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“Francesca” apple is an ancient Tuscan variety: it allegedly originated in the province of Arezzo, while it is widespread in the area of Valdarno Inferiore, and between Florence and Pisa – it can be sporadically found also in central Italy.
Known since the Renaissance, “Francesca” was portrayed by Bartolomeo Bimbi (1648-1729) in the second half of 1600 – Bimbi was a plant and flower painter at the court of Cosimo III de ‘Medici, for whom he portrayed all types of vegetables and fruit in his famous works that greatly contributed to identifying many the varieties of the time.

In 1815, it was also described by Giorgio Gallesio (1772-1839), author of the famous “Pomona Italiana” (the illustrated compendium of most of the fruit-bearing varieties cultivated in Italy in 1817-1839).
Throughout the centuries, everybody has always liked this tasty and long-lasting apple, which in the 1960s was the second most cultivated variety in Tuscany, before being replaced by modern, industrially-grown cultivars.

Included in the list of traditional Tuscan products, “Francesca” apple trees are of medium-high vigor, with expanded foliage, slow to start fruiting, and with scarce fruit set.
It is very sensitive to scab. Its ideal growing environment is in the mountains, but it also thrives in the plains. After risking extinction, it has recently been rediscovered: it can now be found not only in nurseries nationwide but also in few agricultural facilities.

The fruits are medium-small sized, rounded, a little flattened, with initially acid-green skin tinged with red, and, when ripe, straw yellow with red cheeks. The pulp is white, firm, fine, juicy, acidulous at first but sweet and sugary when ripe, fragrant, and aromatic.

The apples are harvested in mid-October, stored to finish ripening until the beginning of November, and can be preserved until April. They can be enjoyed fresh or used to prepare cakes, jams, mustards, and spirits. Like many other aromatic fruits, they used to be placed in the wardrobes for their fragrance.

Origin of the name

The name “Francesca” comes “Via Francigena”, the ancient pilgrim route running from France to Rome and Apulia, eventually reaching the ports of embarkation for the Holy Land.
Along the Tuscan stretch of that ancient road, there were many spontaneous apple trees of this very kind, later properly identified and recorded as a unique variety.

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)