Fortezza Medicea di San Martino, Italian fortress in San Piero a Sieve, Italy.
Fortezza Medicea di San Martino is a fortified structure on a hillside built with massive walls arranged in a five-sided layout and nine corner bastions. The construction uses solid masonry throughout, designed to resist prolonged military assault.
Construction began in 1569 under ruler Cosimo I, intended to protect and control the region. Architect Baldassarre Lanci oversaw the building work through its completion in the early 1600s.
The fortress reflects how military architecture was designed during the 1500s, with its two gates named after neighboring cities Florence and Bologna. These names reveal the political importance this location held for the surrounding region.
You can walk on a path that circles the outer walls and view the fortress from different angles. Guided tours into the interior and main tower are available, providing access to areas normally closed to the public.
Inside the fortress were all the facilities needed to support military life: grain mills, workshops to repair firearms, water storage tanks, and a chapel. These structures reveal the site was designed to be entirely self-sufficient for a garrison of several thousand soldiers.
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