Castle of Spedaletto, Medieval fortress in Val d'Orcia, Italy

Spedaletto Castle is a fortified architectural complex with a quadrangular plan, built in the 12th century and later remodeled as a grancia (fortified farm). Each of its four corners has a tower-like building; the northwest one has a crenellated top. On the west side, two crenellated turrets flank a central gate topped by a crenellated watchtower, from which a curtain wall runs to the south turret. An L-shaped range of buildings, partly warehouses, stands before the north side.

The complex was built in the 12th century and belonged to the Hospital of Santa Maria della Scala in Siena. In the 15th century, restoration works changed its medieval appearance, turning it into a grancia, a fortified farm; the entrance gate with walls dates to 1446. In the 19th century, a building was added to house the grancia's warehouse.

The church of San Niccolò a Spedaletto stands beside the castle with its adjoining canonica, the priest's house. The complex belonged to the Hospital of Santa Maria della Scala in Siena, and the church served the rural community gathered around this fortified grangia. The name Spedaletto itself recalls the hospital's role in lodging travellers along the road.

The complex stands along Strada Provinciale 53 in the rural hamlet of Spedaletto, in the municipality of Pienza. The fortified layout is best read from the west side, where the gate tower and its stretch of curtain wall connect to the southern turret. The church of San Niccolò a Spedaletto and its canonica stand beside the castle.

The castle stands along Strada Provinciale 53 in the countryside of Pienza. Its name comes from the Hospital of Santa Maria della Scala in Siena, which owned the complex from the 12th century; such fortified farms were called grance. The 15th-century works turned the medieval castle into one, and in the 19th century a warehouse building was added.