Living History - Palazzo Pretorio

Live show with Don Antonio at MusicaStrada 2021.

Visitors can take a guided route from here through the underground prisons, the keep and its defensive levels, all the way to the top of the fortress. The tour begins with some history, then takes you up through the building. The site now has a permanent display of remains and finds from the University of Venice's work at the New Monastery on Monte della Verruca, which Dante mentioned. There are temporary exhibitions too. It’s a historic building with a long past. Matilda of Tuscany owned it first, followed by the Pisan Archbishops. After Florence occupied the area in 1406, it became the local Vicariate, and leading Florentine families of that period settled there. Once Brunelleschi had fortified the village and the Torre di Santa Maria, this building may have been the only surviving example of original Vicopisano. He lowered it, but apparently didn’t tear it down or make major changes. Unique.

I added a star purely for the quality of the content. The tour covered an exhibition I could have skipped, a small museum with some finds, the historical archive, the prisons, the palace façade and the keep. The archive was impressive in size, though I’m not sure its documents are kept at controlled temperature and humidity. The real problem was how the visit was run. It lasted almost three hours, with too much time spent in some sections and too little in others. The guide also made frequent personal asides that felt avoidable, self-congratulatory and overly exuberant. The route up to the keep had no safety measures. I only noticed a small, dirty, faded sign outside at the end saying the tour was unsupervised. People should be told this when buying tickets, since the climb is dangerous and quite difficult. Our group had elderly people, pregnant women, children and dogs, and some might have opted out if they’d known. I understand wanting to educate visitors, but safety and honesty have to come first. And if you’re an international destination, you need a POS in 2023. There’s no excuse for not having one.

Professor Fascetti, who is both the fortress’s castellan and a terrific guide, made the visit a fascinating trip into the past. His deep knowledge of the artistic and architectural symbolism brought Brunelleschi’s beautiful Rocca di Vicopisano to life. A truly breathtaking experience.