Fortezza medicea di San Martino

The Medici Fortress of San Martino is located in San Piero a Sieve, in the municipality of Scarperia e San Piero, in the Mugello, north of Florence. It was built by Cosimo I on June 30, 1569, to a design by Baldassarre Lanci; the construction was later completed by Simone Genga and Bernardo Buontalenti. It took its name from an old parish church of San Martino at Beriano and was completed in 1608, under the reign of Ferdinand I.

The fortress has an irregular layout, close to the shape of a rectangle, and is reinforced by nine bastions and two main gates: the Fiorentina to the south and the Bolognese to the north. Inside the enclosure with brick sloped curtains stands the keep, a smaller fortress, five-sided and equipped with bastioned walls. Inside it there were a large signaling bell, housing for the troops of the Grand Duke of Tuscany and a chapel.

A legend handed down by the inhabitants tells that during the digging of the foundations, on a stormy night, a huge dragon descended from the sky and sank into the earth. Perhaps it was the Basilisk, or Regolo, legendary King of Serpents who killed with his gaze. There are also stories of gold coins of mysterious origin, circulated among the shopkeepers, and of young women who went to the fortress.

Useful information: today the complex is visitable only from the path that surrounds the walls. It has been purchased by an entrepreneur who is restoring the internal structures in view of reopening to the public.