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History
The dominant position of Gello
and the arrangement of the buildings
indicate that it was founded
centuries ago.
The town definitely already existed
during the Middle Ages,
and the first map it appears on is
one showing the Val di Cecina
made by Leonardo da Vinci in 1503
(Windsor Royal Library 12683),
where Gello and the surrounding
towns are clearly indicated.
The eytmology of the name Gello,
which is also the name of two other
Tuscan towns, comes fromAgellum,
the Latin diminutive for the
word Ager (field/little field)
and hints at its even more
ancient origins.
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The actual buildings are the result
of a series of demolitions
and reconstructions over time,
with the reuse of mixed
local stones.
Only the Casa dell’Arco has definite
date thanks to a fireplace marked
by the symbol of La Rocchetta
and the date 1790.
The land registry of the
Comunità di Montecatini Valdicecina (1821)
reports a different situation
for the “Castelletto di Gello”,
indicating a few more buildings than
are actually standing,
without the arch and a different
arrangement of the Parish house.
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Since the aftermath of WWII,
the number of houses has remained
unchanged and roughly 12 families
lived in Gello, besides the Parish house
inhabitants, for a total of 100 inhabitants.
The three bread ovens are still in existence,
as well as a rain water cistern.
Drinking water came from
the Spring del Cucule at the foot of the hill.
During the ‘50s the agricultural
reforms in the area separated the Gello
farm from the surrounding terrain,
assigning it to local families.
Deprived of this relationship with local
agricultural economy,
Gello was subsequently abandoned.
In 1963 the entire village
was purchased by the actual owners.
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The problems posed by renovating the buildings
while respecting the architecture of rural
Tuscany have been dealt with in the most
non-invasive way: the original floor
and roof materials have been reutilized,
as have local mixed stones which are characterized
by the use of white alabaster and stone architraves.
Almost all of the buildings have been reconsolidated
and rebuilt, while attempting to leave
the environment unmodified.
The exterior walls of the houses were originally
brightly colored, as attested to by traces
beneath the rain gutters, and the facades,
partially stripped,
have been conserved and restored as is,
rather than redoing the facades to give
the houses an appearence of newness.
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The interiors, characterized by rooms which
pass directly from one to another,
have been modified only to create bathrooms,
which the houses originally did not have.
The only toilet was situated on the west
side of the school.
For those houses which needed to be rebuilt
completely, the original plan
of the building was followed,
with wooden structures and terra cotta tiles,
with typical Tuscan rooves.
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