Rocca Strozzi in Campi Bisenzio
A magnificent example of 14th-century military building still intact
Rocca Strozzi is the symbol of Campi Bisenzio, not to mention the greatest evidence of the town's medieval past. Its construction in the middle of the Florentine plain was begun under Ubertino Rossello Strozzi, perhaps around an older settlement, in about 1366, and was completed a few years later by Carlo Strozzi.
The earliest documentary evidence of the church is from 1378, the same time as when the Florentine Republic was building the ring of walls around the town of Campi, which was on the far bank of the river Bisenzio. It also appears as 'the stronghold of Carlo degli Strozzi' in a list from 1409 that detailed all the Strozzi castles, but lost its military function in the second half of the 16th century, becoming an agricultural centre instead.
Seen from the bridge, the Rocca survives with its original form largely intact: a formidable brick dungeon was the foundation of the quadrangular building, equipped with a protruding walkway for the guards and a magnificent tower in the corner.
Today the stronghold, one of the most whole and spectacular examples of 14th-century military architecture in Tuscany, is property of the Municipality and houses the Archaeological Museum of Gonfienti.
