Chiesina Uzzanese owes its name to the parish of Santa Maria della Neve, built around the mid-19th century. Instead, the origins of the village date as far back as the 13th century, when a "hospice" for wayfarers was built here, near an important crossroads between two ancient routes, one of Etruscan origin and the other of Roman origin. The surrounding area was at that time rather unhealthy because of its proximity to the Fucecchio marshes. The village experienced real development beginning with the construction of the bridge over the river Pescia in 1435 and, later, reclamation works in the modern era. The center grew at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries.
In the eighteenth century, the territory of Chiesina Uzzanese was home to about 1,500 inhabitants, but the definitive momentum for the development of the place came from 1780, when Peter Leopold of Lorraine, ruler of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, had a drainage canal built and a dam torn down, thus bringing to completion the main part of the land reclamation works in this territory.
Today Chiesina Uzzanese is characterized by the beautiful flower gardens that color its landscape, and it can be considered one of the main starting points for exploring the natural beauty of the Padule di Fucecchio.
Chiesina Uzzanese owes its name to the parish church of Santa Maria della Neve, built around the mid-19th century, based on an old structure that already existed. The bell tower is an even more recent construction. The single-nave interior houses the works L’inconorazione della Vergine con due santi (The Coronation of the Virgin with Two Saints) by Alessandro Bardelli and a statue depicting St. Anthony of Padua.
In the main square stands the Xenodochio (hospice), the ancient structure that provided protection and lodging for pilgrims and strangers in the Middle Ages.
Chiesina Uzzanese is located in the territory of the Valdinievole, of which it is the smallest municipality. Its landscape is colored by the beautiful flower gardens, and it can be considered one of the main starting points for exploring the natural beauty of the Padule del Fucecchio, Italy's largest inland marshy area, despite the fact that it is now largely reduced in size compared to the ancient lake-marshes that once occupied much of the southern Valdinievole. The Padule is a true paradise for birdwatchers and a natural gem with large areas protected by Nature Reserves. Adding to the charm of the place are the still-visible testimonies of the works carried out here over the centuries by the Medici and Lorraine families.
On the occasion of the celebrations and procession in honor of the Madonna della Neve (Our Lady of the Snow) on August 5, the village holds the Settimana Chiesinese, with seven days of cultural initiatives and events.
