Poggibonsi
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Poggibonsi, situated at the confluence of the Staggia stream with the Elsa river, probably dates back to the Etruscan period. In the Middle Ages the town held an important strategic position on the via Francigena. By the 12th century, documents mention the Badia a Poggio Marturi, dedicated to San Michele, just outside town, and the castle, which was held by the Guidi Counts. Florence, seeking control of the via Francigena, conquered and destroyed the fortress in 1115. The Guidi, then supported by Siena, began to build a new fortress on the adjacent hill, known as Podium Boniti. Despite the alliance to Siena and to the Emperor, the Guidi’s Ghibelline stronghold fell several times to Florence. In 1270 Guido di Monfort, a mercenary army general in the service of the Florence Commune, stormed the castle and razed it to the ground for the price of 4000 florins. The inhabitants decided to rebuild the town farther downhill, on the site of the village of Marturi.
The only surviving Medieval structure is the 13th century Fonte delle Fate, halfway down the hill towards Vallepiatta. From the end of the 13th century, Poggibonsi became Florentine territory. Nonetheless Emperor Henry Vll made a last attempt to rebuild the fortress in 1312, laying down the first stones of the Castello lmperiale, which remained unfinished after his death. Lorenzo the Magnificent ordered a new fortification to be built. It was begun in 1488 by the architect Giuliano da Sangallo, but again was never completed. The ruins of this fortress dominate the landscape North of Poggibonsi. Piazza Cavour is at the heart of Poggibonsi. Here stands the Gothic Palazzo Pretorio, whose facade is decorated with armorial bearings. La Collegiata, built at the foot of Castle of Marturi, was a Romanesque building, mentioned in documents in 1076 as the seat of the assemblies of Countess Matilda and her vassals. Of the original church only the base of the bell-tower remains, the rest being the result of a neo-Classical reconstruction in 1876. Inside is a beautiful marble baptismal font from the ancient church, dated 1314. The Church of san Lorenzo faces the nearby piazza Savonarola and was built in a Gothic style at the beginning of the 12th century by the Augustinians. It was partly modified after the Second World War. The meeting between Charles Vlll of France and the Dominican friar Girolamo Savonarola took place here in 1495. The Castle of Badia, stands on the site of the ancient Badia di Marturi. It was rebuilt in a neo-Gothic style during the 19th century.
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