Mura del Borgo Medievale

Two rings of walls climb the promontory at Castiglione della Pescaia, with towers and gates shaping the lanes of the hilltop borgo. The inner circuit is medieval; a second defensive ring dates from the fifteenth century.

Why it matters

The municipal history describes two curtain walls: an earlier circuit built between the tenth and thirteenth centuries under Pisan protection, and a second ring from the fifteenth century. The later walls enclose the town centre, making the fortifications part of the living borgo rather than an isolated ruin.

What to notice

Eleven towers of different periods stand along the ramparts. Square towers belong to the medieval phases, while circular and semicircular bastions reflect later changes in military architecture. Three gates pierce the circuit: Porta Urbica, the gate near the church of San Giovanni Battista, and Porta a Mare. Porta Urbica was rebuilt in 1608. The church’s bell tower incorporates a former wall tower. Parts of the lower-town circuit also survive at the Portaccia and Torre Lilli.

Context and history

The Pisans built the earlier circuit as they controlled the area around the year 1000. In the fourteenth century, economic decline, pirate raids and the plague of 1348 contributed to the abandonment of the lower village and the concentration of settlement uphill around the castle. In 1446, Aragonese forces occupied the town and restored the walls. Their arrangement continued to shape the fortifications, later extended and modified under Cosimo I de’ Medici. The gates and surviving wall fragments remain part of the historic centre.