Colle di Val d'Elsa - Encyclopedia

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES

COLLE DI VAL D' ELSA, a town and episcopal see of Italy, in the province of Siena, 5 m. by rail S. of Poggibonsi, which is 16 m. N.W. of Siena. Pop. (1901) town 1987; commune 9879. The old (upper) town (732 ft. above sea-level), contains the cathedral, dating from the 13th century, with a pulpit partly of this period; the façade has been modernized. There are also some old palaces of good architecture, and the old house where Arnolfo di Cambio, the first architect of the cathedral at Florence (1232-1301) was born. The lower town (460 ft.) contains glass-works; the paper and iron industries (the former as old as 1377) are less important.