The town of Certaldo is in the province of Florence, 67 metres above sea level and has a population of about 15000 inhabitants. The writer Giovanni Boccaccio lived and died in this municipality.

Certaldo's origins go back to the Etruscan-Roman age. The name comes from the Latin "cerrus", which means tree, and from the Germanic "cerrus aldo", definition of a rise covered with trees. The first documents attesting its presence date back to 1164, when the German emperor Federico Barbarossa gave the Counts Alberti the power on Certaldo and they kept the power on that territory until the end of the 13^th century. However, at the end of 1184 Alberto degli Alberti swore allegiance to Florence after the Florentine had imprisoned him and his family in the attempt to extend their influence on all the neighbouring centres. To respect his promise, the count had the towers overlooking the village knocked down.
From 1198 the town was formally subjected to the Republic of Florence and in the following years it became the major political and judiciary centre in Valdelsa. In 1260 Certaldo's flag waved with the one of the other villages of the Florentine area, which fought in the battle of Montaperti. During the renaissance, the town became more important as the seat of the Vicariate. On the facade of the Municipal Palace there are still the banners of the Vicars that followed from 1415 on. In 1479 the papal and Bourbon's army, al lied to the Sienese, invaded and plundered the town. It was only one of the many attacks that took place until 1555, when Florence finally managed to defeat Siena.
With the arrival of the Lorena to Tuscany in the 18^th century, Certaldo lost part of the prestige and power made in the Medicean period, until he ended under the jurisdiction of Castelfiorentino in 1784. Even the famous Lord Byron expressed his discontent for the decision of the grand duke Pietro Leopoldo di Lorena. The economic importance of the town increased until the end of the 19^th century. The construction of the railway line Empoli-Siena stimulated the beginning of an industrialization process that depopulated the neighbouring country and caused the increase of population in the municipality.