Monte Ceceri Park is located in Fiesole, on the eastern edges of the ancient Etruscan walls, on Monte Ceceri, which owes its current appearance to a reforesting campaign begun in the 1930s.
The mountain, once completely barren, was at the centre of pietra serena quarrying since at least the 15h century: the area contains reserves of this precious stone, unique in its kind and used for building the most prestigious monuments in Florence. Thanks to this material, an impressive artisan tradition developed, from the ancient Etruscan and Roman eras to the Middle Ages to today.
Monte Ceceri Park is 44 hectares in size and includes historic places like the Cava del Braschi, the first quarry encountered coming from Pelagaccio, and Cava Sarti, a large open-air quarry located below the panoramic terrace named after Leonardo da Vinci: piazzale Leonardo is named after the artist because an inscription on a memorial stone recalls the great Renaissance genius’s experiment with human flight that took place here.
