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Monuments

The city has preserved until now the image of the original Medieval centre, in spite of the later fortification work on the city wall, the donjons and above all the Cittadella, which dramatically altered its previous urban aspect, giving it from then on the aspect of a walled city, dominated by the solid mass of the Firmafede fortress.

At the heart of the old city, in the area around the parish of Sant Andrea, traces of the Roman castrum (fort) can still be seen, with the typical perpendicular arrangement due to the north-south (Cardus) and east-west (Decumanus) road layout. From the start of the Medieval period this regular arrangement was lost with the expansion of the populated centre.

With the transfer of the bishop’s seat from Luni to Sarzana, at the start of the XIII century, the city started a considerable urban expansion and was divided into quarters. In the following century six city gates were opened in the wall, in line with the main roads of communication. The intense building development continued until the XIV century, documented by numerous buildings outside the city wall and the foundation of notable religious complexes, resulting from the arrival of new religious communities, such as the Clarisse (also known as the Poor Clare Sisters) and the Dominicans. The main urban structure remains unchanged to this day, with a few small exceptions due to modernizations to the accesses to the historical centre. An important urban recovery project was carried out in 1999 which restored the paving of the main public squares and other works were started mainly concerned with the laying of public service systems.

MONUMENTS OF HISTORICAL CENTER