One of Tuscany’s oldest and most idyllic hill-top towns is in turmoil over the building of a large mosque, with a golden dome and an illuminated glass minaret.

For 20 years, the 14,000 residents of Colle di Val d’Elsa have had a community of around 300 Muslims living among them.

A small Islamic cultural centre was established years ago, but the atmosphere of peaceful cohabitation has turned sour after proposals for a much bigger centre incorporating a mosque.

A severed pig’s head was left outside the gates of the site, where work has begun. Anti-Muslim graffiti has appeared on walls and local Muslims have been pelted with sausages.

Last weekend, 500 people, many of them fascists from a group called Forza Nuova (New Force), staged a protest.