Located along the main roads that have linked the major towns of Tuscany since Etruscan and Roman times, in the Middle Ages the village of Gambassi and the nearby Parish Church of Santa Maria a Chianni were mentioned by Archbishop Sigeric of Canterbury as one of the stops on his pilgrimage to Rome on the Via Francigena.
In the Medieval period, Gambassi became a manufacturing center with activities like glassmaking, documented by the Permanent Glass Exhibition, and the production of terracotta, the medium of the 17^th-century sculptor Francesco Gonnelli, known as the Blind Man of Gambassi.

A short distance from the characteristic historic center, which has numerous intact Medieval buildings and narrow, winding streets and offers breathtaking views over the surrounding countryside, is the Municipal Park. Here, surrounded by old-growth trees, the Terme della Via Francigena make use of the beneficial properties of the saline waters from the nearby Pillo spring, offering treatments for the wellbeing of the body and the spirit, to enjoy along with the authentic flavors of this territory’s abundant olive oil and wine.