Fortezza di Firmafede: A Historic Military Fortress in Sarzana, Italy
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.4
- Popularity
- Medium
- Country
- Italy
- Primary era
- Medieval
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Medieval, Early Modern
- Civilizations
- Genoese, Republic of Florence, Republic of Pisa
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Fort
On this page6 sections
History
Fortezza di Firmafede is a military fortification in Sarzana, Italy, first built in 1249 to protect the town and its communication routes. It was constructed with the town walls with assistance from Pisa, Sarzana’s ally, and was initially owned by the Bishop of Luni. The fortress is also known historically as La Cittadella and Fortezza di Sarzana.
Early Fortification and Medieval Changes
The fortress formed Sarzana’s first town fortification. In 1324, Castruccio Castracani, a fourteenth-century military leader and ruler in northern Italy, carried out extensive modifications to its defensive systems.
Florentine Reconstruction
Florentine forces led by Lorenzo de’ Medici destroyed the complex in 1487 during the War of Serrezzana. Lorenzo, the leading Florentine statesman and patron of the late fifteenth century, then ordered the fortress rebuilt on its earlier ruins. The reconstruction involved the Florentine military architects Giuliano da Sangallo, Francesco di Giovanni, known as Il Francione, and Luca del Caprina.
In 1496, Charles VIII of France sold Sarzana to the Bank of Saint George, a powerful Genoese financial institution that acquired territorial possessions. The transfer included the fortress. In 1562, it returned to the direct possessions of the Republic of Genoa, which completed the building works.
Later Uses and Preservation
From 1815, under the Kingdom of Sardinia, the fortress became a police barracks. It was subsequently used as a prison until the end of the 1970s. Restoration and conservation undertaken between 1985 and 2003 enabled the complex to be opened for public use. It is now owned by Italy’s Ministry of Culture and provides a setting for cultural events and exhibitions.
Fortezza di Firmafede and Fortezza di Sarzanello together form the Museum of Fortresses, or MUdeF. Its museum route presents historical evidence from Sarzana and the Lunigiana area across 27 rooms.
Remains
Layout and Defensive Works
The fortress has a regular quadrilateral plan, with a principal building organized around a central keep, the main fortified tower or stronghold within the complex. Substantial defensive walls enclose the site, while an extensive and deep moat surrounds the fortification. The central keep was rebuilt as a round tower, a defensive form later superseded in military architecture by angled bastions, projecting works designed to improve the coverage of walls with gunfire.
The main entrance is approached by a path and reached across a stone bridge spanning the moat. Its principal portal opens into a large internal courtyard beside the central body of the fortress. The complex is in good preservation, retaining the principal spatial elements of its rebuilt defensive arrangement.
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