VIA VECCHIA FIESOLANA

This steep and narrow road was the main thoroughfare to Fiesole until the time of the grand Duchy, in 1840, when the present road was opened. It still is one of the most beautiful ways to get to Fiesole on foot. Shortly after the turn-off, the visitor comes to Villa il Riposo dei Vescovi. The story is that the bishops paused here to rest on their way from Florence to Fiesole. Just around the half-way point stands the oratory of St. Ansano. It dates to the 11th Century and in 1795 it passed into the hands of Canon Angelo Maria Bandini, erudite antiquarian and philologist, who radically renovated it and established an important collection of paintings which are now in the museum bearing his name. Here, the road skirts alongside the Villa Medici and Villa Le Balze. Further up is the former Convent of St. Girolamo. Built in 1404 for the congregation of the hermits of St. Girolamo of the blessed Charles Count of Montegravello, it was extended by Michelozzo under Cosimo the Elder. Up until a few years ago, it was a hospice run by English nuns. On the outside can be seen the cyclopean remains of a part of the Etruscan city wall of the rock of St. Francis.