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Volterra -
Photo (c)
majamarko
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Volterra
Volterra still retains its
medieval character, charm and atmosphere. Its isolated position has
impeded any progressive development. The defensive wall built in the
13th century was the result of an urban development that began in the
year thousand and was completed at the beginning of the 14th century.
In the 5th century the city was reduced to a castrum which developed
around the early church of Santa Maria(the cathedral) and the Pratus
Episcopatus(Piazza dei Priori) and included the Piano di Castello, Porta
all’Arco, via Roma, via Buonparenti, via dei Sarti and via di Sotto.
Borgo di Santa Maria, the present via Ricciarelli and the Borgo
dell’Abate (via Sarti) were beyond the castrum or castellum.
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The boundaries of the Prato were
delimited by powerful groups of towers; the crux viarum of Buonparenti,
Sant’Agnolo and Baldinotti.
During the 13th century, the domus comunis (Palazzo dei Priori) was
erected , the main square was defined and the height of the towers
restrained.
Behind the Palazzo dei Priori arose the religious square, the Piazza
S.Giovanni which included the cathedral, the baptistery, la casa
dell’Opera, the hospital of Santa Maria and the cemetery (the present
via Turazza).
The medieval structure has remained almost unchanged throughout the
centuries and is still circumscribed by the four main medieval
peripheral districts of Borgo di S. Alessandro, looking over the Cecina
valley; S, Lazzaro towards Florence and Siena; S. Stefano and S. Giusto.
The latter, the farthest from the city, is near the Balze, dominated by
the majestic church dedicated to the patron of the city , San Giusto.
At the end of the 19th century the psychiatric hospital was built in the
S.Lazzero area. Once an extensive complex it has recently been
transformed into a hospital.
In the same area of S. Lazzaro there is also the old railway station
opened in 1912 that connected
the city to Saline.
Piazza dei Priori
The land, on which the center
of civic life evolved, was once named the Bishop’s Prato for it was the
bishop who originally presided over and ruled the city. The newly founded
commune gradually took over the bishop’s rule and the towers and the
first dwellings were erected on the Prato. An elm tree was planted in
the main square, around which, the consuls and elders gathered to
discuss
and constitute laws.
Palazzo dei Priori
The palace was designed by Maestro Riccardo in 1239 as the inscription
near the main entrance attests.
The three-storey façade adorned with trilobed ,double arched windows and
the Della Robbia glazed terracotta coats of arms of the Florentine
magistrates (15th-16th centuries) also bears the canna volterrana, the
medieval standard measurement of the commune, engraved between the
banner and torch holders.
The two Marzocco lions ,a symbol of Florence were added in 1472 when the
palazzo became the seat of the Captain of Justice.
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Palazzo dei Priori
Photo (c)
renzotok
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The pentagonal shaped tower is not completely original for the top half
was rebuilt after the last earthquake in 1846 by the architect Mazzei
who also embellished other buildings in the main square.
The entrance decorated with coats of arms leads to the stairway and a
fresco of the Crucifixiion with saints by Pier Francesco Fiorentino who
also painted the Crucifixion in the mayor’s antechamber. The Virgin with
child has been attributed to Raffaellino del Garbo.
The magnificent Council Hall with a cross vaulted ceiling exhibits the
fresco of The Annunciation and four saints, Cosmas ,Damian, Giusto and
Ottaviano, painted by Jacopo di Cione and Nicolò di Pietro Gerini.While
the fresco was being transferred onto canvas , the sinopia now displayed
in the antechamber , were discovered.
On the right wall, The Marriage Feast at Cana, a large canvas painted by
Donato Mascagni in the 16th century.
In the antechamber, the Sala della Giunta , wood panel of Persius
Flaccus by Cosimo Daddi, a fresco tranferred to canvas of S,Girolomo ,
two small canvas paintings by Giandomenico Ferretti (18th century)
depicting The Adoration of the Magi , Birth of the Virgin by Ignazio
Hugford and a canvas of Giobe by Donato Mascagni .
Palazzo Pretorio and the tower of little pig
This palace made up of several buidings and modified in the 19th century
was originally
the seat of the podestà and the captain of the people. The tower
considered to be one of the
first towers built in Volterra is traditionally known as the Tower of
the Little Pig for at the top of the tower there is a stone animal
poised on a shelf.
Palazzo Vescovile
This palace originally
built as a grain store became the bishop’s residence after 1472 when the
Palazzo dei Vescovi was destroyed by the Florentines to make way for the
fortress.
TThe great arches have been attributed to Antonio da San Gallo the Elder.
Palazzo Incontri
Now the Cassa di Risparmio di Volterra (the local bank), the palace is both Medieval and
Rennaissance as recent restoration work has revealed.
After the Council of Trent the palace was a seminary until the end of
the 18th century.
Palazzo del Monte Pio
The palace was embellished this century to blend in with the medieval style of the
Piazza but is in fact 13th century. The original construction can still be seen at
the rear of the building in the vicolo Mazzoni.
The Medieval Wall and the Gates
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Porta Marcoli
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The Medieval wall was built in
the 13th century. When the Ghibellines succeeded the Guelfs
it was obvious that the Etruscan wall, recently repaired and reinforced
in 1254, was far too extensive to guarantee defensive protection.
In the
Autumn of 1260 forty stone masons were hired to build a smaller circuit
which was completed to much expense within a few years.
