Last Saturday, October 27, 2018, I had the chance to join some urban trekkers and climb the Medieval walls in the Oltrarno.  We had as our goal, the Porta Romana, one of the remaining Medieval gates to the city.  When people wanted to go to Rome from Florence centuries ago, they left Firenze by this gate.

It must have been a welcoming site when returning to fair Firenze.  La Porta Romana told you you were home.

The picture above shows the Porta Romana from outside the walls, looking into the city.  Our goal was to climb into the gate and see the room inside the very top of this picture.

First things first: we climbed up a metal stairway about 500 yards away from the gate and walked along the top of the walls.

 

ADVISEMENT: THIS POST IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION.  IT MAKES LITTLE SENSE NOW, I’LL REPOST IT WHEN IT IS FINISHED.  GRAZIE!

 

On a perfect autumn Saturday in Florence (20 Ottobre to be exact), I had the immense pleasure of climbing up inside La Torre della Zecca, located next to the Arno river and near the San Niccolo bridge.  From the top of the tower, I filmed Florence in all its 360 degree glory!

 

 

La Torre della Zecca (Mint Tower) was built as the gate to the medieval city. This monumental tower served to close the city off from the river Arno to the east and was thus known as a torre terminale.  It is now lies isolated in the middle of a junction on the viali di Circonvallazione in Piazza Piave, near the Lungarno della Zecca Vecchia.

Above and below is how the Torre appears today.

It has its own Dante inscription on a plaque.

 

The views from the top of the tower are magnificent!

You’ve never seen Santa Croce from the back like this unless you too climbed up this tower.

From Italian wikipedia we discover: Prima dell’edificazione, nelle immediate vicinanze, dei mulini della zecca, la struttura era indicata come torre della notomia, o torre dell’osservazione. Ai primi del Cinquecento, l’edificio era anche conosciuto come torre di San Francesco, data la vicinanza dell’omonimo convento e ospedale.

Loosely translated, this says: Before construction, in the immediate vicinity of the mint mills, the structure was referred to as a tower of the notomia, or observation tower. In the early 16th century, the building was also known as the Tower of San Francesco, because it was close to a convent and hospital bearing that name.

 

 

 

Looking south, I spied the Piazzale Michelangelo, with the monumental bronze replica of Michelangelo’s David.  You can make it out in the next 2 photos.

 

 

 

 

 

Looking southeast:

 

Here is Fiesole in the background:

 

 

La Porta di San Niccolò, across the Arno, has never looked more beautiful than how she looks from the Torre della Zecca!

 

 

 

La torre prima della demolizione delle mura, dipinta da Fabio Borbottoni nell’Ottocento

 

 

La torre fu eretta a protezione del mai eseguito ponte Reale (progettato negli anni precedenti alla disastrosa alluvione del 1333, e così intitolato in onore di Roberto d’Angiò) e a difesa della parte della cerchia di mura che insisteva in questo tratto, a costituirne il termine sull’Arno. In origine, la torre doveva essere posta proprio sull’argine del fiume, come testimoniato anche dalla quattrocentesca mappa della Catena, dalla cinquecentesca pianta del Buonsignori e dall’ottocentesco catasto generale lorenese.

The tower was erected to protect of the never built ponte Reale (projected in the years preceding the disastrous flood of 1333 and named in honour of Robert of Angio) and to defend some parts of the wall che was built in this quarter, to construct the end of the walls on the Arno.

