Rocca Orsini - Sorano
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The Main gate of the Fortress surmounted by the marmoreal
coat of arms of the Orsini family. |
At the interior of the ramparts rises the rests of
the original castle with its round tower. |
Sorano rises at the extreme south of Tuscany in the area known as 'the Etruscan
tuff zone', easily reachable with the SS2 Cassia crossing first the Orcia Valley
and the zone of the Mount Amiata then. On the SS2 we can also arrive from the
exit 'Chianciano' of A1 motorway and then passing by Radicofani.
Sorano with its fortifications rises to the summit of a tuff relief, that is
almost melted with the town, surrounded on three sides by the course of the
river Lente in the homonymous valley. The existence of the Fortress, erected
in its primitive forms by the Aldobrandeschi family, is noticed since the 1172.
Until the end of the 14th century, due to the proximity of Sovana (principal
center of the zone in that time), Sorano remained at the borders of the principal
historical events.
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The S.Pietro rampart. |
With the succession of the dominion of the Orsini family to that of Aldobrandeschi
and the contemporary decline of Sovana, Sorano became
one of the principal centers of the area and the seat of the new powerful family.
In this period Siena tried several times without success to incorporate the
fortress inside the dominions of the Republic. The whole inhabited area
is extended today between the Fortress of the Orsini, of 14th century origin
but completely restructured in 1552 by Niccolò Orsini IV°, and the 'Sasso Leopoldino',
cliff strengthened in the 18th century with the construction of a high bastionated
wall. The fortress is considered one of the highest examples of Renaissance
military architecture. The front toward the town is dominated by two mighty
angular bastions, united by a wall curtain to the center of which the main gate,
surmounted by a beautiful coat of arms in marble and a thick square tower,
is opened.
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The fortifications on the 'Sasso Leopoldino'. |
Also on the western bastion, called of St.Pietro, there's a big marmoreal coat
of arms. The other bastion is known as St.Mark. Just passed these imposing defensive
works we penetrate the inner ward where the rests of the most ancient nucleus
of the fortress rises, a round tower in which are still visible the traces
of the disappeared drawbridge: in fact the two parts of the fortification are
separated from a depth ditch. Here was the residence of the owner of the
castle and the barracks for the garrison. The fortress was completed by three
ulterior minor fortifications set on the near hills, of which no more traces
stay. In the 1608 Sorano was attached to the Granduchy of Tuscany. Lost its
military importance, the complex was inhabited until end of 18th century from
the last descendants of the Lorena dynasty. Recently the fortress has been object
of important works of restoration that, besides to safeguard its degrade, have
brought to the light a cycle of Senese school frescos of the 15th century.
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