Gerfalco is a small village about 800 m s.l.m. to the limits of the province of Grosseto whose land borders to the North-East, North and North-West with the provinces of Siena and Pisa. The town stands on a hill where the mountain "Le Cornate" on one side and the plateau of the "Carline" in the back, are the background and make up a wonderful landscape. The settlement of Gerfalco, seems to have begun around the year 900. The "Poggio di Mutti" is very tied to the historical events of Gerfalco for the importance of its mines of galena argentifera whose ancient cultivation has lasted until the late Middle Ages. The existence of these mines has made the castle of Gerfalco so important as to have been the object, in the various ages, of fierce disputes and territorial occupations by barbarian peoples, emperors, counts, bishops (of Volterra) and of the republics of Siena and Massa Marittima. The name "Gerfalco" derives from "ger-FalKe", the German word meaning "Falcon's bearer": towards the year 1000, Nordic peoples, following emperors who came to Italy, occupied Gerfalco and cultivated mines for long time, while giving the village its name.

Throughout the eleventh century, Gerfalco was under the dominant dominion of the Bishop of Volterra and the Pannocchieschi who maintained it until 1263. For an agreement between the Pannocchieschi and the municipality of Siena, Gerfalco passed under the dominion of this municipality together with other castles of the powerful family, close to the Guelphs and the Guelph cities, including Massa Marittima. In Gerfalco, remains of this era are not visible because, as a result of a strong earthquake that occurred around 1500, a large part of the town was completely destroyed. You can see the remains of the Cassero on the upper part of the hill and the Romanesque apse of the Church Pievania dedicated, since ancient times, to S. Biagio. The church, which has undergone changes in the various periods that have changed its original appearance, is greatly enlarged and has a portico probably from the 1400s.

At the course of the historical events of the castle of Gerfalco, are linked the fate of the Augustinian friars who settled, at first, around 1323 in place called "Poggio ai Venti", they sold to Massa the monastery that, for lack of money, it was possible for them to end; with the proceeds another convent was built, closer to the castle of Gerfalco, in the locality of "Poggio di S. Croce". Subsequently, with the fury of the struggles between Massa and Siena, the Poggio of "S. Croce" was no longer a safe place, and around 1400 the friars abandoned it. After leaving the oratory that is still preserved as a place of worship for the inhabitants of Gerfalco and Monterotondo Marittimo, the Agostiniani built another convent in Gerfalco, just outside the walls of the castle, still existing, used partly as a dwelling of the parish priest and partly a holiday center for young people. The Church, more than once restored, is jealously preserved by the inhabitants.

Over time, the struggles between Massa and Siena alternate with each other in the dominion of the castle of Gerfalco. The Republic of Siena was the only one to recognize the rights of Gerfalco and proved to be always generous, so as to abolish any tax charged to the population. In 1554 Siena was defeated by Florence and the Florentines tried to occupy Gerfalco, but the Gerfalchini opposed with all their strength so as to avert the occupation and renewed their oath in Siena. This indignant act 'Cosimo dei Medici, who ordered' the destruction of the castle, but once again the gerfalchini decidedly opposed and managed to keep it intact. After the fall of Siena, the gerfalchini applied for the capitulations that had been contracted since 1331 with the republic of Siena and Angelo Niccolini, governor of Siena in the name of the grand duke Cosimo dei Medici, consented 'that they were left. Gerfalco then passed under the Grand Duchy of Tuscany.

