Azienda agricola e agriturismo
"Il Gattesco"
La casa dei Tarocchi
Casa il Brio
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History of "Il Gattesco"
The first known documents relating to the Giacomelli family date back to the late 1700s, when Nicolao Giacomelli regained some lands in the Acqualunga area, south of via Montalese. In fact, a law introduced by the Grand Duke Leopold of Tuscany allowed, in those years, the settlers who cultivated fields owned by the Church to work independently and regain them over the years with the fruits of their work. In the following decades the Giacomelli family enlarged its property by purchasing more land in the area between Montale and Pistoia until, in about 1850, Orazio Giacomelli bought the property called "Il Gattesco" from the Counts Cellesi; this property also included an ancient villa, where the famous architect Francesco Maria Gatteschi had lived in 1700s, to whom numerous works in the city of Pistoia are attributed.
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From the name of the Gatteschi family, originally the owner of the villa, we assume that the toponym Il Gattesco, which still gives its name to the farm and to a small stream that crosses the property (the Rio Gattesco) is derived.
Orazio Giacomelli completely renovated the villa in the style of the time, giving it the appearance it still has today. Orazio was the eldest son of 5 children: his brothers were Leonardo, Demetrio, Luigi and Stella Giacomelli. Luigi, a priest, was parish priest in Sant'Agostino; Demetrio, also a priest, was parish priest of the Church of Santomato (where a baptismal font donated by him to the parish is still preserved). Leonardo and Stella had no children, Orazio instead was the father of Giuseppe and Raffaello, among whom, at his death, the property was divided. Some stories have been handed down relating to these brothers who seemed to be great workers of the earth and particularly robust and strong: a large nut tree that produced many fruits was born on the border ditch with another property; both owners claimed the ownership of the tree and fought over the walnut picking; this led to continuous discussions every year until one day the 4 Giacomelli brothers uprooted it by force and replanted it in their property. Leonardo was the strongest of the three and was the champion of a very popular competition at the time: "Il Tiro del Cocomero", which consisted of throwing a gigantic watermelon on top of the bell tower of the Church of San Rocco.
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The property was equally divided among Orazio’s sons, and the Gattesco villa belonged to Giuseppe, who was the first doctor after many generations of farmers. However, Giuseppe's life was turned upside down by the 1st World War, in which he participated on the Austrian front, remaining severely worn out after the cruelty of the battle. Everything is told by the book "Da Pistoia a Caporetto", which he wrote on his return. Giuseppe died young, leaving "Il Gattesco" farm to his wife Amalia Mazzei and his little son Alessandro.
Even Alessandro’s life was marked by war: World War II, particularly in the period when Germans defended themselves from the advance of the Allies along the Gothic line that passed right from the mountains above Pistoia. The German army's strategy involved the destruction of houses along the defensive lines to prevent enemies from sheltering from the shots of cannons placed in bunkers in scenic areas on the mountain. Thus it was that all the farmhouses were razed to the ground, as were the jasmines, vineyards and other crops. By chance, just as Germans were preparing to undermine the Gattesco villa, Americans broke through the enemy lines and forced them to retreat north, and "Il Gattesco" was saved from destruction. Alessandro, returning from the Slovenian front, found himself having to rebuild the houses of the peasants, reactivate the crops and give life back to the company which was practically destroyed. He devoted himself to this activity by graduating in Agriculture and establishing a collaboration with the University of Florence to experiment with new cultivation techniques. Alessandro married Marcella Romagnoli and had one son, Giovanni, a doctor and current owner of the Gattesco villa.
Giovanni is married to Maria Letizia Bini, who has been in charge of the farm for over 20 years, initially producing olive oil and then starting a social agriculture business producing vegetables and organic fruit. Little by little, Letizia and Giovanni are renovating the farm's farmhouses for agritourism activities