Bientina

Bientina
Comune
Comune di Bientina
Coat of arms
Bientina Location of Bientina in Italy
Coordinates:
Country	Italy
Region	Tuscany
Province / Metropolitan city	Pisa (PI)
Frazioni	Caccialupi, Puntone, Quattro Strade, Santa Colomba
Government
• Mayor	Corrado Guidi
Area
• Total	29.2 km2 (11.3 sq mi)
Elevation	10 m (30 ft)
Population (01 January 2014)
• Total	7,990
• Density	270/km2 (710/sq mi)
Demonym(s)	Bientinesi
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	56031
Dialing code	0587
Patron saint	San Valentino Martire
Saint day	June 5
Website	Official website

Bientina (Italian: Bièntina) is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Pisa in the Italian region Tuscany.

History

The toponym Bientina is attested the first time in 793 as Blentina and it probably comes from the Etruscan name Plitine.

Geography

Location of the municipality (Comune) of Bientina (province of Pisa)

Territory

Bientina is located between the Lucca's plain (Piana di Lucca) and the Valdarno.

It's about 50 kilometres (31 mi) west of Florence and about 15 kilometres (9 mi) east of Pisa and it borders the following municipalities: Altopascio (Province of Lucca), Buti, Calcinaia, Capannori (Province of Lucca), Castelfranco di Sotto, Santa Maria a Monte, Vicopisano.

In the communal territory there was once the largest lake in Tuscany, the Lake of Bientina.

Climate

Bientina experiences a Mediterranean Climate like other cities in Central Italy.

Being more distant from the sea, winters are usually less mild than Pisa and summers are warmer.

The climatic classification is "Zone D, 1856 GR/G"

Main sights

Religious architecture

• Church of San Domenico (1621)
• Church of Santa Maria Assunta (medieval - expanded and renovated in the mid-1600)
• Church of Madonna del Bosco in Santa Colomba
• Oratory of San Girolamo (1640), home to the museum of ancient history of Bientina
• Oratory of San Pietro and Rocco (17th-century)
• Oratory of San Giusto, the first church of Bientina (12th-century)

Civil architecture

• Palazzo Pancani
• La Mora tower (13th-century)
• Torre Civica (Torre del Frantoio) (13th-century) - center of cultural activity.
• Torre del Giglio (13th-century)
• Loggetta del Palazzo Comunale (17th-century)

• 

  Church of San Domenico

• 

  La Mora tower

• 

  Church of Santa Maria Assunta

• 

  Fountain in Piazza Vittorio Emanuele

Transport

Roads

Bientina is crossed by the Strada provinciale 439 Sarzanese Valdera and some secondary roads. Public transportation is performed by the company CTT Nord.

Trains

Until 1944 the town also had a train station along the former railway Lucca-Pontedera; the dilapidated building is still visible along the main road 25.

Notable people associated with Bientina

• Giuseppe Gerbi, serie A footballer in the 30s.
• Piero Pampaloni, serie A footballer in the 30s.
• Aldo Puccinelli
• Gaetano Polidori
• John Polidori
• Enrico Rossi
• Jacopo Del Polta, poet, born in Bientina, lived in Florence in the mid-1400.

International relations

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Italy

Bientina is twinned with Saint-Rémy-de-Provence since 1997

External links

• Official website