Monsummano Terme, set in the eastern part of the Valdinievole area, was inabuted both y the Etruscans and by the Romans, The castle of Monsummano was mentioned for the first time in a document of 1005, when it still was under the jurisdiction of the Abbey of Sant'Antimo; then it passed under the control of the Aldobrandeschis and in 1218 of Lucca, that fortified the village. During the XIV century a a decline phase started, due to the spreading of the marshy lands.
In the XIX century Monsummano developed as thermal resort, thanks to the presence of two natural grottoes (Grotta Giusti and Grotta Parlati), rich in thermal waters.
Among the most important monuments of the town, we have to mention the XII century Church of San Nicolao, in Romanesque style, located in the castle of Monsummano, with a quadrangula belltower, the Sanctuary of Santa Maria di Fonte Nuova, founded by Ferdinando I de' Medici in 1602 owing to the miraculous gushing of a water spring nearby a tabernacle where the Our Lady's picture was, Giuseppe Giusti's house, today it is a museum, the castle of Monsummano, dated back to the Lombard period, Villa Medicea in Montevettolini, realised by the architect Gherardo Mechini, and Villa Martini, today seat of the Museum of Contemporary Art.