The "Pass of the Sheperds"

The Burgh During The Centuries. We find traces of the existence of ‘Passo-dei-Pecorai’ for the Etruscan epoch. In the old street who cross the river-Greve, going through the burghs of Luciana, Tolano and Ciciano till the farm of Nozzole, is still possible to see the old floor made in stones. That is typical of the period ‘Etrusco’. The village of ‘Passo-dei-Pecorai’ find its reasons to exist in the necessity of the shepherds to bring the herds to the fresh and green pastures.

This happened two times a year. Since 60 years ago, this was the only way to find fresh grass all year. The ‘Passo-dei-Pecorai’ in fact means: pass of the shepherds. It is situated on the way, it is close to a clean river, where it was possible to wash the sheeps. Just the ideal place to pass and stop

The shepherds could have a break from a lot of days spent in the woods: a hot dinner and a warm bed to sleep.

The payment consisted in cheese and some others natural products. The traffic of the animals, was very intense until the World war II. The ‘Podestà’ of ‘Greve-in-Chianti’ had to make a law to regulate thetraffic of the herds. The ‘Passo-dei-Pecorai’ was also important because its special geographic location. It is on the cross of the streets from Florence to the high-Chianti and Siena. From Greve to the valley of river-Arno and the other oldest streets to the south Tuscany. There is probably a relation among the coat of arms of ‘Greve-in-Chianti’ and the village of ‘Passo-dei-Pecorai’. It represents a sheep looking ahead, with a flag with a yellow cross. There also a similitude among the Greve flag, with the symbol of ‘the Corporazione della lana' in Firenze.

In this case the sheep’s looking back and the cross over the sheep’s flag is red. The conformation of the coat of arms help us with a dating in about the XVI century. The origins of the village of Greve (from latinum: suffering, heaviness) come probably by a pest who attacked the Castle of ‘Monteficalle’ (today ‘Montefioralle’). During the XI C. The people with this terrible disease, had to leave the Castle and they moved close to the river. Maybe the halo on the coat of arms is representing the salvation of the people. The last different things among these two coats of arms is the sheep who’s looking ahead on the ‘Lanaioli’s’ and the flag painted in blue with a yellow cross on the Greve’s symbol.

There are not any other news about Greve before the X-XI C. In ‘Passo-dei-Pecorai’ the sheeps were crossing for many, many years. On the hill in front of the hotel, there is S. Angiolio’s ‘Church’.

An historical research, made us sure that in the valley there was an original house from the Etruscan Epoch ; there’s also an high possibility that the more important houses of ‘Passo-dei-Pecorai’ were the houses of ‘Tolano’. During these times, it was usual to build the houses on the hills because the sickness brought by mosquitoes living in the valleys. That’s why the main burgh of ‘Passo-dei-Pecorai’ was probably the village of Tolano.

Between 1870 and 1920, crossing the Etruscan road, a railroad was built that linked Florence to Greve in Chianti. When it was dismantled, it become the actual road (by the number of course, you can understand when was built SP3), which is the fastest, straightest and most easy way to come and to go.

		La Ballerina Di Tolano Etruscan reperts, found in the Sacci Cementery cave (Testi), Archaeological Museum Florence