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Montecchio Vesponi is located about 4 km south of Castiglion Fiorentino on the road (n ° 71) which goes towards Cortona. The castle, very beautiful and evocative, is placed on a hill, at a height of 364 meters above sea level, which dominates the whole plain below. Passing along the road you cannot do without to be attracted to this beautiful structure. Definitely worth a short detour. You can admire the castle from multiple angles, however, unfortunately only externally. Only rarely can the castle be visited. Lately it has been during the archeology nights organized by the Tuscany region.
Montecchio was called in the 11th century Castrum Montis Guisponi (name that derives from the Arezzo family Guasconi). It belonged to the Marquises of Monte di Santa Maria, then it became a free municipality. In the thirteenth century its fortifications were strengthened by the municipality of Arezzo which used it as a stronghold to control rivals cities Cortona and Castiglion Fiorentino.
Montecchio Vesponi after the battle of Campaldino (1289) became Florentine possession. A few years later it returned under the control of Arezzo. In the 14th century Florence ceded it in fiefdom to John Hawkwood (Giovanni Acuto, 1320-1394), who died in 1394 in Florence, in whose cathedral stands his funeral monument, a masterpiece by Paolo Uccello.
Of the castle the walls with battlements and square guard towers remain, imposing, having a total length of 263 metres. Inside the walls there is a central tower 30 meters high, next to which the formwork is placed.
Privately owned, it has recently been partially restored.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- AA. VV. “Toscana” Guide Rosse Touring Club Italiano, 2007
- Gallorini, Santino “Montecchio Vesponi, un territorio, un castello e una comunità” Cortona, Calosci, 1993
- Ghizzi, Giuseppe “Cenni storici sopra il Castello di Montecchio Vesponi e suo Comune” Castiglion Fiorentino, 1874
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