After a few hundred meters, the trail leads to a paved path that, in the past, led up to the hill moving away from the current Via di Terzano near the Cemetery of Paterno.
This road probably dates back to the late Middle Ages but some scholars would include reference to a Roman path. A study from 1970 indicates that there is a stretch of Cassia di Mezzo in this track, the alternative route of Cassia Vetus that, moving away from Florence, reconnected to this track near Cascia (Reggello). The pavement, in some places very well preserved, is 230/240 cm wide, with a central gutter 2 cm deep that divides the road exactly in half.
The current path, except the initial stretch that has been completely lost, is identical to those documented in the cartography of the sixteenth century and in the Street Map of 1774. Documents of the late nineteenth century call it both ‘Alternative Road of Bencistà’ and ‘Alternative Road known for Monasteraccio ‘. The latter was the ancient monastery of Casignano of which remain some evocative ruins near the farm Casignano I (in Via Casignano, which branches off from Croce dei Frati and reaches Le Corti – Rignano Sull’Arno). At the beginning of the sixteenth century the nuns of Casignano moved to Bigallo.
In the early years of the twentieth century, the road of Monasteraccio and Bencistà, passing through wooded areas, put the districts of Bencistà and Terzano in contact with Via Vecchia Aretina and then with Ruballa and Bigallo. But it was already in bad shape by the end of the nineteenth century, with a very uneven road surface and drivable only with a sledge and very badly.
