The name Calci comes from the Latin Calx, calais, that is the Italian word for lime calce, which in large quantities are present in the caves along the coast of the mountains. In documents from the Roman period this small community, known as Locus calais, the lime industry was already present at those days.
The city is found in the middle of a valley with houses, farms, hermitages, convents and churches spread out between olive groves and chestnut forests. Together it is named the valley Valle Graziosa. In the Middle Ages Calci was an agricultural and industrial area on the banks of the river Zambra, under the domination of the Bishop of Pisa until 1867. Then it became an independent municipality. Olive producers manufactured the finest oil, while the river Zambra supplied the required force for the mill wheels to keep the factories running. Here, in addition they had a prolific production of wool in the city that created fabrics and garment
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At the end of the Middle Ages the settler St. Jacopo and Verano alla Costa d'aqua and Sant'Alessandro stayed at the edge of forests. These hermitages were known from far and near, and therefore supposes that Bernardo da Chiaravalle have visited these places during his stay in Pisa in 1135. Also the founder of the Carthusian monastery, known as Certosa di Pisa or Certosa di Calci (i.e. Pisa or Calci Carthusian Monastery), today museum of the university of Pisa's administration. And it is this museum that makes up the city's main attraction.
The city is located about 79 km from Florence, 22 km from Livorno, 19 km from Lucca and 14 km from Pisa.