As evidence of this era, some parts of the castle of Gerfalco remain: namely the Sienese door flanked by the circular tower; the Fiorentina gate; another circular tower today adapted, in the external and internal part, to a dwelling located in the "Via del Fosso" near the Public Assistance; large bases of flanked dwellings ranging from one tower to the other of the castle, which are the same bases of the ancient walls; the palace of Giustizia e del Podesta ', located in the upper part of the town known, today, as "Capannone dei Vecchioni"; the ancient walls of the apse of the original Church of S. Biagio; the Church of the Company built in the period before the Church of S. Biagio; some ruins of the castle walls located in the upper part in a place called "Torrione"; the cistern embossed with the Pannocchieschi coat of arms located in the vegetable garden of the Augustinian convent; and the convent building today adapted with great care and made useful for the purposes indicated above. The current Via IV Novembre, once called "Via del Fosso", indicates the position of the castle moat that ran along its walls in the South part. In memory of an earlier period that recalls the pacification made between Massa and Siena by the Bishop of Florence in 1333, there is a plaque of that era, which is walled up in the façade of the former Campani house, now owned by Cetti.

After 1500 the contests for the dominion of the castle of Gerfalco ended, because with the exhaustion of the mines the main object of the contests themselves failed. People, no longer dominated by feudal families and the bishopric, have established themselves in the community and must face the difficulties of a life for survival. Given the mountain characteristics of its territory, both wheat and grape crops were very scarce. A good resource to feed was represented by chestnut flour that was produced in abundance in the area. A good part of the population was forced to go to Massa Marittima to work in the countryside to provide grain and wine to "land" the winter. Another important resource of the place, which gave the population a certain well-being, derived from the breeding of livestock favored by the rich and extensive pastures.

In the early 1900s, the cultivation of pyrite mines began in the area and life began to transform. From 1900 to 1945 the country has about 850 people including the countryside. Although agriculture and forest remain the predominant parts of the village economy, most of the male labor is used in mines, whose work offers greater guarantees of continuity and a secure salary. It is hard work that of mines, which at the beginning of the twentieth century still takes place in the most uncomfortable conditions. Certainly, the discovery of electric energy and explosives has greatly reduced labor and danger at work, but what should be the minimum conditions required to operate in respect of human dignity are always far away. It is enough to think that around 1930 the miners of Gerfalco, only to be able to go to the place of work that was the S.T.I.M.A. (Societa 'Toscana Industriale Minerali Affini), had to travel on foot or by bike a stretch of about 4 kilometers, which in winter the intense cold, snow, rain and wind made it really grueling, especially at the end of the evening shift when, after having spent eight hours in the depths of the earth, they found the way back almost all uphill.

The work of the countryside between 1900 and 1940 is characterized, for the most part, by the sharecropping system. The owner made the land available, paid taxes on agricultural income, anticipated working capital and, in general, assumed the technical management of the company. The farmer worked the land with his family, and at the end of the agricultural year the expenses and the farms were divided, in equal parts, with the owner. Farms were grown in the farms: wheat, vine, corn, forage, for barn animals, grains for farmyard animals and chestnuts were harvested.

The farm family was, normally, very numerous because the lack of any mechanical form of working the land had to be compensated by the strength of the human arms. There was the father, the "Capoccia", who organized and distributed the work of the farm in the family and the mother, the "Massaia", who looked after and organized the work of the house. Field work began when the stars were still visible and ended in the moonlight. There was the herdsman, there was the bifolco, there was the winemaker who usually did the terrace and took care of the processing of the vineyard, the pruning of plants and also took care of sewerage of fields, cleaning the ditches , the reorganization of roads, the maintenance of fences.

The threshing was the occasion of a big party for the farm family because, in addition to gathering the fruit of an important part of their work, it was the way to meet with many people, usually with other farmers from the neighborhood who came to help or, as it was used to say, "to give the exchange" because the work had to be returned. The housewife was preparing a large lunch composed, almost always, of three or four courses with wine at will for everyone and it was really nice to see that expression of genuine harmony and joy among the people.

There were those who dedicated themselves to cutting the woods, who went to work in the mine, who was a dealer, who traded. The products collected in the area by local traders were transported to Colle Val d'Elsa, on the day of the market, with horse-drawn bargains. There were also those who went to study in the city and Gerfalco, in this field, unlike many other countries, can 'remember from ancient times a large number of professionals, some of which of great scientific value. The craftsmanship was very important for Gerfalco, because it was practiced by good artisans, especially blacksmiths, carpenters and masons known also in the neighboring countries. There were two ovens, two butchers, two grocery stores, a hardware store, one of cloth, three bars and a restaurant, a primary school with two teachers who taught 5 classes. There was a source and a public well for washing clothes.

