Certaldo

Certaldo Alto sits above the modern town in the Val d'Elsa and is built almost entirely in brick rather than stone, which gives it a warmer and more uniform look than most Tuscan hill villages. Giovanni Boccaccio's family came from here; he spent his last years in the town and died in 1375, and the house identified as his, rebuilt after wartime damage, is a museum with a library. The Palazzo Pretorio carries the coats of arms of successive Florentine governors in glazed terracotta across its facade. A funicular climbs from the lower town, and the village is closed to traffic.

What you actually see

• The brick village - a hill town built in brick rather than stone.
• Boccaccio's house - a museum and library on the main street.
• The Palazzo Pretorio - a facade covered in governors' coats of arms.
• The funicular - the climb from the modern town below.

When to go

April to October; Mercantia, a street theatre festival, fills the village in July. Summer evenings are the best time. Winter is very quiet.

Honest expectations

The house is a postwar reconstruction after bomb damage. The village is small, walked in an hour. Mercantia week is ticketed and packed.

Nearby

San Gimignano lies south; Florence is northeast.