COLLE VAL D'ELSA, DIOCESE OF. — In Tuscany, in the province of Siena, a suffragan of Florence. The origins of this diocese are to be traced back to the two parishes of S. Salvatore (of Colle) and of the SS. Giovanni, Faustino and Giovita (of Elsa), which belonged to the Apostolic See and were subjected by Clement III in 1188 to the bishop of Volterra. But as the disputes between Colle and Volterra grew more frequent and intense, in 1356 both parishes were declared *nullius dioecesis*. Later, also on account of the ascertained growth of the population and the increase of industrial life, Clement VIII in 1592 declared Colle a city and elevated it to an episcopal see, assigning it territories from neighboring dioceses; in 1782 Pius VI annexed S. Gimignano. From the beginning until today the diocese of Colle Val d'Elsa has been a suffragan of Florence.
In the diocese of Colle Val d'Elsa was situated the abbey of S. Salvatore di Spagna, founded in the 11th century near Colle, ceded in 1300 to the Vallombrosans and in 1400 placed in commendam to the Hospital of the Innocents in Florence; in 1592 it was finally incorporated into the new diocese of Colle Val d'Elsa and assigned to its episcopal table.
The cathedral is a 17th-century building (1603). A structure worthy of note is the Vallombrosan abbey of S. Maria a Coneo, now abandoned, a little distance from the city: a typical Romanesque building in the Pisan style. Also the parish church of the SS. Ippolito and Cassiano, dating from the 11th century, is now in ruins.
In the cathedral are preserved various sacred objects of artistic value, among which a precious chalice from 1400 and an original bronze lectern by Pietro Tacca (1577-1650). The archive has been dispersed: a few documents are preserved in the chapter archive, the rest in the State Archive of Florence.
At present the diocese, covering an area of 453 sq. km, comprises 73 parishes, 83 diocesan priests, 11 regular clergy, and 45,000 inhabitants, all Catholic (1948).