The town of Capannoli is in the province of Pisa and it has a population of about 5,000 inhabitants. Part of its territory rich in unpolluted landscapes is included in the natural reserve of the Alta Val d'Edera.

Apart from its probable Roman origins, the village of Capannoli was known as the castle of the Gherardesca and, since 1099, it belonged to the bishopric of Lucca as established by Matilde di Canossa. A document dating to 1119 confirms that the village was already fortified at the time. In 1178, a descendant of the Della Gherardesca, Ugolino III, took on the title of Count of Capannoli.
In the XIII and the XIV centuries, Capannoli passed under the seigniory of the Gambacorta after Guido Da Montefeltro's troops assaulted and occupied it on behalf of the Pisan republic. At this time, the village also could grow into an autonomous city-state for a short time.
In 1348, the Florentines conquered it and later the Pisans took it back until 1406, the year when it was definitively annexed to the territories dominated by the Florentines.
Capannoli had always been an agricultural centre and it was still described as such at the half of the XIX century. Its territory has always allowed a diversification in production ranging from the cultivation of cereals to the cultivation of vine and olives to stock-breeding. In the last years, also tobacco plantations and fruit trees have been added. Yet, after the second World War, a phase of industrialization linked to the rising of numerous furnitures that withdrew much workforce to the countryside started.
The Villa Bourbon del Monte with late-Baroque elements and the Church of the Santissima Annunziata can be visited in Capannoli. The latter church built in 1631 to thank the Virgin Mary for avoiding the spread of a plague epidemics dating to the year before was strongly influenced by restoration works of 1741. In effect, these operations changed it into a Baroque structure. Later, the portico on the outside, the organ and the choirstall were added in 1772 as well as the bell tower dating to 1837. Inside, a wooden image of the Virgin Mary of the XIV century that was probably part of a bigger sculpture composition is kept on the inside. It seems that this statue, worshipped by the inhabitants of Capannoli, was crowned with a silver ribbon ornate with precious stones. Two XVII-century statues by Cieco di Gambassi and a work coming from the famous shop of the Della Robbia can be admired in the nearby chapel.