Malmantile: a fortified village to defend Florence

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The walled village of Malmantile is located on a hill southwest of Lastra a Signa about 20 km from Florence. This is an interesting excursion from Lastra a Signa, the village was in the Middle Ages, together with the walled villages of Lastra a Signa and Signa, one of the three defensive bastions of the city of Florence against Pisa. Malmantile in 1529 challenged the troops of the Prince of Orange, this episode is described by Lorenzo Lippi in his poem entitled Il Malmantile.

The walls were built at the beginning of the 15th century in the same period in which those of Lastra a Signa were built. The Republic of Florence fortified this outpost to protect the defenseless area south of the Arno River and to control the road leading to Pisa.

The construction work on the walls began in 1400 and ended in 1426 probably here as well as in Lastra, Filippo Brunelleschi supervised the work during the last period. In 1530, after the fall of the Florentine Republic, Malmantile lost its importance, later in the eighteenth century, with the opening of a new road in the valley between Montelupo and Lastra, Malmantile remained isolated.

The fortification has two gates: Porta Fiorentina and Porta Pisana, the latter is in a good state of conservation. The walls, rectangular in shape, have a size of 125 x 70 meters and are completed by four square towers at the corners and by another two in the middle of the longer sides.

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