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HISTORY

The Firmafede Fortress houses the Museum of Fortresses (MudeF) which is divided into numerous rooms which, thanks to exhibition panels, videos and multimedia material, communicate the history of the Firmafede and Sarzanello fortresses, the city of Sarzana and the historic Lunigiana. From 2020 the Fortress also houses the Castello della Brina Museum.

The interactive and multimedia itinerary tells the history and characteristics of Lunigiana through its fortresses, uses and customs, placing them in their residential and historical context. Holographic screens, talking pictures, videomapping, are some of the elements that characterize the multimedia set-up. An engaging path that allows the visitor to immerse themselves in a bygone era, relive the history and vicissitudes of Sarzana in medieval times. A special bracelet, provided at the entrance, will accompany the visitor throughout the museum itinerary, allowing him to activate multimedia contents such as projections, audio and video. The little ones will find a room entirely dedicated to them, where they can draw the construction phases of a castle on a blackboard and rebuild a fortress thanks to a 3D puzzle.

The Firmafede Fortress (originally called Cittadella) was built in 1249 thanks to the help of the Pisans allies of the city. In the fifteenth century the city became an important strategic point, Lorenzo the Magnificent decided to transform the village into a military stronghold of the Florentine lordship and to rebuild the fortress. In 1496 the fortress passed to the Banco di San Giorgio and from 1562 to the Republic of Genoa, remaining there until the end of the 1700s, a period in which it underwent several interventions. In the nineteenth century, with the annexation of the Republic to the Savoy kingdom and with the radical changes in defensive strategies, the fortress was used first as a police barracks and later as a prison until the 1970s.

Between 1985 and 2003 a series of restorations, financed by the then Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities, made the fortress usable again, which currently represents a hub for many cultural activities of national appeal.

The MudeF has been housed inside the Fortress since 1 September 2016.

The Fortress is under concession to the Municipality of Sarzana, which takes care of the ticketing service and security.