Swords were made here. In 1467 Cosimo de' Medici sent his secretary to buy some from a local swordsmith they called Biscottino; his family, the Biscotti, lived on it until the end of the sixteenth century, then gunpowder came and the trade was over. On the coat of arms there are two swords, a sprig of basil for the name, and a scorpion nobody can explain any more.
In 1832 the comune had almost seven thousand inhabitants and twelve villages, Collodi among them. Then, in 1891, four hamlets were given to Pescia, and the population was halved. The road that follows the valley is called via delle Cartiere, the paper mills road, and runs where the Cassia ran. Giulia Ammannati, Galileo's mother, came from here.
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📅 Every year, on 15 August
On 15 August Villa Basilica, a municipality of 1,700 inhabitants in the province of Lucca, celebrates its patroness Santa Maria Assunta (Assumption of Mary).
Straight-line distances from the town centre. Tap a point to open its page.
The closest destinations covered by our editors, with straight-line distance.
Outside Villa Basilica, but an easy day trip away.
