Every design for Empoli

Did you know that the council where Farinata degli Uberti spoke out against destroying Florence was held in Empoli? After the Battle of Montaperti the Ghibellines gathered in the Palazzo Ghibellino, the former palace of the Guidi counts, and decided the fate of Florence's Guelphs in this small town on the Arno.

The Pinacoteca museo della collegiata di Sant'Andrea stands beside the town's main monument, the Collegiata itself, whose Romanesque façade of green and white marble was modelled on San Miniato in Florence. Inside are paintings by Francesco Botticini and a terracotta by Luca della Robbia. Empoli's story goes back further still: it was a Roman river port on the Via Quinctia, then a town grown up around its castle, then a fortress whose fall marked the end of the Florentine Republic. The Casa del Pontormo and the Museo Casa di Ferruccio Busoni bring two great names of art and music into its streets, and the MuVe - Museo del Vetro is given over to glass.

If you are from Empoli, you carry more history than most people realise. Wear it the way locals cross Piazza dei Leoni: without fuss, but knowing exactly where you stand.