Castle Map

Castle

Poppi Castle

Italy · 13th century

Founded
1290
Heritage status
Italian national heritage
Location
Poppi
Coordinates
43.7224°, 11.76714°
Links
OpenStreetMap · Wikimedia Commons
Open on the map →Wikipedia ↗
Poppi Castle in Italy
Photo: {{{photographer}}} · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Description

Poppi Castle (Italian: Castello di Poppi, or the Castello dei Conti Guidi) is a medieval castle in Poppi, Tuscany, Italy, formerly the property of the noble Guidi family.

The first written mention of the castle at Poppi is in 1169, when it belonged to the Abbey of San Fidele de Strumi, but documentation from the 1190's shows that by this time, it had passed to the Counts Guidi. For the next 350 years, the Guidi family would have, largely unchallenged, control of the Casentino. Other castles on the Casentino hills including Romena and Porciano, also ruled by the Guidi counts.

Although the early documentation of the castle relates to the end of the twelfth century, the construction of the foundations would suggest a fortification had been on the site even earlier. In the second half of the thirteenth century the first parts of the castle, as seen today, were built, with the tower and the keep to the left.

The architect is said to be Arnolfo di Cambio, who used Poppi as a 'prototype' for the Palazzo Vecchio, which he also designed. The two buildings certainly do look similar, and originally, the tower of Poppi would have been taller, with machicolations (projecting parapets with 'murder holes' for dropping various missiles on the enemy beneath) that would have made the appearance even more similar.

In later years, a new keep was added to the right of the tower, and this became part of the residence, but with a jail below. At the end of the thirteenth century, Count Simone Guidi was responsible for enlarging the mullioned windows to create a more elegant facade.

Further additions to the castle over the next 150 years allowed the inner courtyard to be created and the magnificent stone staircase to be built in 1470. Over the years, the walls by the staircase have been covered with coats of arms of the Florentine families that ruled Poppi in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

Leading off the inner courtyard is the Guidi Chapel, covered in frescos by Taddeo Gaddi, a pupil of Giotto.

Lightning struck the tower during the 19th century and it was subsequently re-modelled to its present form.

Poppi has been involved in two major battles over the course of its history, both of which have had important implications for the political direction of the whole Casentino.

The first took place very close by, on 11 June 1289, at Campaldino.

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

In the rankings

Poppi Castle ranks #5,578 of 9,902 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #401 of the 624 mapped in Italy. Founded 1290, it is older than 64% of the atlas's dated landmarks, one of 1134 atlas entries founded in the 13th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 1,357 times in the last 60 days, more than 64% of the atlas. 2 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Florence, 42 km away. It is one of the 52 landmarks on the atlas's regional map of Tuscany. See how Italy compares in the castle statistics.

Castles nearby

More castles in Italy