Gressa Castle

The castle of Gressa rises near Bibbiena, in the heart of Casentino. Driving through the road that leads to the Franciscan Sanctuary of La Verna after about 4 km. we find on our left a deviation that leads on a country road that ends just under the castle.

The castle of Gressa rises on a hill 585 meters high near the homonym stream, overlooking the valley of the river Archiano, not far from the city of Bibbiena. From this position, it is possible to dominate the whole underlying territory. In 1078, Gressa is named on some documents as 'castrum', even if the first certain notices of the castle and its owners date from the 13th century.

From the chronicles of that time, the castle is indicated as the property of the bishops of Arezzo, who used it as a fortified summer residence. Due to its geographical position, surrounded by other Bishop's castles such as Bibbiena, Marciano, Gello and from the Monasteries of Camaldoli and Prataglia, we can deduce that its establishment is also ascribable to the same Aretine bishops.

From documents of the 14th century, we learn that the castle was besieged and conquered by the Florentines in 1259. Afterwards, the Aretine Bishops took back the fortification, and in 1356 there was another, failed Florentine attack. It also seems that Gressa was the last of the castles of the Casentino to remain in the possession of the Bishops. The castle, today with large parts in decline and an urgent need for restoration, is constituted by an external curtain wall with an irregular polygonal plant, of which only a few lines remain, gifted with a beautiful gate in correspondence with the Bishop's Palace. The Palace is in a good state of conservation thanks to a recent restoration.

This curtain encircles the base of the hill. The second wall circuit is concentric to the first one and tightens the peak of the hillock.  Also, this enclosure has an irregular form, similar to an octagonal polygon. At some points, the walls reach five meters high. The main gate of access to the core of the fortification was reachable through a timber staircase, but today it has disappeared. To the inside, on the most elevated point, a tower with a rectangular shape, developed on three floors, had the functions of a residence and a military stronghold. The whole complex is built in sandstone and limestone of irregular form, with the exception of the angles, reinforced with big square stone blocks. Between the two walls are preserved two cisterns for the supply of water, whose inside masonry has been covered with impermeable plaster, a church, and two civil buildings, whose structure has been altered by the recent restorations.