In origins, the tower had to be part of the argine of the river, as a testament also of the 1400s map of the Catena, from the 1500s plan of Buonsignori e of the 1800s Lorena General Catasto

In età laurenziana, la torre della notomia costituiva, insieme all’adiacente torre della giustizia, una delle due torri della munizione della Repubblica Fiorentina. L’arsenale ospitava armi, attrezzi, ma soprattutto esplosivi: la polvere da sparo era depositata nella stanza più alta, mentre l’umidità dei sotterranei concorreva alla conservazione del salnitro. Fra il 1495 ed il 1498, i magazzini vennero ulteriormente ampliati con l’aggiunta di una rimessa per le artiglierie e di una fonderia pubblica. Questo intero, articolato complesso formava la cosiddetta cittadella vecchia, quell’arce notomiae che sbarrava, insieme alla pescaia di San Niccolò, il passaggio sul fiume.[1]

In the Laurentian age, the tower of the terminus was built, together with the adjacent tower of justice, one of the 2 towers of the munition of the Florentine Republic. The Arsenale hosted the army, tools (machinery), but above all explosives: gunpowder was store in the highest room, while the humid of the underground contributed to the conservation of the saltpeter.
Between 1495 and 1498, the storage was amplified with the addition of a garage for artillery and a public foundry. This whole complex formed the so-called old citadel, that notorious arcs that barred, along with the fishery of San Niccolò, the passage on the river.

Nel 1526, l’ingegnere militare spagnolo Pietro Navarro propose che la torre “si abbasse et ingrossasse”, come riportato anche da Niccolò Machiavelli in una sua relazione sullo stato delle fortificazioni della città. Nel 1532, scapitozzata, fu incorporata su progetto di Antonio da Sangallo il Giovane nel baluardo di Mongibello, un bastione a sua volta collegato a gore, mulini e ad altri edifici che formavano in questa zona un tipico agglomerato. Tale progetto era stato voluto dal nuovo duca, Alessandro de’ Medici, per migliorare le difese della capitale, dopo il rischioso episodio dell’assedio di Firenze.

In 1526, the military engineer, the spaniard Pietro Navarro propose that the tower “get down and get bigger” as reported by Machiavelli in his reaction on the state of the fortifications of the city.
In 1532, scapitozzata, was incorporated on a project by Antonio da Sangallo the Younger in the bulwark of Mongibello, a bastion of his bastion in turn connected to gore mills and other buildings that formed a typical cluster in this area. This project was wanted by the new duke, Alessandro de ‘Medici, to improve the defences of the capital, after the risky episode of the siege of Florence.

Con l’arsenale trasferito nella fortezza da Basso, nella seconda metà del Cinquecento la torre rimase a protezione dei vicini mulini della zecca nuova, da poco aperti, e dai quali finì per prendere il nome. Fino ad allora, l’officina era stata sita nei pressi di Palazzo Vecchio, più precisamente sotto la loggia della Signoria, lì dove i magli del conio potevano essere azionati dall’acqua del torrente Scheraggio, che correva lungo via della Ninna.
With the arsenal moved to the fortress da Basso, in the second half of the 1500s, the tower remained a protection of the nearby mills of the new mint, a little open, and gave it its name. Finally, the office was sited near the Palazzo Vecchio, more precisely under the Loggia of the Signoria; it was there where the coins of the coin could be operated by the water of the stream Scheraggio, which ran along Via della Ninna.

Verso la fine del Settecento, l’architetto Gaspare Paoletti realizzò sulla sommità della torre un complesso sistema idrico che alimentava le fontane dei giardini di villa La Mattonaia, raccogliendo le acque del fiume e convogliandole in una lunga tubatura dislocata sulle antiche mura.

Nel corso dei lavori di ingrandimento della città di Firenze, progettati da Giuseppe Poggi, la torre fu isolata e posta a traguardo dei viali di Circonvallazione, mentre nella zona venivano condotti numerosi espropri sulla base delle perizie redatte da Felice Francolini nel 1868. Nel 1901, la torre appariva nell’elenco redatto dalla Direzione Generale delle Antichità e Belle Arti, venendo indicata quale edificio monumentale da considerare patrimonio artistico nazionale.
Finally at the end of the 1700s, architect Gaspare Paoletti realised on the summit of the tower a complex system water supply that fed the fountains of the Villa La Mattonaia gardens, collecting the waters of the river and conveying them in a long pipe spread over the ancient walls.

