Museum The Orsini Fortress of Sorano

The medieval town of Sorano, perched atop a massive tufa crag, is dominated by its huge and imposing Fortress, one of the grandest examples of medieval and Renaissance Italian military architecture. Created by the aristocratic Aldobrandeschi family in the thirteenth century, it was successively enlarged and re-structured by the Orsini, following the necessities imposed by the advent of firearms.  The purpose was that of making Sorano an exceptionally strong military bulwark, in the centuries-long contest between this turbulent family, and the Republic of Siena. Starting in the late 1980s, the Fortress, after many years of neglect, went through reinforcement which allowed its reopening to the public in 1996.  The oldest structures, identifiable with the surviving portions of the keep - known as la Rocca degli Aldobrandeschi - are all located in the northern area of the fortifications. Today some of these spaces house the Museum of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, and the small theatre dedicated to Niccolò IV Orsini. The sixteenth-century complex is formed by a central tower, the site of the fortress’s headquarters.  Inside this structure, there were the armoury, the gunpowder and saltpetre storehouse, the foundry, and the prison.  At the base of this building stood the gatehouse, which controlled the main entrance of the Fortress.  Today these spaces are occupied by the information office, and thus are the departure point for guided tours of the fortified complex.

Above the entrance portal looms the heraldic crest, with the insignia of the Aldobrandeschi dynasty, and of the Orsini family. The keep is connected to the two angular bastions of San Pietro and San Marco by a series of underground passageways, which enabled the rapid movement of troops along the entire perimeter of the walls.

These passageways were dug at several levels, and were provided with slit-apertures designed for defense with arquebusses and culverins. Thanks to guided tours, it is now possible to walk through the entire network of underground passageways, and to visit the two bastions.