Fortress sights in Tuscany
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Passeggiata della Mura
Lucca’s biggest attraction is its 12m-high city walls, built snug around the old city in the 16th and 17th centuries, defended by 126 canons and crowned with a wide, silky-smooth footpath just made for a leafy Passeggiata della Mura. Be it strolling, cycling, running or rollerblading, this legendary 4km-long circular footpath above the city proffers shot after shot of local Lucchesi life.
Be it strolling, cycling, running or rollerblading, this legendary 4km-long circular footpath above the city proffers shot after shot of local Luccese life.
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A
Forte di Belvedere
Sitting on a promontory above the Giardino di Boboli, this fort was designed by Bernando Buontalenti to guard the Medici family treasury. Its grassy ramparts provide stunning views across Florence as well as the villas and orchards south of the Arno. Inside the simple but stately main building are occasional contemporary art exhibitions (admission €5).
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B
Fortezza Medicea
The Fortezza Medicea, also known as the Forte di Santa Barbara, is typical of those built in the early years of the grand duchy. The Sienese could not have been given a more obvious reminder of who was in charge than this huge Medici bastion, raised on the orders of Cosimo I de' Medici in 1560.
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C
Palazzo dei Capitani di Parte Guelfa
In the middle of this well-preserved chunk of medieval Florence is the 13th-century 'Palace of the Guelph Faction's Captains', a fortified building raised on land confiscated from the Ghibellines and later touched up by Brunelleschi and Vasari.
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D
Fortezza da Basso
Now a conference centre, this Renaissance fort dates to the 1530s, when the recently restored Medicis felt it best to intimidate their own restive population. Note that the pentagonal fort is only open to conference attendees.
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E
Fortezza Medicea
Up high to the southeast of the cathedral, across the peaceful gardens of the Passeggio del Prato, rears the Fortezza Medicea, completed in 1560 and offering grand views of the town and surrounding countryside.
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F
Rocca
The Rocca is the crumbling shell of the town's fortress with great views across the valley, a small playground - and not much else.
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G
Fortezza Medicea
The 14th-century Fortezza Medicea, later altered by Lorenzo Il Magnifico, is nowadays a prison (admission one felony).
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