Curing the course of work for the expanding city, projected by Giuseppe Poggi, the tower was made more isolated and placed at the end of the avenues of the Circonvallazione, while numerous expropriations were carried out in the area on the basis of the surveys drawn up by Felice Francolini in 1868.In 1901, the tower appeared in the list drawn up by the Directorate General of Antiquities and Fine Arts, being indicated as a monumental building to be considered a national artistic heritage.
Alla metà del Novecento, alcuni ambienti furono occupati da un circolo ricreativo per alcuni anni.

In the mid 1900s, some circles were occupied by a recreational club for a few years.

Descrizione[modifica | modifica wikitesto]
La lapide dantesca. The Dante inscription
All’esterno la torre si presenta semplice e massiccia, con alcune piccole feritoie, e priva del coronamento merlato. Sul lato che guarda alla città è la porta d’accesso, con al lato un portabandiera in ferro di fattura novecentesca, mentre sul lato che prospetta verso l’Arno è posta una targa con alcuni versi di Dante dedicati al fiume.

Outside the tower is simple and massive, with some small iron loopholes, and lacks a crenellated crowning. On the side that looks to the city is the access dore, on the side an iron flag holder from of the 20th century, while on the side facing the Arno is a plaque with some verses of Dante dedicated to the river.
Rimosso da tempo il tetto cinquecentesco, l’ultimo piano dell’edificio presenta un’ampia terrazza, dalla quale si gode il panorama dell’intera città.
All’interno sono presenti ambienti voltati, connessi da strette scale in pietra, un tempo ad uso dei custodi dell’arsenale. Nei piani sotterranei si dipartono stretti corridoi fognari, anch’essi coperti da volte, uno dei quali passerebbe, secondo la tradizione, sotto il fiume, consentendo di raggiungere la sponda opposta. Del vecchio circolo ricreativo resta un bancone in pietra abbandonato.
La torre, restaurata fra il 2013 ed il 2016, è oggi aperta al pubblico.[2]
The 16th century roof has been removed for some time, the top floor of the building has a large terrace, from which one can enjoy the view of the entire city.

Inside there are vaulted rooms, connected by narrow stone stairs, once used by the arsenal custodians. In the underground floors, narrow sewage corridors, also covered by vaults, one of which would pass, according to tradition, under the river, allowing you to reach the opposite bank. Of the old recreational club there is an abandoned stone counter.

The tower, restored between 2013 and 2016, is now open to the public.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Fortezza da basso is a key Florentine monument, but it is almost always overlooked because, let’s face it, it ain’t pretty.  Loving the history of Florence, I jumped at a recent opportunity to tour the inside of the fortress.  I’ll talk about that below.

 

The fort’s purpose was not to enchant or entertain, as were so many key monuments built from the medieval period moving forward. The fort’s purpose was to protect the city by blocking and intimidating any evil-doers who might be planning to take Florence in a coup of some sort. And this meant both from without and from within the city.

The fort served these functions well, and Florence was never attacked after it was built.   Of course, the fort wasn’t the only reason Florence was left alone.  But the huge benefit of that fact is that the fort is largely intact for us to study and admire.

Today the imposing fort has a much softer, more elegant use; I’ll talk about that later.

In the following picture,  you see one of the fort’s 5 entrances, the Porta Sta. Maria Novella, which is where I entered to begin my guided tour.

 

The official name is Fortezza di San Giovanni Battista (Saint John the Baptist, who was/is the patron saint of Florence). The more common name, Fortezza da basso, means in English “the fortress from below,” which indicates that the fort has a counterpart higher up.  And, indeed it does: the Forte di Belvedere (fort with a beautiful view) sits high up on a hill to the south of Florence. You can see the location and relationship of both forts here:

 

 

The fort is a very impressive military construction with tall, thick and strong walls,  dominated by a gloomy, massive tower. The tower here is not like those that are found on other major Florentine buildings. Towers were usually quite tall, and the fort’s tower is relatively short and squat.

