Fortezza Medicea

Medici Fortress

A terrace overlooking the city

A jewel of 16th century military architecture, the Medici Fortress stands on the hill of San Donato. An exceptional lookout point, an acropolis of the Etruscan city, the main events of the city’s history took place here in different historical periods.
The first fortified nucleus of Arezzo was built on this hill between the 9th and 11th centuries A.D. and the remains of the church of San Donato in Cremona belong to that period, while Porta Sant’Angelo is all that remains of the ancient keep built in the 14th century by bishop-count Guido Tarlati.
The design of the current fortress, a bulwark of Florentine rule during the Middle Ages, was commissioned in the early 16th century to the Florentine architects Giuliano and Antonio da Sangallo and was completed in 1540 at the behest of the Grand Duke of Tuscany Cosimo I de’ Medici. It features a star-shaped plan with five bastions designed by the architect Antonio da Sangallo the Younger.
A wide moat surrounded the complex, accessible through three gates, one of which, ‘La Spina’, was located inside the bastion facing the city and the only one not to have the heart shape typical of Medicean defensive structures.
The military garrison was abandoned at the end of the 18th century and was purchased by Count Vittorio Fossombroni in 1816, who later left it to the Municipality of Arezzo.
A place of culture and recreation, it is now a destination for walks, a venue for art exhibitions and events.