The Gates
Porta a Selci
The gate which leads to
Siena, with a simple pointed arch was built in the 16th century to
replace the earlier gate,
known as the Sun Gate, destroyed when the fortress was erected in the
15th century.
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Porta Marcoli
Probably built in the
14th century, the gate served as access to the Olivetan monestery
at S. Andrea ( today a seminary) and a convenient entrance for the
farmers coming into town from the surrounding countryside.
Porta di Docciola
Built in the 13th
century, the gate served as a link between the city and the fertile
valley below. The gate, with an exterior round arch and inner pointed
arch, still preserves the features of 13th century Volterran
architecture.
Porta Fiorentina
Originally called
S.Agnolo after the nearby church dedicated to the Archangel, presents
the same architectural structure typical of Volterra although
modifications carried out in the 16th century are still evident.
During
a siege ,the tower above the gate used as an armory, was destroyed in
1530. This gate leads to Florence through the Era valley,
Castagno, Gambassi and Castelfiorentino.
Porta San Francesco
This gate is also known
as the Gate of Santo Stefano or the Pisan Gate as it leads to Pisa
through the Era valley.
It is the only gate that still preserves traces of the original frescoes
painted in the vaults and an engraving of the Pisan canna, a unit of
length, slightly longer than that of Volterra engraved on the façade of
the Palazzo dei Priori. |
Porta S. Lorentino - Photo (c)
Chiara Gandolfi
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Porta San Felice
The gate with a single
arch sustained on both sides by the medieval walls is very different
from all the other gates of the city. The gate flanks a tiny chapel with
a bell tower and offers a magnificent panoramic view of the soft rolling
hills as far as the sea.
The Fonts
Fonte di Docciola
At the Docciola Gate,
the font was built in 1254 by Maestro Stefano, as the inscription
,between the pointed arches, attests. At the bottom of a steep hill this
evocative architectural splendor is a little hidden today. During the
Middle Ages the water served the mills and the wool industry in the Era
valley.
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San Felice
Similar to Docciola,
this font designed by Chelino Ducci Tancredi was built in 1319 by the
inhabitants of Borgo Santo Stefano as the inscription between the two
arches attests.
In the vicinity there are the remains of the Etruscan wall and an arch
which local historians have named the Porta Romana, and probably served
as the entrance to the Roman Baths (Terme Guarnacciane).
The House-Towers and the Renaissance Palaces
The Buonparenti House Towers
One of the most evocative corners of Volterra, the two towers,
Buonaguidi and Buonparenti are connected by a brick archway as were the
families in marriage. The towers dominate and strategically command the
crossroads, the crux viarum and delimit the main square.
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The Toscano House-Tower
This is a group of towers in Piazza San Michele constructed in 1250
by Giovanni Toscano,
treasurer to the King of Sardinia, who had a noble dwelling designed for
him by Giroldo from Lugano around the tower in S.Agnolo, as the
inscription engraved above the entrance attests. The building was
purchased by the Rapucci family, the Cafferecci and then Guarnacci who
added the 16th century palazzo which descends the Via di Sotto. The Baldinotti House Tower The palazzo in Via Turazza is adorned with a series of arches
surmounted by stone cones which served as hinges for the shop doors
which opened out onto the street.
Palazzo Inghirami
The palazzo was built for Admiral Jacopo Inghirami in the 17th
century by the architect Gherardo Silvani. Large ledged windows flank
the grand ashlar framed entrance surmounted by a bronze bust, of the
great admiral who won the battle at Bona attributed to Tacca.
Palazzo Maffei
The palazzo was built for Monsignor Mario Maffei, Bishop of
Cavallion, whose funeral monument by G.Angelo Montorsoli is collocated
in the Cathedral. The building was completed in 1527 as the inscription
on the façade attests. A splendid example of Renaissance architecture ,
the palace was purchased by Mario Guarnacci in the 18th century to house
the first Etruscan museum and library.
Vasari has suggested that the palace was adorned with frescoes painted
by Daniele Ricciarelli.
Palazzo Beltrami
The ashlar framed gothic arched windows are the main features of
this elegant 16th century palazzo which once belonged to the Desideri
family.
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Case Torri Buonparenti
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Palazzo Lisci, (today Marchi)
Once the medieval hospital of Santa Maria ,the façade presents two
phases of construction. The lower part in stone with two filled in
arches and a marble inscription bearing the name of the hospital, dates
back to the 13th century while the upper half is 18th century. mattoni.
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Palazzo Minucci-Solaini: the courtyard
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Palazzo Incontri (today Viti)
The warm tones of the sandstone and the large ashlar framed windows
enhance this elegant Renaissance façade attributed to Ammannati. In 1819
a theatre ,designed by the architect Luigi Campani, was built in the
interior courtyard. The theatre was named after the Latin poet Aulus
Persius Flaccus from Volterra whose figure is portrayed on the stage
curtain by the 19th century artist Nicolò Contestabile.
Palazzo Minucci (today Solaini)The exquisite symmetry of the Renaissance façade and elegant harmony
of the interior courtyard bequeaths this palace as one of the most
splendid in Volterra. Attributed by local historians as the work of
Antonio da San Gallo the Elder, the palazzo houses an extraordinary
collection of local paintings and sculptures.
Text courtesy of
Volterra Tourist Office
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(c) 1997-2008 E. Massetti
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