The Fortezza appears like a cyclopic building with powerful bastions bristling with turrets, and full of narrow walkways, parapet walks and secret passages. The massive, extensive walls surrounding the fort are occasionally relieved with projecting stone ashlars, some of which are accented with round discs.

It is theorized that these discs might be a reference to the Medici coat-of-arms, with the 5 balls.

The sophisticated military construction of the fort is a splendid example of the celebrated fortresses built by the Sangallo family. Florence’s Fortezza da Basso was built in record time in 1534, after the return to power in Florence of the Medici family after the dramatic seige of 1529-30.

The Fortezza was designed by Antonio da Sangallo the younger, with the help of Pierfranceco da Viterbo, for Alessandro de’ Medici, the Duke of Florence. And, while it might not be the most beautiful structure in Florence, it is the largest historical monument in the city.

 Duke Alessandro de’ Medici

 

The Fortress, which was inserted into the 14th-century walls of Florence, was built under the growing threat of turbulent political upheavals. It was one of the very first Italian “citadels” and seems rather to have been built as a protection against the city’s inhabitants than from its external enemies.

View of the bastions of the Fortezza da Basso

 

Here are some of my pictures from within the walls of the fortress and leading up to the watch tower on the south side of the former military base:

Below are the stairs that lead up to the watch tower:

 

The next 3 pictures are taken from inside the tower:

 

And here are the views of Florence as seen from inside the watch tower:

 

Once again, I was struck by just how small the city really is.  It is so obvious from way up high (not that this tower is that tall); the domes of San Lorenzo and the Duomo seem just a stone’s throw away.

The guided tour of the tower was an incredible treat, but perhaps even more amazing was the fact that we also got to go under the fortifications of the south wall.  This Florentine fortress has its secrets and its curiosities. The most important ‘mystery’, yet to be verified and fully discovered, is a gallery which allegedly runs along the perimeter.  There is also the tunnel in a state of partial abandonment, which was used by defenders to counter enemy attacks. Legend has it that there is a secret passage from the gallery of Fortezza da Basso that crosses the city underground and leads to the Forte di Belvedere. Who knows, but I find that idea to be ludicrous.

As a part of my guided tour, we got to visit the tunnels below.  This is an amazing fact; almost no one in the general public has seen this area. Here are my photos from our tour down below:

The next 2 pix are looking up from the tunnel to light shafts:

Another interesting curiosity about the fortress has to do with the later Grand Duke, Pietro Leopoldo, who knew about the American scientist, Benjamin Franklin, and his  theories. This duke and Franklin were contemporaries. Franklin’s studies made a huge contribution to the study of meteorology and electricity, and his invention of the lightning rod was noted by the duke. Not surprisingly, the Grand Duke wanted to protect his buildings in Europe, and in particular those with major stores of gunpowder. So he used Franklin’s recommendations and installed lightening rods.

Since 1967, Fortezza da Basso has been used as an exhibition center and, as such, it hosts a large number of Florence trade shows and conferences. The former military base is spread out over about 100,000 square meters, and about half of them are covered.

Nowadays the Fortress is used for all of the most important Florentine exhibitions and fairs (from Pitti Immagine to the International Exchange of Congress Tourism, Florence Gift Mart to Eurocamper, the International Exhibition of Crafts to Prato Expo, etc.).
Built on three floors, the modern pavilion that is usually used for these events was designed by architect Pierluigi Spadolini and inaugurated in 1977. Standing in the center of the great square inside the Fortress, the Pavilion is surrounded by ancient buildings that are gradually being restored: the Theatrino Lorenese, the Palazzo delle Nazioni, the Arsenal. Also, ever since the 1966 flood, the large buildings on the southern side have hosted the restoration Laboratories of the Opificio delle Pietre Dure.