Palazzo Sforza Cesarini, Renaissance palace in Santa Fiora, Italy.
The Palazzo Sforza Cesarini is a late-16th-century complex on Santa Fiora's main square, made of aligned stone buildings: the palace proper and the Palazzo Pretorio, which grew out of the old Aldobrandeschi rocca. Its stone walls have rectangular windows and round-arched ground-floor doors, plus a Gothic arched door from the medieval structures. Two towers remain attached: the tall, unroofed Aldobrandeschi tower and the lower Clock Tower.
Built in 1575, the palace rose from the foundations of an Aldobrandeschi fortress dating to 1000. From then it became the center of power for the County of Santa Fiora and shaped the region's development.
The Sala del Popolo holds the original gilded wooden Sforza coat of arms. Two 17th-century fresco cycles decorate the palace: "The Four Seasons" in the mayor's office and "The Hours of the Day" in the antechamber. The building also keeps the contrada palii and a civic bell from the mid-16th century.
The palace faces Santa Fiora's main square, with the town hall and the Museum of Mercury Mines of Monte Amiata (housed here since 2002) sharing the complex. The two medieval towers, the Aldobrandeschi and the Clock Tower, stand attached to the palace and are best seen from the piazza.
The two towers attached to the palace are the only remains of the Aldobrandeschi fortress. The taller one has a square plan, stone walls pierced by windows on several levels and arrow slits once used for defence and attack, and its top is left without any crowning.
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