The Castle of the Counts Guidi of Poppi represents the main cultural and tourist reference of the Casentino valley. It still bears the name of its ancient owners, the Counts Guidi of Romena, who had it built as their own luxurious private residence in an elevated position where they originally only owned a watchtower over the Arno river, which is the one currently incorporated into the building. . The castle stands majestically on the top of the Poppi hill and can be seen from every corner of the Casentino, recognizable by its profile that resembles a large hand with the index finger pointing towards the sky.

The structure, which can be visited entirely, from the ancient prisons to the bell tower, dates back to the 10th century. You enter from the Ammunition Tower, which once housed the soldiers responsible for guarding the drawbridge. The actual Castle, surrounded by walls with Guelph battlements, is accessed through the Lion Gate, built in 1477. In the suggestive internal courtyard, a large fifteenth-century staircase, wooden galleries with remains of valuable original ceilings, an imposing eccentric column stand out to support the roof supported by overlapping brackets and numerous coats of arms that embellish the walls. From the court you can access the ancient prisons. On the upper floors, the Salone delle Feste stands out, covered with trusses and with a decorated ceiling, in which the surrender of the last of the Guidi counts, Francesco, to the Florentine Republic was signed in 1440.

Finally, of extraordinary historical-artistic importance is the Chapel of the Guidi Counts with a cycle of fourteenth-century frescoes depicting “Stories of the life of Saints John the Baptist and the Evangelist” attributed to Taddeo Gaddi, Giotto’s main pupil.

Housed on the main floor of the castle, the exhibition itinerary “The Hell in Campaldino” pays homage not only to the Battle of Campaldino fought in 1289 between the Guelphs and Ghibellines, in which the young Dante Alighieri participated, but to Florence and Arezzo in the middle of 1200s, to the Casentino area with its castles, to the war machines and warlike practices. The exhibition consists of panels and models of siege machines. Worthy of note is the model with over 6400 lead soldiers faithful to the parts in the field and perfectly arranged as per historical data.

On the first floor the Rilliana Library houses 25,000 volumes and pamphlets including a nucleus of over 700 incunabula (one of the largest Italian collections of printed specimens from the 15th century) and a collection of 800 manuscripts from the 11th century, rich in miniatures and ornate letters .