Discovering San Gersolè, the School and Archive of the teacher Maltoni
Among the many available itineraries in the enchanting Impruneta area, there is a very unique one which leads us to know the small hamlet of San Gersolè, where the teacher Maria Maltoni, famous for her innovative didactic method, taught from 1920 to 1956.
The route begins with the visit to the Municipal Library of Impruneta, on Piazza Buondelmonti, where the Maltoni Archive is kept, a collection of material edited by pupils and selected by Maria Maltoni, together with many of her writings.
Driving along the provincial road Via Imprunetana towards Pozzolatico, for the 5km which separate Piazza Buondelmonti from the hamlet of San Gersolè, you cross a largely rural environment, distinguished by terrace cultivation, a wonderfulagricultural landscape where olive groves and vineyards prevail.
After passing the hamlet of Mezzomonte, where the imposing Villa Corsini is found, you turn right following the road signs to Grassina and San Gersolè; after getting past the Torre Rossa estate you reach the adorable country village of SanGersolè, which provides a beautiful view over Florence and the Ema river valley.
The first thing to see in the hamlet is the San Pietro in Jerusalem Church, a Romanesque building which gives its name to the village; a few metres away from the church, on the left, walking along the street that then leads to Grassina, you find the new Maria Maltoni nursery school, a renovated building, joyful and homely, in which two sections are still active.
On the right, a few metres away from the nursery school, lies the building which housed the famous classroom where Maltoni used to teach: the old school, which cannot be visited, is easily identified by the stone memorial plaque on the facade.
It is worth finishing off the itinerary with the visit to the small San Gersolè cemetery, also located near the church, where the tomb of the teacher Maria Maltoni lies, whose restoration in 2014, 50 years after her death, was funded by the former pupils of San Gersolè, as a demonstration of their strong attachment to the teacher.
Foto Comune di Impruneta
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Municipal Library of Impruneta and Maria Maltoni Archive
The Maria Maltoni Archive is kept in the Municipal Library of Impruneta. It is mostly made up of notebooks, drawings, class newspapers by the children who attended the rural school of San Gersolè, a hamlet of Impruneta, and who had Maria Maltoni as their teacher at this school from 1920 to 1956, the year when she retired.
The material compiled by the pupils and included in the archive is the result of the selection made by the teacher during her years of educating children, among all the papers that she thought as matching her own educational project more closely.
It consists of more than 1600 notebooks, 35 sketchbooks, a photo album containing pupils' drawings and essays; about 2400 drawings by the teacher's pupils in a variety of sizes; 600 “Newspapers” that were made weekly in class.
In addition to the pupils' papers the archive also features the writings of teacher Maltoni: from those of a more institutional nature such as 32 class registers from 1933 to 1956 and 95 notebooks and many files with pupils' diaries which she copied, to the more personal ones such as diaries, notes and correspondence. Furthermore, there are photographs, newspaper and periodical articles by and about Maria Maltoni and her wealth of educational experience.
In order to ensure the proper preservation and protection of the originals, most of the notebooks and drawings of the Maria Maltoni archive are accessible on digital media copies.
Consultation is allowed upon booking.
San Pietro in San Gersolè Church
The first mention of the church is found in an edict by Pope Adrian IV of November 29 1156 when it was confirmed to the parish priest of Santa Maria in Pineta, then an "ecclesia de S. Irsoleo" is mentioned in 1204, as a residency of the Vallombrosa monks.
Only a few traces of the original building are detectable in the facade and in the south side. Originally along the north side, there should have been a cloister which was accessed from a portal, enlarged in recent times.
The single nave interior features a wooden truss covering. The works of art that are housed here are a 17th century painting portraying the Madonna with Child, and a panel, also dating to the 17th century, with the Miracle of Saint Peter.
Gallery
