The building, frequently mentioned by the writer Niccolai in his diaries of Maremman itineraries, was, according to the writer Falossi, built around the XV century: in Warren’s opinion, instead, the construction occurred after 1543, as will be demonstrated later.
Another writer, Santi, is certain that in XVII century the tower was well protected against the barbaresque attacks, while Pecci writes that it was built with squared stones, and belonged to the Marsili family, owners of Collecchio and of the land where the above mentioned tower was situated: it also points out that it had a garrison with two soldiers, and its old name was Cala di Forma Tower ( Torre of Cala Di Forma) ( in the original Italian: “…era fabbricata di pietre quadre, alla quale tra l’altra guarnigione, che vi e’, vi mantiene due soldati la Nobile Famiglia dei Marsili Padrona del Collecchio e del sito dove questa Torre, e l’antico nome! Era di questa Torre di Cala di Forma”).
He also adds that some documents from the Grosseto Community Archives show that, during the Medici Government, the garrisons of the two towers of Caladiforno and Castelmarino were financed by the Community, Commendatore and the Marsili Family (in the original Italian: “ Dall’Archivio della Comunita’ di Grosseto si rivela che alle due torri di Caladiforno e di Castelmarino, sul primo governo della casa Medici era mantenuta la guarnigione spese della detta Comunita’, de’ Commendatore e della famiglia Marsili”).
The first document concerning the tower to be archived was the letter that Flaminio Nelli wrote on the 3rd of February 1560, and already mentioned in Castelmarino Report, in which he spoke about the large road built to get to the tower, and the completion of the brickworks. It is important to point out that at that time the work on the tower had started ( in the original Italian “ Principiata”) but not yet finished.
The same argumentations are reported in another letter dated the 15th of February of the same year, from which one can understand that a vast area of the Mediterranean forest had been cut ( in the original Italian “tagliata”) for which the work of sixty men had been indispensable, and that the walls were two ells thick, while the internal dimensions six ells thick. It also appears that Flaminio Nelli had also contributed to the search for the stones necessary to build the walls, and had also worked hard to have the land around the building given to the Pope.
When these territories passed from the control of Sienna Republic to be domain of the Medici Family, on the 3rd July 1557, many experienced workers in the art of fortifications were immediately sent to the coast to reinforce the existing buildings, as a way to better protect those easily attackable areas.
In September 1560, Angelo Niccolini writes that the Superintendent had decided to send to the tower the engineer Domenico Giannelli, probably one of the best experts in local architecture: his role was to teach the workers what to do with lime mortar, stones and sand ( in the original Italian: “ per conto della calcina, pietra et rene”), as in these territories there was no specialised labour available. Despite the fact that Domenico Giannelli, disciple of the expert Beccafumi and son of Giovanni from Sienna ( Giovanni da Siena), was likely to be an extremely well educated man, it was agreed to have the tower checked by Baldassarre Lanci, an engineer and expert in fortifications, who had recently been given the charge of reviser of the coastal areas. His intervention was considered very important as the tower was considered both not efficient from a technical point of view and with a short ray of visibility, as demonstrated by the artillery shot from the tower which failed to reach the narrow lane below the building.
Giannelli’s intervention is also confirmed in a letter written on the 24th of February 1571 by Lorenzo Pomarelli to the Grand Duke of Parma and Piacenza, in which he asked for the intercession of the king of Spain to send the engineer to complete the tower of Caladiforno as “ il luogo cavante per la morte della ingegnere di Port’ Ercole e di Orbetello e Talamone e di Piombino e insomma di tutti i luoghi della Toscana e di Sua Maesta’ Cattolica, il quale ingegnere si domanda Messer Domenico Giannella senese”.
In 1566 Domenico Giannelli was chosen as the engineer for His Catholic Majesty in the garrisons of Tuscany, while in 1570 Simone Genga was appointed to succeed Lanci as the reviser of the coastal units: with such an important position he was in charge of this tower and of the others in the area.
From 1572 the name Gabriele Serbelloni is also recurrent: he was one of the main architects under the Medici Government. He was also asked, in this period, to supervise the works of the fortifications which were considered extremely important as, if they were improved and made stronger, although they might not have been strong enough to face a powerful army , however, they would have represented a place of safety for more than a thousand men ( in the original Italian: “[..] se bene queste tal torre non sariano sufficiente a resistere ad una Armata potente e’ pero’ tanto el servizio che sin’hora secondo mi e’ ditto di salvar la liberta’ di piu’ di mille homini”).
From the Warren’ s description, after visiting the tower in 1749, it seems that it had been built after the abduction of Rossellana, a beautiful woman ( “ bella Rossellana”) to protect the bay from the barbaresque incursions: therefore the building work might have started after 1543, year of the episode. This supposition could also have been supported by the fact that in 1560 the building was still in phase of construction.
In this document it is also pointed out that the life of the garrison of the tower was similar to the life of the inhabitants of Collelungo, and that there was a road network inside the Park which linked Alberese with the tower. It was probably the layout which also led to the tower of Collelungo, as already reported in a XVI century document.
Two watercolours, only a few years later than Warren’s drawing, repeat the same characteristics of the previous one, while in one dated 1789 and realized on the occasion of the restoration of the Customs Office located in the bay down below, there are two buildings next to the tower. The ribbed tower bell with the cross is connected to the higher building; this is still existing, still with its rectangular shape and large windows and an arched portal at the entrance. These buildings were reported with the same typology by Piero Conti in 1793, at the time of the already mentioned report on the fortifications. The XIX century Land Register confirms this supposition: the indicative tables of the same Land Register show that the complex, with all the buildings, was the property of the Regie Fabbriche, and the many headings are divided in the following way:
Heading n.20 Fort
Heading n. 21 Church
Heading n. 22 Tower
The planimetry is dated the 8th of March 1824 and was drawn up by the land surveyor Luigi Banti. The tower was built with local stones, and had a base surmounted by a ridge: the architecture of the tower respects the criterions of the time. A pavilion shaped roof, on a structure in pillars and arches, covered the terrace where the batteries were situated. A walled flight of stairs and a draw bridge were the accesses to the tower. At the top of the building there were some openings: next to the tower there was a small building with a furnace, which was also used for the provisions. The complex still exists and, despite not having been well kept, it is still possible to read the different parts and understand their function. |
