In the center of the Valdarno in the area around Pisa lies Calcinaia, a town that has always been characterized by artisanal and then industrial production. Calcinaia's very name is due to the artisan tradition of pottery manufacturing and the numerous lime kilns active until the 1960s, when the area's mission took on important dimensions, especially in the hamlet of Fornacette.
The Calcinaia area has always been a key crossroads behind Pisa, and just as it is still important today for road traffic it once was for river traffic, when this area played an important role in controlling merchant traffic in the Arno basin. The banks of the river housed the boats of the "navicellai," (sailors of the river Arno) the "navicelli," in which goods were transported to the port of Livorno.