Pracchia is an Italian village and hamlet (''

frazione A ''frazione'' (: ''frazioni'') is a type of subdivision of a ''comune'' ('municipality') in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist era (1922–1943) as a way to consolidat ...

'') of the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Pistoia Pistoia (; ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of a province of the same name, located about north-west of Florence and is crossed by the Ombrone Pistoiese, a tributary of the River Arno. It is a typic ...

, in the

province of Pistoia The province of Pistoia () is a province in the Tuscany region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Pistoia and the province is landlocked. It has an area of and a total population of 291,788 inhabitants (as of 2015). There are 22 ''comuni'' (: ...

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...

. In 2011 it had a population of 268.

History

Due to its position, the village hosted a

customs Customs is an authority or Government agency, agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling International trade, the flow of goods, including animals, transports, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out ...

between the

Grand Duchy of Tuscany The Grand Duchy of Tuscany (; ) was an Italian monarchy located in Central Italy that existed, with interruptions, from 1569 to 1860, replacing the Republic of Florence. The grand duchy's capital was Florence. In the 19th century the population ...

and the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; ; ), officially the State of the Church, were a conglomeration of territories on the Italian peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope from 756 to 1870. They were among the major states of Italy from the 8th c ...

. In 1524, the construction of the first

blast furnace A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally pig iron, but also others such as lead or copper. ''Blast'' refers to the combustion air being supplied above atmospheric pressure. In a ...

s to manufacture of

iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

from

Elba Elba (, ; ) is a Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean island in Tuscany, Italy, from the coastal town of Piombino on the Italian mainland, and the largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago. It is also part of the Arcipelago Toscano National Park, a ...

island began.

Geography

The village is located in the Tuscan-Emilian Apennine Mountains, lesser than a km from the borders of

Emilia-Romagna Emilia-Romagna (, , both , ; or ; ) is an Regions of Italy, administrative region of northern Italy, comprising the historical regions of Emilia (region), Emilia and Romagna. Its capital is Bologna. It has an area of , and a population of 4.4 m ...

, between

(26 km south) and

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

(81 km north). It is 1 km from Vizzero, 11 from San Mommè, 12 from

San Marcello Pistoiese San Marcello Pistoiese was a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Pistoia in the Italian region Tuscany, located about northwest of Florence and about northwest of Pistoia. It has been a frazione of San Marcello Piteglio since 2017. His ...

and 16 from

Porretta Terme Porretta Terme ( Bolognese: ''Puratta'') is a town of the Reno Valley Tuscan-Emilian Apennines, a ''frazione'' of the ''comune'' of Alto Reno Terme, Emilia-Romagna. Porretta Terme is located about south-west of Bologna. Known since Roman times fo ...

. The settlement is crossed in the middle by the river

Reno Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada–California border. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County, Nevada, Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, ...

, that divides it into "Pracchia Alta" (Upper Pracchia) and "Pracchia Bassa" (Lower Pracchia). North of the village is located a zone named "Setteponti" (Seven Bridges), once known as "Mulino del Pillotti" (Pillotti's Mill), and the seat of the ancient customs.

Transport

The village is served by a station on the Porrettana railway

. It was the junction point of an abandoned

narrow-gauge railway A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter cur ...

, the '' Ferrovia Alto Pistoiese'' (FAP) Pracchia-

- Mammiano, dismantled after 1965.The Pracchia-Mammiano railway on ferrovieabbandonate.it
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Gallery

References

External links

Office of Tourism of Pracchia

Pracchia.it website
{{Authority control Frazioni of the Province of Pistoia Pistoia