In the seventeenth century the Colombian vallombrosano Colombino Bassi, from Livorno, wanted to found in this place (until then “completely wild and inhospitable inhabited by wolves and brigands”) a church dedicated to San Giovanni Gualberto with the annexed monastery. With the authorization of the Grand Duke Cosimo III he purchased the land from the knight Francesco Lante of Pisa. Deforested and leveled the ground on 20 May 1692 the first stone was laid in the presence of the archbishop of Pisa. During the excavations for the foundations valuable archaeological finds were found (weapons, vases, coins and urns) which were donated to the great crown prince Ferdinando de ‘Medici. The complex, designed by Lorenzi from Livorno was completed in 1697 and was entrusted to the monks of the Benedictine order, from which the whole valley took its name. With the financial help of the wealthy merchant Huygens from Hamburg, the road was opened up to Livorno (1694). Became bishop of Pistoia and Prato (1715), Bassi came to consecrate the new church on June 5, 1717.
