Piazza del Municipio and Loggia in Castiglion Fiorentino

A magnificent view of the Val di Chio can be appreciated from the Piazza del Municipio thanks to the 16th-century so-called Vasari loggia. Actually, the loggias were made in 1513 by two artisans, Bernardo di Ghirba and Filippo da Bellinzona, and only later, probably, did Vasari intervene there with some operations including the placement on the external central arch of the Medici coat of arms in pietra serena sandstone.

On the inner walls of the loggia can be admired numerous coats of arms of the Commissioners and Podestà, some of them polychrome, in Della Robbia terracotta. The three arches, plugged in 1733 for static reasons, were reopened at the request of the population by Podestà Cesaroni Venanzi in 1930.

To the left, where there is now a coffee bar, were the entrance doors to the Oratory of Saints Sebastian and Rocco, where there was the altar of St. Anthony with a glazed and painted terracotta attributed to the Della Robbia school, now in the Collegiate Church. The sacred building was later deconsecrated and sold in 1876 to a carpenter.

The square is also overlooked by San Michele Palace, the political and administrative seat of Castiglion Fiorentino since the late 12th century, and the palace of the noble Dragomanni family, now home to the Historical Archives.