With its 38,000 inhabitants Cascina is one of the most populated towns in the province of Pisa. It lies on the plain of Pisa and keeps numerous historical evidences, ancient villas and part of its medieval walls territory.

Cascina makes part of an ancient group of nucleuses called "free villages" . Its first inhabitants settled near the parish of Santa Maria, under the dominion of the bishopric of Pisa. Cascina is also present in the documents dating to the VIII century, but its modern structure developed around the XII century. It underwent numerous incursions because of its closeness to Florence and its status as a "free" village, therefore open to all those who wanted to live there. The raid by the inhabitants of Lucca occurred in 1295 was particularly violent and at the end of it the bell tower of the parish was pulled down.
In 1835, the government of Pisa that still remembered their crushing defeat against the Florentines in 1364 began a process of strengthening Cascina's fortifications and in the end Cascina had fourteen towers. Together with Vicopisano, the town became one of the most important and imposing Pisan defensive bastions to garrison the dangerous East front towards Florence.
Yet, in 1406, Florence could definitively besiege and conquer the castle and created a town hall in the territory of the parish of Santa Maria. At the end of the XV century, Cascina tried to rebel again and to flank Pisa, but it was defeated once more.
In the following centuries, the village became an important agricultural centre. Cereals, vines, mulberries, timber and fruit trees were cultivated in its alluvial plain that had been developed with the works carried out by the Lorraine Grand Dukes. The town also benefited from its closeness to the road between Florence and Pisa that allowed it to grow on commerce, to the extent that trade became the main point of reference in its economy after the Second World War. Industry also developed in the sector of clothing, building, and, above all, of the antique furniture.
Numerous historical constructions, such as the chapel of the Sacramento, the oratories of San Giovanni and of Santa Croce, the Bell tower, the Palazzo Stefanini and the XIII-century wall with its later changes still tell us about the town's far past. The ancient parish of Santa Maria has been remarkably preserved. It already existed as a church since the 750 and rebuilt between the XI and the XII century and has a Romanesque-Pisan style. Inside, it keeps a XIV-century fresco, XVI-century earthenware and a XII-century stoup.