CERTALDO  , a

town of Tuscany, Italy, in the province of Florence, 35 M . S.S.W. by rail and 18 m. direct from the town of Florence . Pop . (1901) town, 4552; commune, 9120 . It was the home of the family of Giovanni Boccaccio, who died and was buried here in 1375 . His house (of red brick, like the other old houses of the town) was restored in 1823 and fitted up with old furniture . A statue of him was erected in the principal square in 1875 . The Palazzo Pretorio, or Vicariale, the residence of the Florentine governors, recently restored to its original condition, has a picturesque facade and court adorned with coats of arms, and in the interior are various frescoes dating from the 13th to the 16th century . The town as a whole is picturesque, and lies on a hill 426 ft. above sea-level . See R . Pantini, S . Gimignano e Certaldo (Bergamo, 1904), p.101 seq .