In its territory were numerous Etruscan and Roman settlements. The birth of the urban agglomerate dates back to 1200, in order to defend the valley and it began important after the destruction of the castle of SEMIFONTE, taken on by the Florentines in 1202. In 1380 the soldiers after Alderico da Barbiano robbed and burnt the village. Though fascinating, the hypothesis that this centre was the indication for an old settlement of Barbarians seems quite impossible. In its name there is probably a derivation from the Latin word “barba”, once used metaphorically to address  a mountain which indicated the place existing before the settlement and which brought its development.