Guardistallo lies in the Cecina valley, in the Pisan Maremma, and its name is Germanic: it comes from warda, guard, and stall, place — a guard post. It first appears in 1144, and eleven years later, in 1155, two sons of count Gherardo della Gherardesca offered the bishop of Volterra part of the property they held in the castle of Guardistallo. The village grew up around that castle, and for centuries shared the fate of its neighbours — Bibbona, Riparbella, Casale Marittimo, Montescudaio — likewise held by the Della Gherardesca on behalf of Pisa.
After the fall of Pisa, in the fifteenth century Guardistallo swore loyalty to Florence; then it passed from fief to fief, and in 1739 the grand duke assigned it to marquis Carlo Ginori, the man of the porcelain works, who took it into the marquisate of Riparbella. The date the village does not forget, however, is 29 June 1944: on the eve of the Allies' arrival German soldiers carried out a massacre here in which more than sixty people died, nearly all of them civilians. For those events and for the partisan struggle Guardistallo has been awarded the bronze medal for military valour.
No events match these filters.
📅 Every year, on 10 August
On 10 August Guardistallo, a municipality of 1,254 inhabitants in the province of Pisa, celebrates its patrons Saint Lawrence and Saint Agatha (san Lorenzo e sant'Agata).
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 Guardistallo, but an easy day trip away.
