Chianni

The municipality lies between the Era and the Fine, in a valley of chestnut woods, vines and olives. The coat of arms tells two things: a crenellated band, recalling the castles of Chianni and Rivalto, and a rose, standing for the woods. The village was long fought over: in 1186 the emperor Henry VI assigned it to the bishop of Volterra, a few years later it passed to Pisa, it rebelled, it changed masters several times, and in 1406 it submitted to Florence. In 1629 grand duke Ferdinand II made it a marquisate for the Riccardi, who held it until grand-ducal fiefs were abolished in 1776. On the ridge of Monte Vitalba, since 2007, the blades of a wind farm have been turning.

During the Italian Social Republic eleven people from several Jewish families — ten adults and one boy — had taken refuge here: the Della Seta, the Roccas and the Di Nola at the Mercatale farm, which belonged to them, the Bigiavi on a holding nearby. The local carabinieri had stated that there were no Jews in the area. On 20 and 21 April 1944 the German troops came all the same and arrested them, led by an informer who had been shown kindness. It was the largest group of Jews arrested in the whole province of Pisa: none of them came back from Auschwitz.