Castello di Montegufoni

Montegufoni Castle (Italian: Castello di Montegufoni) is a castle located in Montespertoli, a comune in the Metropolitan City of Florence in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 20 kilometres (12 mi) southwest of Florence. Montegufoni stands on the ancient Via Volterrana, the road taken by Charlemagne and other emperors to reach Florence or Rome and which passes through Volterra and Siena.

The castle's exact creation date is unknown, but the first structure was probably built there during the 10th or 11th centuries. The first Lords of Montegufoni were the Ormannis, a noble family who built the first castle. In 1135, the Florentines attacked the castle, attempting to raze it to the ground.

The building was left in ruins until the 13th century, when it became the property of Gugliarello Acciaioli of the Acciaioli family. His descendants became enormously rich thanks to the bank they owned (Italian: Compagna di Ser Leone degli Acciaioli e de' suoi consorti) and towards the end of the 13th century, Montegufoni had been transformed into a complex comprising the central castle and seven smaller buildings, surrounded by walls: the so-called "seven old villas of the ancestral castle of Montegufoni", mentioned in an inscription in the castle.

In 1310, Niccolò Acciaiuoli was born at the castle, in a hall of the castle later transformed into a chapel. He later became Grand seneschal of the Kingdom of Naples and a dear friend of Boccaccio and Petrarch. In 1348, the King of Naples, Louis of Taranto, banished from his kingdom following the conflict with the King of Hungary, took refuge with his prime minister in Montegufoni. He used to banquet with the Bishop Angelo Acciaiuoli in the Banquet Hall (today known as "the Theatre"), which overlooks the part of the castle today called "Courtyard of the Dukes".

In 1386, Donato Acciaioli, a man who held the titles of Duke of Athens, Senator of Rome and Gonfaloniere of the Republic of Florence, built the tower that still dominates the castle today. In 1396 Donato was banished from Florence, but his assets (including Montegufoni) were saved from confiscation by his brother the cardinal. Donato's three sons resided at the Court of Athens until one of them, Agnolo di Jacopo, returned to Montegufoni with his son (Duke Francesco) and his cousin (it was probably at that time that the name "Court of the Dukes" was born).

Text adapted from “Montegufoni Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Castello di Montegufoni ranks #5,995 of 8,764 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #433 of the 528 mapped in Italy. Founded c. 1050, it is older than 90% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 344 atlas entries founded in the 11th century. 22 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Florence, 17 km away. It is one of the 41 landmarks on the atlas's regional map of Tuscany. See how Italy compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