Rocca Aldobrandesca di Castiglione d'Orcia

The Aldobrandesca Fortress rises above Castiglione d'Orcia, preserving a layered ruin of defensive walls, a keep, cisterns and a church apse.

Why it matters

The fortress controlled routes between Monte Amiata, the Val d'Orcia and the Maremma. Its remains record the rivalry among the Aldobrandeschi, the Salimbeni, Siena and the monastic communities of the area.

What to notice

The enclosure contains remains of a church, cisterns, residential and production spaces, and the keep. The excavated apse, dated to the eleventh or twelfth century, reveals an earlier religious structure within the defensive complex. Later works attempted to add a palace to the ruins.

Context and history

The fortress was associated with the Aldobrandeschi of Santa Fiora and likely originated around the tenth century. Siena took Castiglione in 1251 and acquired Rocca d'Orcia later in the thirteenth century; the Salimbeni subsequently held the district in fief. Siena recovered the castles in 1419. The fortress declined after the sixteenth century and was further damaged during the Second World War. A restoration campaign lasting more than twenty years was completed in 2023, consolidating the remains and exposing the earlier church.