The feast of St. Biagio, patron saint of the village, gathered a large number of people coming from neighboring countries. It began with the liturgical feast characterized by a large procession through the streets of the town, continued with a banquet offered by the parish priest, in which they participated , in addition to the authorities, almost all the family heads of the village, and ended with a large party dancing in the public assistance. The party lasted until the early hours of the morning. The dances of the time were: the waltz, the tango, the mazzurca and the famous quadrille, which at the command of a person involved almost the whole room: men, women, young and old. During the evening, "the queen" was proclaimed the best and also the most beautiful dancer.

Other popular gatherings were the fairs of goods and livestock that took place on June 5 and September 20 (the most important). It was, indeed, a big party and a good chance to meet up with the inhabitants of neighboring countries. The participants came from everywhere on foot or transported by ciuchi or horses, saddled or in buggy; very few were the cars in possession of the more 'wealthy, mostly dealers or owners of farms. From the evening before the fair, in the early hours of the morning, it was an almost continuous arrival of horse-drawn barrels loaded with various goods, which was exposed to the public above modest desks. At the same time, the cattle fair was held which was led by many local farmers; for the occasion the beasts were clean and all infioccate and were gathered, for sale, in a specially designed camp. At the same time it was a competition among farmers to proudly present the goods, around which the buyers were turning and with the help of a matchmaker, business was combined.

Easter and Christmas parties were an opportunity to bring together the inhabitants of the country and the countryside in harmony. For Christmas, even with high snow, because until a few decades ago there was a lot of snow, the farmers of the area came in large numbers to assist, together with the villagers, at midnight Mass and, after the greetings, part they went back to their own houses and others kept talking and playing the "potholder" with the panforte (a typical Sienese dessert) in the bars, until the early hours of dawn. On the evening of Holy Friday many people gathered for the famous procession that, after dinner, took place with a torchlight procession through the streets of the town and at the same time fires were lit here and there for the countryside that brightened the landscape.

After the war, that is since 1945, with the restoration of democracy, social reforms, made possible by technological progress, which took place in the following years, led to a radical, rapid general transformation to better conditions of life, especially of the classes. more humble. With the land reform of the 50s, the land is assigned to the peasants and, consequently, the conduction system is substituted with the direct management of the property. Large families disappear because mechanization replaces the arms in the processing of the earth. Industrialization processes and market transformations in the packaging, marketing and distribution of agricultural products have made the traditional land-use program, especially in mountain areas, including the territories of the Gerfalco agricultural region, uneconomic. Farmers gradually abandoned almost all the farms to dedicate themselves to work in the mines in the area. Only those who have followed herding have remained in her farm, because the cost and the request of her product have made her activity economically possible.

The closure of the S.T.I.M.A. after 1960, because of its now lack of competitiveness, it will give another blow to the economy of the country, because the mine gave birth to about 70% of the population. In a short time, the population of about 900 inhabitants of Gerfalco is reduced to 200 people because, not finding more 'a safe job in the area, the inhabitants were forced to emigrate a bit' everywhere. The houses left empty have been sold and transformed into a second home for many families, especially those living in the city. The position of Gerfalco, with its panoramic ring road that to the North discovers, like a curtain, the marvelous panorama of the "Lame" and the "Carline", with its shadows, its sources of fresh and clear water, its wonderful walks through the paths of the "Cornate", the "Carline", "Poggio di Mutti", the resting village of the "Lame", the rugged cliffs of the castle of Fosini and the beautiful area of ??the hill of "Folavento" , have saved the country from a complete abandonment, perhaps irreversible. Gerfalco is today an ordered and clean mountain village, with its characteristic stone streets, the houses all renovated, the churches sheltered and restored to their former glory.

Gerfalco by night.