Case-Torri

Considered one of the most evocative corners of Colle Val d’Elsa, the building stands at the point of connection between Borgo and Castello (Colle Alta) where already in the fourteenth century there was a masonry bridge with large arches. Here was Porta a Ripa, one of the ancient entrances to the walled city, destroyed during the siege of the Duke of Calabria whose remains were incorporated into the construction of the Palazzo Campana. The building takes its name from Francesco Campana, an ambitious politician from Colle who moved to Florence and became secretary of the Medici family. At the height of his career he decided to build a palace in his hometown, entrusting the task to the Florentine architect Giuliano di Baccio d’Agnolo, while the management of the works was given to his brother Camillo. For the design of the building, the Florentine architect drew inspiration from the residences of the Florentine nobility of the early sixteenth century. The building has a large arched opening that offers a particular scenographic effect between pairs of kneeling windows, columns, shelves and decorations. The left wing of the palace was never built and today houses a lush garden bordered by the castle walls and a wall where a wrought iron gate opens on which stands the coat of arms of the Caramelli family who bought the palace in the eighteenth century. Inside the Palazzo Campana there are two marble inscriptions that recall the visit made to Raffaello Caramelli by Ferdinando III and that of the Grand Duke Leopoldo II who in 1845 stayed here for three days, guest of Tommaso Ceramelli gonfaloniere of Colle as was his predecessor Raffaello. A typical example of 16th-century Tuscan Mannerist architecture, Palazzo Campana with its imposing arch, sandstone and plaster facade that stands out especially at sunset, today represents one of the most important Renaissance buildings in the city.