CIVITELLA IN VAL DI CHIANA

'Civitella in Val di Chiana' (official name), often also 'Civitella di Val di Chiana', is a comune in the province of Arezzo, south of Arezzo in Tuscany, Italy. It is one of the best-preserved of the network of Lombard fortresses of the 6th and the 7th century in central Italy, strategically placed to control the whole territory. The characteristic elliptical shape of the military settlements can still be seen in the layout of the town walls.

Contents

History

Main sights

Sister cities

References

External links

History

Already inhabited in Roman times, it was occupied and fortified by the Lombards in the 6th century. In the 11th century it became a possessment of the Bishops of Arezzo, and renamed "Civitella del Vescovo" ("Little Bishop's City"). In the 13th century the city was destroyed after the battle of Pieve al Toppo, cited by Dante Alighieri and fought nearby between Arezzo and Siena. After the Aretine defeat at Campaldino (1289) the city was annexed by Florence. In 1311 Arezzo regained it until 1348, whenceforth it remained the seat of a Florentine podestà.
On 1944-06-29, 244 citizens of Civitella were killed by Hermann Göring Division, in retaliation for the murder of two German soldiers by the hands of partisans. In 1963 the city received the Gold Medal for Civilian Valour.

Main sights

★ The Castle, erected in 1048 and surrounded by a massive line of walls. It was used as headquarters by the German army during World War II, and was destroyed by an Allied bombing in 1944. It has never been rebuilt.

★ Palazzo Pretorio (14th century)

★ The church of Santa Maria Assunta(11th century), finished in Romanesque style in 1252. It was restored in 1765 and enlarged in 1875. In 1934 two small side naves were added which were rebuilt after the destruction caused by the air raid in 1944. ^[1]

Sister cities

★ Ain Beda, Western Sahara

References

1. From plaque in church. Ufficio di Informazioni Turistiche c/o Biblioteca Communal

External links

★ Official Site