An unconquerable, impenetrable fortification, so well perched that no one ever could conquer it with weapons. Along the wooded paths of the Via Francigena, near the glorious city of Siena, is the village of Monteriggioni. The last bastion of an ancient and heroic resistance, it lies on the verdant hills of Tuscany hinterland. A famous theater of bloody clashes and rivalries, it stood as a stronghold of a freedom finally lost forever.

In 1213 the podestà of the Republic of Siena, Guelfo da Porcari, ordered to erect the fortification of Monteriggioni. The stronghold represents an important testimony to the historical memory of the time.
[…] for, as upon its round enclosing walls
Dante, The Divine Comedy, Inferno, XXXI, Translation by Courtney Langdon, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1918
Montereggione crowns itself with towers;
thus o’er the margin which surrounds the well
with one half of their bodies towered up
those frightful Giants, whom, when from the sky
he thunders, Jupiter is threatening still.

The fortification of the village of Monteriggioni
Guarding the ancient Via Francigena, in the heart of the walkway that for miles led to the Holy Land, the village of Monteriggioni stands in a strategic geographical position. It is located within the Elsa and Staggia Valleys. The Sienese built the borgo between 1213 and 1219 as a defensive outpost on a high hill, Mount Ala. From this location it was easier to repel the warlike siege of rival Florence.

The mighty city wall – 20 meters high and 2 meters wide; a full 570 meters long – was built following the natural course of the hillside and still surrounds the village. Fourteen defensive towers crowned it, connected by a patrol path, and has two gates of access.
Although protected by swamps that were particularly difficult to cross, some documents of the time attest to the presence, within the perimeter furrow, of a deep moat with charcoal surrounding the walls. Charcoal was stored inside, which, ignited when necessary, had the function of releasing impenetrable flames.

It is unclear if there was the presence of a drawbridge. Thick portcullises, made of wood and iron and operated by pulleys, barred the two main entrances, Porta Franca towards Siena and Porta San Giovanni towards Florence. A mighty defensive structure called a ravelin, in particular, reinforced Porta San Giovanni. This was an independent and temporary fortification, which stood as a kind of protective keep.
The urban center
The urban center of Monteriggioni, with its characteristic Piazza Roma, probably housed between one hundred and one hundred and fifty families. Over the centuries the settlement has remained virtually unchanged, except for a few hovels now lost.

Among local elders there are tales of an unusual architectural detail. Some people are ready to swear that a secret tunnel still exists leading from the central well in Piazza Roma even to the “bottini” of Siena. They are the famous underground galleries that run through the city… This is clearly a legend, but it gives an idea of the link between Monteriggioni and its mother city.

The sober church of Santa Maria Assunta overlooks the same square. The building, constructed along with the entire Monteriggioni complex from 12131, has had increasing significance over the centuries. Santa Maria Assunta is Romanesque in style, with clear Gothic influences, and has a characteristic gabled facade of gilded travertine and brick. The central portal opens outward and a pointed archivolt surmounts it, while a small circular rose is located in the upper portion. On the other hand, the plan of the building has a single nave with a small apse.

The conquest of Monteriggioni village
Monteriggioni was so well defended that the Florentines tried in vain to conquer it several times. Since the first attempts in 1244, all efforts were futile. Even when Siena itself had suffered a heavy defeat at Colle di Val d’Elsa in 1269, Monteriggioni had remained inviolate. Such an unconquerable castle resisted for more than three hundred years all sorts of firearms and white weapons. Florence besieged it again with more than 2,000 infantrymen and 500 cavalrymen in 1526, but without success.
However, unfortunately, Monteriggioni could not oppose the treachery of its commander. On the 27th of September 1554 Captain Bernardino Zeti voluntarily surrendered the village to the Florentine enemy Gian Giacomo Medici. Having lost its most powerful defensive bastion, Siena capitulated and the Marquis of Marignano could annex its territory. From that tragic moment, the city no longer had its independence, and all the inhabitants of Monteriggioni were taken to Florence under conditions of slavery. It is unclear whether Bernardino Zeti was bribed or deceived. But it seems that in the evening, when the shadows thicken, sometimes it is possible to hear a terrifying scream in the center of Piazza Roma in Monteriggioni: Captain Zeti still cries out for revenge.
Samuele Corrente Naso
Notes
- A. Lisini, Inventario delle pergamene conservate nel Diplomatico dall’anno 736 all’anno 1250, Siena, Lazzeri, 1908. ↩︎