Porciano Castle

The Porciano Castle dominates a hill far about a kilometer from the river Arno and at the same distance from Stia. Stia is reachable with the SS.70 Umbro-Casentinese following the indications.

The historical memory of Porciano goes back to the 11th century; the castle is named on a year's 1017 document as the residence of the Count Guido di Teudegrimo, founder of the branch of the counts Guidi from Porciano, so we can consider it one of the first settlements of the powerful Casentinese family. More than two centuries later, in the year 1288, was the famous Count Tegrimo who, here retired after the Campaldino battle, attacked and stole the unlucky wayfarers and merchants that passed in the vicinity's of the castle. Of his 'noble art' exists testimony in a 1291 sentence against the Count: he has to pay 10.000 gold florins to the Podesta (medieval term for chief magistrate or governor) of Florence to have stolen at a merchant of Ancona. The successor of Tegrimo was the Count Guido Alberto of Porciano, also condemned by the Florentine Republic to have plotted in a conspiracy to upset the same one. In March 1349, the castle passed under the dominion of Florence, with the last Count of Porciano, Ludovico, suiting the monk's abit, abandoning all his terrestrial richness.

As to many other places in this area, also on Porciano, there are a lot of memories, even if they aren't historically proven, regarding the great poet Dante Alighieri. The legend says that in the year 1311, Dante was brought for the first time to Porciano to convince the Counts of the Guidi family, who opposed for a long time the Florentine Guelphs, to support the just crowned Emperor Arrigo VII and to convince him to take an open side with the Ghibelline cause. Porciano left two famous letters written by the poet. The first one, March 31st, 1311, was destined for the Florentine, full of resentment and hate after the exile to which he was condemned, with the purpose of inviting them to submit to the emperor. The second, on April 16 of the same year, was for the emperor to push him to crush with the same weapons Florence. But the Counts Guidi didn't keep the promises of fidelity made to the Emperor, and the poet immortalized his contempt for the traitors in the XIV° chant of the Purgatory of the 'Divine Comedy'. This caused the Guidi family to imprison the Alighieri in one of the halls of Porciano. Another legend that concerns the castle is related to the presence between its walls of a treasure, a gold bell that 'it is worth how much the whole Casentino'.

The mighty Keep of Porciano, still gifted with battlements, is the greatest of the whole Casentino with its 35 meters and six plans of height. It is raised between the rest of the fortified walled enclosure, two towers, the western transformed into the bell tower of the church of the little town, and two gates, one to the north and another to the south. The downfall of the castle began in the 16th century with the growth of the town of Stia, placed at the bottom of the valley, much more comfortable for commerce. The ruins of the fortification also knew the shame of being destined for agricultural use. As the near castle of Romena, also Porciano became in the 19th century the property of the Counts of the Goretti dè Flamini family, who took care of its restoration. On the site were also done archaeological researches that have allowed to reconstruct the phases of development of the castle. It's now possible to see the complex system of canalization of the waters that were served to flow from the roof of the keep to the principal cistern sited in the court of the castle and in a small misure inside the same tower for drinkable use. After the last works, finished in 1978, the ruins were well kept, and today they have been opened to the public. The tower also includes an apartment, the residence of the owners, and a small museum of the things recovered in the area.

Looking today at this castle of small dimensions, it seems impossible that in the Middle Ages its importance was so notable. The 'court' of Porciano was frequented by knights, nobles, and ambassadors; the deriving merchants from the east had to pass under the walls of this castle to approach Florence, and an Emperor confided in its alliance to subdue the powerful Florentine Dominion.

Porciano Castle from the drone: