The natural environment around Lastra a Signa has undergone great changes over time.
Thanks to its location on a very important main river transport axis and the presence of a complex road network, it has been home to activities that have altered the original character of the environment since the thirteenth century.
Already during the Middle Ages the forests along the hills were being converted into arable land, while the timber was transported along streams up to the Arno ports before reaching Florence and Pisa.
In the last fifty years, the view has been further modified, with cultivated land being transformed into vineyards, fields being abandoned and the development of urban areas.
The rocky geological formations led to the development of sandstone quarries which supplied pietra serena and hard stone to many places in Tuscany.
Mining has always characterized Lastra’s landscape in a special way, to the point of inspiring the name, along with the proximity to the territory of Signa.