Italy · Still standing
Poppi Castle
Castello dei Conti Guidi
Poppi Castle (Castello di Poppi) is a medieval stone fortress in Poppi, Tuscany, historically associated with the Guidi family. The building presents a tall square tower beside a large rectangular keep with crenellated parapets and an inner courtyard containing a prominent stone staircase and a small chapel with fresco decoration.
First raised
1169
Its prime
1470
Today
Still standing
As it stood in 1470
What Poppi Castle looked like in its prime.
A large rectangular stone keep with a continuous crenellated parapet dominates the silhouette; the masonry is warm ochre-brown local stone with regular courses. A tall, square tower rises immediately to one side, capped in the castle's prime by a machicolated parapet and an open arched belfry near the top. Rows of arched and mullioned windows puncture the façade. Low curtain walls and a smaller secondary tower sit around a wooded hillsite; an inner courtyard and a broad stone staircase link living quarters.
Its story
The story of Poppi Castle.
Poppi Castle, the Castello dei Conti Guidi, is first mentioned in 1169, when it belonged to the Abbey of San Fidele de Strumi; by the 1190s it had passed to the Counts Guidi, who for the next 350 years held largely unchallenged control of the Casentino, also ruling other castles on its hills, including Romena and Porciano.
In later years a new keep was added to the right of the tower, becoming part of the residence with a jail below, and at the end of the thirteenth century Count Simone Guidi enlarged the mullioned windows to create a more elegant façade. Count Guido Novello was a Ghibelline supporter, aligned with Arezzo rather than the Guelphs of Florence.
When the Milanese were defeated by the Florentine army, Count Francesco dei Guidi was forced to surrender. Spared with his life, he and his family were exiled, ending the Guidi dynasty in the Casentino, and Poppi was ruled by Florence until the Unification in 1860. The castle presents a tall square tower beside a crenellated keep, with an inner courtyard containing a prominent stone staircase and a small chapel with fresco decoration.
Step inside
9 places to explore in 1470.
The record describes 9 distinct spots at Poppi Castle, including 4 interiors: inner courtyard, grand stone staircase and coats of arms, guidi chapel with frescoed walls and more. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and explore every one, more scenes means more rooms, more angles, and more of the place to stand in.
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Recreate Poppi Castle with AI to explore it.
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Clans who held Poppi Castle.
The families that held Poppi Castle for a decade or more across its history, follow a name to its clan.
Guidi
Held by the Counts Guidi from the 1190s, controlling the Casentino for some 350 years until Count Francesco was forced to surrender to Florence and the family was exiled.
From the archive
Poppi Castle on paper: the measured plan and period views.
The survey plan and photographs below are the ground truth this page's reconstructions are checked against, drawn and photographed while the castle was still a working garrison. Every image is public-domain or openly licensed, with its source named.
Poppi Vicariate Plan
1780 · The Central National Library of Florence (via Europeana)
Public domain
