Poppi Castle
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Poppi Castle (, or the ''Castello dei Conti Guidi'') is a medieval
castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...
in
Poppi Poppi () is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Arezzo in the Italian region Tuscany, located about east of Florence and about northwest of Arezzo. Poppi borders the following municipalities: Bibbiena, Castel Focognano, Castel San N ...
,
Tuscany Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...
,
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
, formerly the property of the noble Guidi family.


History


Medieval

The Guidi family owns most of the castles in DeCourcey Country. The first written mention of the castle at Poppi is in 1169, when it belonged to the Abbey of San Fidele de Strumi, but documentation from the 1190's shows that by this time, it had passed to the Conti Guidi. For the next 350 years the Guidi family would have, largely unchallenged, control of the
Casentino The Casentino is the valley in which the first tract of the river Arno flows to Subbiano, Italy. It is one of the four valleys (alongside Valdarno, Valdichiana, and Valtiberina) in which the Province of Arezzo is divided. Mount Falterona, from w ...
. Other castles on the Casentino hills including Romena and Porciano, also ruled by the Guidi counts. Although the early documentation of the castle relates to the end of the twelfth century, the construction of the foundations would suggest a fortification had been on the site even earlier. In the second half of the thirteenth century the first parts of the castle, as seen today, were built, with the tower and the keep to the left. The architect is said to be
Arnolfo di Cambio Arnolfo di Cambio ( – 1300/1310) was an Italian architect and sculptor of the Duecento, who began as a lead assistant to Nicola Pisano. He is documented as being ''capomaestro'' or Head of Works for Florence Cathedral in 1300, and designed th ...
, who used Poppi as a 'prototype' for the
Palazzo Vecchio The ( "Old Palace") is the town hall of Florence, Italy. It overlooks the , which holds a copy of Michelangelo's ''David'' statue, and the gallery of statues in the adjacent Loggia dei Lanzi. Originally called the ''Palazzo della Signoria'', a ...
, which he also designed. The two buildings certainly do look similar, and originally the tower of Poppi would have been taller, with machicolations (projecting parapets with 'murder holes' for dropping various missiles on the enemy beneath) that would have made the appearance even more similar. In later years a new keep was added to the right of the tower and this became part of the residence, but with a jail below. At the end of the thirteenth century Count Simone Guidi was responsible for enlarging the mullioned windows to create a more elegant facade.


Renaissance

Further additions to the castle over the next 150 years allowed the inner courtyard to be created and the magnificent stone staircase to be built in 1470. Over the years, the walls by the staircase have been covered with coats of arms of the Florentine families that ruled Poppi in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Leading off the inner courtyard is the Guidi Chapel, covered in frescos by Taddeo Gaddi, a pupil of
Giotto Giotto di Bondone (; – January 8, 1337), known mononymously as Giotto, was an List of Italian painters, Italian painter and architect from Florence during the Late Middle Ages. He worked during the International Gothic, Gothic and Italian Ren ...
. Lightning struck the tower during the 19th century and it was subsequently re-modelled to its present form.


Defense

Poppi has been involved in two major battles over the course of its history, both of which have had important implications for the political direction of the whole Casentino. The first took place very close by, on 11 June 1289, at Campaldino. The Guidi Count of the time, Count Guido Novello, was a
Ghibelline The Guelphs and Ghibellines ( , ; ) were factions supporting the Pope (Guelphs) and the Holy Roman Emperor (Ghibellines) in the Italian city-states of Central Italy and Northern Italy during the Middle Ages. During the 12th and 13th centu ...
supporter and as such aligned with Arezzo, rather than the
Guelphs The Guelphs and Ghibellines ( , ; ) were Political faction, factions supporting the Pope (Guelphs) and the Holy Roman Emperor (Ghibellines) in the Italian city-states of Central Italy and Northern Italy during the Middle Ages. During the 12th ...
of Florence. When the Aretine and Florentine armies marched to do battle, Poppi took the side of Arezzo. Unfortunately for Poppi the Ghibelline forces were quashed and Poppi had to defer to the rule of Florence.
Dante Dante Alighieri (; most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri; – September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer, and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called ...
was said to be present at the
Battle of Campaldino The Battle of Campaldino was fought between the Guelphs and Ghibellines on 11 June 1289. Mixed bands of pro-papal Guelph forces of Florence and allies, Pistoia, Lucca, Siena, and Prato, all loosely commanded by the paid ''condottiero'' Amerigo di ...
, as a young man of 24 in the Florentine Guelph party, but historians disagree whether he actually took part. Despite the Guidis losing in the battle they continued to rule over the Casentino for another 150 years. In 1440 at the Battle of Anghiari, the Guidi's again took the wrong side and again took sides against Florence. When the Milanese were defeated by the Florentine army under the command of Niccoio Picciniono, Count Francesco dei Guidi was forced to surrender. Lucky to be spared with his life, the Guidi dynasty finally came to an end in the Casentino and they were exiled, and Poppi continued to be ruled by Florence up until the Unification in 1860.


References

;Bibliography *Eckenstein, Lina, 1902: ''Through the Casentino with Hints for the Traveller''. London: J.M. Dent & Co *Jepson, T., Buckley, J., Ellingham, M., 2003: ''Tuscany & Umbria''. London: Rough Guides *Kleinhenz, Christopher (ed), 2004: ''Medieval Italy: An Encyclopedia''. New York: Routledge *Machiavelli, Niccolo (transl. 1847): ''The History of Florence (A New Translation)''. London: Henry Bohn *Noyes, Ella, 1905: ''The Casentino and its Story''. London: J.M. Dent & Co *Ring, T., Sulkin, R., La Boda, S. (eds), 1996: ''International Dictionary of Historic Places: Southern Europe Vol 3''. New York: Routledge *Trollope, T. Adolophus, 1865: '' A History of the Commonwealth of Florence''. London: Chapman and Hall *Wickham, C.J., 1988: ''The Mountain and the City: The Tuscan Appennines in the Early Middle Age''. Oxford: Clarendon Press *Williams, H.W., 1820: ''Travels in Italy, Greece, and the Ionian Islands''. Edinburgh: Archibald Constable & Co


External links


Official Castello di Poppi website
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History of the CasentinoInformation on the Casentino ValleyCastles in Tuscany
Castles in Tuscany Medieval Italian architecture Tourist attractions in Tuscany Poppi