Rocchette di Fazio Castle

   Photo by Marco Ramerini

The rests of the of Rocchette di Fazio dominate a hill of about 500 meters in the valley of the River Albegna, council of Semproniano. It's 25 kilometers far from Arcidosso, principal center of the zone, and 15 from Roccalbegna.

The castle of the Rocchette di Fazio rises in the valley of the river Albegna. In the Middle Age the whole valley, above all the hills that were the watershed with the adjacent valley of the River Fiora,  was subjected to the counts of the Aldobrandeschi family and, from the 12th century, all the castles of the area passed under their control and  most of those were rebuilt or strengthened. The origin of the castle is in fact due to the count Bonifazio, called Fazio, of the Aldobrandeschi, future father of Ildebrandino that in 1272 became the chief of the S.Fiora ramification of  this powerful family.

Rocchette di Fazio was an important fortress, mainly for its position at the summit of a rocky spur on the western side of the river that made it practically impregnable. At the beginnings of the 14th century the castle entered between the dominion of the commune of Orvieto but subsequently was incorporated to an area under the Senese influence. The control of Siena was concretized only in 1416, immediately after the zone knew a period of serious crisis with a consequent depopulation. In 1536 the castle and the suburb of Rocchette di Fazio were devastated by a Spanish army and then definitely abandoned. The ruins of the fortification are today in the state in which were left in the 16th century, with the aggravating of the time action and the carelessness of men that have progressively worsened the situation. Our days the rests of the keep and of some walled enclosure still testify what great importance, for brief time, had Rocchette di Fazio.