Montalbano Castle: A Medieval Florentine Fortress and Villa
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 3.9
- Popularity
- Low
- Country
- Italy
- Primary era
- Medieval
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Medieval, Modern
- Civilizations
- Italian, Republic of Florence
- Site type
- Domestic
- Remains
- Castle
On this page13 sections
History
Montalbano Castle, also known as Rocca Tedalda, is a medieval Florentine monument in Florence, Italy, on the right bank of the Arno in the Rovezzano area. Built as a medieval fortress, it belonged to the noble Tedaldi family of Fiesole and originally took its name, Rocca de’ Tedaldi, from its owners. Its later name refers to the east-facing hill on which it stands and is explained as “the mountain of dawn,” because the sun rises behind the hill.
Medieval origins and tradition
Tradition places the castle’s origins before the foundation of Florence itself. Giovanni Villani recorded the story, which was later discussed by Agostino Ademollo, that Charlemagne stayed at the castle of Taldo Tedaldi for Christmas in 768. Charlemagne, the early medieval Frankish ruler who was crowned emperor in 800, is said to have made Taldo Tedaldi a knight after the visit. A plaque above the main entrance, placed by Count Feliciano Monzani, supports this tradition, although the association is presented as a traditional account rather than a certain construction date.
From the Tedaldi estate to a villa
The castle remained connected with the Tedaldi family into the Renaissance. Guido Carocci wrote that Michelangelo knew the building and regarded it as one of the most beautiful castles he had seen. Michelangelo Buonarroti was a Florentine Renaissance sculptor, painter, architect, and engineer, and this reported admiration forms part of the castle’s later interpretation.
In 1527, Bartolo di Leonardo Tedaldi, the last of the original Tedaldi owners, leased the property to Niccolò Benintendi even though its condition was precarious. In his will of 22 November 1538, Bartolo left half of the property to the church of Sant’Andrea at Rovezzano. During the seventeenth century, the other half belonged to the Morelli family.
Structural instability led to the demolition of part of the castle at the beginning of the nineteenth century. In the second half of that century, Laudadio Della Ripa, owner of the nearby Villa del Loretino, acquired the property and completely renovated it. The work transformed the building into a comfortable villa while preserving the appearance of an ancient fortification. During the twentieth century it was also called Villa Montalbano, although the name Castle continued to be used.
Fascist and wartime history
At the beginning of the twentieth century, ownership passed to Count Feliciano Monzani, nephew of the secretary of state Cirillo Monzani. During the Fascist period, when Benito Mussolini led Italy’s Fascist regime, the castle was used as a convent for former prostitutes. A chapel and bell tower connected with this use remained within the building, and the chapel was deconsecrated only several decades ago.
On 2 April 1929, Benito Mussolini and Neville Chamberlain concluded an agreement inside the castle. Chamberlain was a British statesman who later became prime minister. The meeting forms part of the building’s Fascist-period history.
During the Second World War, the castle housed a civilian internment camp. It was not used for the female-camp function originally prescribed for it. The first internees arrived in December 1941, and most were Yugoslav civilians; the camp population generally ranged from 30 to 50 people. After 8 September 1943, under the Italian Social Republic, the German-backed Fascist state established in northern Italy after Mussolini’s removal and the German occupation, the site continued as a concentration camp for non-Jewish Italians until the Liberation in summer 1944.
Postwar creative uses
Studio K acquired the castle in the early 1960s. After the 1966 flood, the production company moved its operations there and produced well-known Carosello advertisements on the premises. Carosello was an influential Italian television advertising program broadcast from 1957 to 1977. Studio K’s work at the castle included the earliest plasticine advertisements for Fernet-Branca and the Susanna Tuttapanna advertisements.
In the 1980s, the building became the headquarters of Co.Mark.P., the advertising agency that imported Hasbro’s Mio mini pony toy into Italy and developed exclusive accessories and promotional products for the Italian market. Toy advertisements produced by DAG were also filmed in the castle’s cellars. The right wing now houses Misseri Studio, founded by Francesco Misseri, who had been a partner and creative at Studio K in the 1960s. The central body and other parts of the complex have been adapted as tourist accommodation.
Remains
The surviving complex combines the fabric of a medieval fortress with the alterations made when it was converted into a villa in the nineteenth century. It stands on the east-facing Montalbano hill above the right bank of the Arno and is organized around a central body, a right wing, cellars, and other adapted sections. The nineteenth-century work retained the visual character of an old fortification even as the building’s original defensive form was substantially changed.
Fortress and villa fabric
Main entrance
The main entrance carries a plaque placed by Count Feliciano Monzani. Its inscription supports the tradition that Charlemagne stayed at the castle in 768, giving the entrance a direct connection with the building’s medieval legend.
Chapel and bell tower
A chapel with a bell tower survives within the complex. The chapel formerly served the religious needs of the convent established there during the Fascist period. Although it was deconsecrated several decades ago, its physical structure remains part of the castle.
Principal hall
The principal hall has a black-and-white checkerboard floor made from terracotta tiles. The hall is described as a characteristic example of Fascist-period architecture and forms part of the building’s surviving interior fabric.
Adapted areas of the complex
Central body and right wing
The central body and additional sections have been converted into tourist accommodation, while the right wing contains Misseri Studio. These changes continue the building’s long sequence of adaptation from fortified residence to villa and then to premises for creative and commercial activities.
Cellars
The cellars form another surviving area of the castle complex. They were used as filming locations for toy advertisements produced by DAG during the building’s later history as a center for advertising production.
