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Castelnuovo takes its
name from the ancient Roman"Castrum Camajani" ,
in fact at
the times of imperial Rome it was
a military place,a rather important
fortress. Little by little a new village sprang up on the ruins of the ancient "Castrum", and around
them,
therefore it
took
the name of
new "castrum", or Castelnuovo.
Later the Charity House of Mercy of Pisa got large
possessions here, given by
the Gherardesca earls, therefore Castelnuovo was
called
"of Mercy", in order to distinguish it from many other
villages
of
the same name. The Charity
House of Mercy is
still recognized as
"direct property" of many lands
given as surveyor's
level.
Camajano is first mentioned
in a level
document which dates back to
857, that is 1148 years ago.
However some marble memorial stones, discovered long time ago
where the castle is situated ,are evidence of the presence of
the Etruscans
in these places..
In 1040 at
Camajano Sismondo di Cunitto
and other noble Pisans drew up a notarial deed to sell a
villa and some
lands near the castle of Vada.
In 1126 the
archbishop of Pisa, Uberto of the Lanfranchi, donated to the chapter
of the Pisan Primazial Church his part of ownership
of the Camajano
castle and of the
Popogna one.
In a will Guido daFasciano, son of the late Ranuccio, declares he
will leave his possessions to the hospital of St. Lorenzo di
Stagno if he dies heirless. Among these possessions there are
Colle and Castelvecchio in
Faldo. The will dates back to May,28th 1182.
In different periods some memorial stones cippi, sepulchral
inscriptions of the roman period ,,small mileposts, etc.were unearthed
in Castelnuovo.
On the Rialdo ditch you can still see the ruins called "the Pievaccia"
that refer to the ancient S. Giovanni churh, while the present
parish church is dedicated to St. Stefano and was erected
from1638 to1642 and restored in 1842.
The rests of the ancient church of St.Stefano are inserted in the
southern part of the castle, to the left of the entrance door, in a
private building. Before 1776 Castelnuovo was a municipality itself , after the law of the 27th
of June
1776 about the new municipality regulations,the municipality of Castelnuovo,
which in previous times was called municipality of Colle , was united to the one of Rosignano and
actually, according to the mentioned law, the first gonfalonier to be
elected was an inhabitant of Castelnuovo, Mrs Giuseppa di Domenico
Cantalupi who charged the priest of Rosignano, father Marco Salvetti,
with the execution of her duties.
According to the law of 1776 women could both elect and to be elected.
Later the Municipality of Rosignano had other two inhabitants of
Castelnuovo as heads : Mr Francesco Lobin, Gonfalonier in 1842 and Mr. Giuseppe Comparini
, Mayor in 1909.
On The 30th September 1786 Dr Leopoldo Benci of Castelnuovo
was appointed first municipal doctor.
In 1787 Castelnuovo had the first schoolteacher.
On April 16th 1796 the edict for the construction of
the tank on the land of the noble Bernardi was published . The tank was
built by the master mason Iacopo Geri, while the engineer Giovanni
Andreini was the director of the jobs. The tank cost
860 scudos and its capacity is of 6,000 barrels. It is remembered that in
1837, according to the laws in force, a landowner of Castelnuovo named Pardini
Cosimo was exonerated from taxes because he was the father
of 12 living children.
In 1848 the rural postman between Rosignano and
Castelnuovo was instituted with three journeys a week.
In 1866 the first girls' school was instituted at Castelnuovo and in
1868 the fair was fixed on the Monday after the third
Sunday of October.
The population of Castelnuovo, very hard-working and industrious,
thanks to
several ethnic characteristics, seems to be
the continuation of an ancient colony, perhaps roman.
The present aspect of the village is outlined by a considerable construction
which has developed during the latest decades.
Anyway there remain the two most important historical settlements
: Castelnuovo and Castelvecchio. Thanks to their geographical position and strategic military importance,
most of all between the 12th and 17th centuries, they dominated over
the plain below and the important Maremma street, (today S.S.206), that
in the past has been the only possible way between
Pisa in the north and Maremma in the south. |
