 8,000 inhabitants.

Originally, it was called Vico Vitri because of the ancient activity of fabrication of pottery and the village rose on the left bank of the Arno river around the X century. A document informs us that in 975 the bishop Alberico da Pisa asked the Oberti, the lords of this place, two parishes of Vico Vitri, the one of St. John the Baptist and the one of St. Peter. The latter is also cited in a 1193 bull issued by Pope Celestine III. The town got its current name after the construction of numerous furnaces for the production of lime.
In the Middle Ages, the Cadolingi, noblemen from Pistoia looking for fortune on the banks of the Arno, were the first to exercise their seigniory on the territory. The Upezzinghi, heirs of an ancient Lombard family, ruled later. The Upezzinghi particularly distinguished themselves for their intense participation to Tuscany's political life until the age of the City-States when they entered into conflict with the Republic of Pisa. Despite some agreements the nobles reached with the city, Pisa settled both a Captain and a Magistrate in Calcinaia in 1284. During the clashes between Pisa and Lucca, Calcinaia housed an important meeting between the pope Innocent III and the emperor Lotario II in 1138.
In 1555, the definitive annexation of Calcinaia to the Medicean Grand Duchy occurred. The duchy had progressively been establishing its power in the Pisan territory and in the important seaport of the Republic for a long time. Cosimo I started numerous works to embank the floods of the Arno and to improve its navigability by following one of Leonardo Da Vinci's projects. The river was diverted by modifying the position of the town, which now was on the right river but lost its contact with the important Florence-Pisa road.
Apart from this unfortunate coincidence, Calcinaia became a lively agricultural centre thanks to the reclamations linked to the works on the river Arno and to the following works of water reorganization and drying off of the lake of Bientina as established by the Lorraine. Finally, in the 60's of the XX century, a growing process of industrialization developed in the hamlet of Fornacette. The inhabitants of Calcinaia organize a historical regatta every year at the end of May to celebrate their relation of closeness with the Arno.
After a historical parade, the quarters of the town compete in a race of riverboats that has taken place since the XIX century. The three quarters are "Montecchio" that represents Calcinaia's bourgeois area. "Oltrarno", which corresponds to the rural area, and "La Nave" that has the colours of the seigniory who lived in the medieval castle.