Cennina Castle
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The Keep with the main gate. |
The courtain walls from the Palace side. |
Cennina can be reached from Florence following the Motorway A1 up to the exit '
Valdarno'. From Montevarchi following the indications for Bucine and, passed
the country, those for Siena along the SS540. After around two kilometers we find on the
right the road, signalled, for Cennina.
The castle rises on a hill of 477 meters high at dominion
of the Valdambra, that was in the Middle Age an important road of communications
between the Florentine territory of the Upper Valdarno and the Valley
of Monteaperti under Senese control, and strategic access to Florence
from south. Its origin goes back, with every probability, to the
Etruscan-Roman era and its development to the time of the Longobard
invasions, perhaps as point of lookout and control on the underlying roads.
The actual walled suburb rises around the feudal castle of the 12th century.
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The Southeast angle. |
The castle was built in 1167 by the count Brandaglia Alberigo d' Uguccione
to whose family belonged during all the 12th century, although the zone
resulted under the control of the counts of the Guidi family, and subsequently
the castle changed several feudal owner: Cennina was occupied by the Tarlati,
Ubertini and the counts Guidi themselves. The Valdambra, of which Cennina was
the most important and strategical settlement, was at the borders between the
territories of Florence, Arezzo and Siena, and the castle was besieged, destroyed
and reconstructed many times, always involved in the wars between the Guelphs
Florence and the Ghibellines Siena and Arezzo. In the 1307 Cennina was damaged
by the Senese army, allied with the Black Guelphs of Florence that were in war
against the White Guelphs allied with the Ghibellines of Arezzo. In 1360, after
alternate circumstances, Cennina become part of the Florentine territory, that
established here its strengthened outpost to control the valley. After almost
one century, in 1447, Cennina suffered a terrible siege from the Aragonesi army,
allied with Siena. Despite the hard resistance the castle was conquered, but
after only fifteen days it was regained and strengthened. The last military
occupation of the castle happened in 1529, by the army of the prince of Orange
on the road through the Valdambra to Florence .
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The Keep seen by the inner ward. |
Cennina, enclosed by the rests of imposing walls of notable thickness
and consistence, it is one of the main testimoniance of fortification
in the Valdambra. On the ruins soars the mighty rectangular Keep with the beautiful
main gate to access the inside courtyard, still with a well at the center, around
which different rural houses have risen, almost all erect in the last centuries
using the stones of the castle. On the right of the beautiful inner ward rises
the rests of the feudal Palace, residence of the constable, restored and turned
to private residence. The original perimeter of the courtain walls is still
well visible: on the side of north-east they are practically intact, to southwest
we can notice the collapsed angle tower, now abandoned on the ground. From its
ruins we can deduce that it was square and open on the side facing the courtyard,
as the oriental tower of the near Rocca of Civitella
in Val of Chiana.
To learn more about the castle visit its home page " The Castle of Cennina"
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