The name comes from San Gaudenzio, a hermit who withdrew to these mountains to spend his life praying. The Benedictine Abbey was built in his name around the end of the 11th century; later, the first houses sprang up around the religious structure. San Godenzo and its mountain were under the control of the Guidi Counts until 1344, when it was ceded to the Republic of Florence. Thus it became a part of the Florentine countryside, which at that time was expanding with ever new conquests.

The First World War was tragic for this area from a humanitarian and economic point of view. In 1944, San Godenzo, with all its lands, was hit by the famous Gothic Line, where the German army was deployed for a long time, facing the advancing Allied forces. Most of the town's houses were razed and the population was obliged to take shelter far away, even as far as the other side of the Apennines. In 1945, reconstruction began and San Godenzo saw its fortunes returning. Today, the town with its 519 inhabitants enjoys an economy primarily based on wood, wrought iron and stone craftsmanship; a fairly important sector, and tourism is noticeably increasing.

Dante and San Godenzo:

The internal warfare in Florence between the Black Guelphs on one side and White Guelphs and the Ghibellines on the other, ended with the the latter's expulsion from the city, with Dante condemned to death in absentia, issued in January 1302 by the head of Florentine government, Count Gabrielli of Gubbio. The White Guelphs fled, and with them Dante, who found refuge with his friends the Guidi Counts in Casentino. White Guelphs and Ghibellines, nonetheless, were thinking of revenge and plotting their return to Florence, so they organised a few meetings, one of which was held in the San Godenzo Abbey. The meeting was substantially convened to sign an agreement between the noble families exiled from Florence, with the deed drafted by the notary Ser Giovanni Buto d'Ampinana (the deed is preserved at the State Archives in Florence) to guarantee economically the Ubaldini, the lords of Mugello, in case of a Florentine attack on their Castle at Monteaccianico.

There was a bitter encounter between White and Black Guelphs at the meeting, with the former defeated. After this episode, Dante decided to detach himself from his Florentine companions ("compagnia malvagia e scempia") and "di far parte per se stesso" (as the Poet himself recalls in Canto XVII of Paradiso).

Every year the town organises an historical re-enactment of this meeting between the White Guelphs and the Ghibellines that Dante took part in.

Must-sees:

The heart of the town is its wonderful Abbey, dedicated to San Gaudenzio and built in 1028 at the behest of the Bishop of Fiesole, Jacopo the Bavarian. In 1070, Bishop Trasmondo, promoter of new embellishment works, consecrated the new church and gave it to the Benedictines. On the 8th of June 1302, the famous meeting between the White Guelphs and Ghibellines took place.

This Abbey is one of the most important examples of Romanesque architecture in Tuscany. The exterior features a clear stone façade with a preceding stairway. The interior is vast and solemn: three naves with square pillars and a raised presbytery, with three apses.