A Day at the Medicean Fortress of San Martino

Hello dear friends,
Finally, this morning I find some time to write this post to share with you, and today I want to tell you about the experience I had yesterday. I shared another group outing, and I must say that yesterday's was very interesting and beautiful.

Essentially, along with a friend of mine, we went out with other people for a hike near the Medicean fortress of San Martino, a large military structure located in San Piero a Sieve, just north of Florence. I had already heard about this fortress and had the intention to explore this area, but unfortunately, I had never found the time and opportunity. However, when things are done together with other people, I find them much more interesting.

This fortress was built around the mid-16th century and is said to be one of the most extensive in Italy, although, to be honest, I haven't read anything specific. One thing for sure is that I found it in poor condition, like many things in Italy, poorly maintained, and that's a real shame. Anyway, this fortress seems a bit absurd; it was commissioned by the Medici family to protect northern Florence. With others, we walked around this fortress, and I think it extends for more than a mile and a half.

I tried to photograph various parts of this fortress, unfortunately, the light wasn't great because, as you can see from the photos, it was very cloudy. Luckily, it didn't rain because the paths around this fortress are dirt roads. To build this imposing fortress, the Medici family took about 38 years after Tuscany was invaded by the French. It was practically the last use of the fortress as a barracks before it was subsequently abandoned and fell into disrepair, only used by sharecroppers working in the nearby fields, transforming part of it into a farm.

I asked the guide who accompanied us if there is any project for the enhancement of this place by the municipality or the province. In reality, he replied that there has been a restoration project for several years, but it hasn't made progress. So, only the exterior is visitable, where we walked, but the interior would be even more interesting because there would be many things to see, and spaces could be created, for example, for museums or exhibitions. Hopefully, they manage to enhance it a bit more.

I hope you found the photos interesting and that, virtually, they brought you with me on this exploration. See you soon in my next post. Goodbye, everyone.