Castle Square

Piazza del Castello is the heart of the oldest nucleus of the town of Montemerano.

The oldest mention of the existence of a town dates back to 896, the year in which Emperor Arnolfo donated it to the Abbey of San Salvatore on Mount Amiata together with Talamone. Although structures that can be dated with certainty to this period have never yet been identified, the square must certainly have been part of the ancient center since then: in fact it is accessed through an arch that once
it was the only entrance to the fortified settlement and on the eastern side of it is the ancient Aldobrandesco castle, profoundly transformed over time and progressively incorporated into more recent structures. It first became the residence of the Basques and, when the noble Umbrian family sold its possessions to the Republic, then to the Sienese vicars, finally housed the seat of the Municipality, until its suppression in 1783, following its annexation to the municipality of Manciano.
No longer used for public purposes, it was sold to a family of local landowners, the Giaquili, who hosted the Grand Duke of Tuscany Leopold II of Lorraine on two different occasions (1844 and 1846).
Under the square there is a large cistern, which was once drawn from a well which, even at the beginning of the 20th century, before the arrival of the aqueduct, was roughly in the center of the area.

To be seen

The square is one of the most picturesque corners of Montemerano, one of “The Most Beautiful Villages in Italy”. All the buildings facing it are privately owned. Once through the access arch, which was the ancient gate to the centre, created in the surrounding walls, on the right there are the buildings built close to the castle, whose fifteenth-century tower, raised in the 19th century, still emerges from the top of the roofs . On the facade of one of the buildings in the center of this side of the square, note two windows with architraves molded in local sandstone, one of which bears the inscription “This is the house of the standard bearer Fausto Grassi and his friends”. The southern side, however, where the arch opens, is occupied by the so-called “Palazzo del Podestà”, with some noble coats of arms. To the
at the end of the square is the characteristic “Piazzetta del Forno” where Casa Carli is located, home of one of the most important families of Montemerano at least since the end of the 18th century. On one wall there is still an inscription from the Risorgimento era: “Viva Mazzini”.

How to get there

Piazza del Castello is in the exact centre, at the highest point of Montemerano and can be accessed from via Italia

Timetables

Always accessible

In the same area you can also visit

St George’s Church

If you liked the Piazza del Castello di Montemerano you can also visit

Palazzo Orsini in Pitigliano (km 22); Piazza Dante in Grosseto (km 54).