The town of Cerreto Guidi is in the province of Florence between the Montalbano and the Arno river and it has a population of about 9,000 inhabitants. It is famous for the Medicean complex on its inside and for the Parish of San Leonardo. It is possible to arrive at the natural reserve of the Marshland of Fucecchio not far from Cerreto.

The name of the town was inherited from the Guidi, the ancient medieval lords of the Florentine countryside who chose this place to build a defensive stronghold. At that time, Cerreto developed because of its closeness to the Francigena way that the German emperors controlled and that connected Northern Europe with central Italy thus allowing pilgrims to get to Rome. Later on, the town entered the area of influence of Florence.
Around the XIV century after the pillage carried out by Mastino della Scala in 1336, the town's walls were raised. There are four doors in the walls: to the Southeast, there is the Florentine door that was pulled down in 1648.
To the South-West, the Porta a Vatignano was built but it had already disappeared by the half of the XVI century. The only still visible door is the one to the North-West, the Porta a Palagio, called so because it is near the Palazzo del Podestà. The defence towers were destroyed to get some construction material for the Medicean Villa.
The castle is also visible on a painting by Leonardo Da Vinci dating to 1503. the arrival of the Medici in this area was not unperceived, then. The decision by the Grand Duke Cosimo I de' Medici to construct an imposing residence in his estate of the "Barco reale mediceo".
Besides the construction of the villa, the Medici also carried out a series of security interventions linked to the "ripa", above all. In effect, during the years the cliff near the complex became unstable because of the uninterrupted clearing and of the cultivation of lands. Therefore, a wide olive yard was planted in the southern part and it survived until the XIX century.
The Palio has taken place in Cerreto Guidi since the end of the 60's. It is a sort of "snake and ladders" game that benefits from the layout of the city with its circular and concentric streets. The Palio also gives the chance to commemorate the Rinascimento. Four "Contrade" that represent the four ancient doors of the city defy each other in front of the Buontalenti's monumental stairway at the end of a colourful historical parade in costume.