Poppi near Arezzo

Poppi rises on a hill dominating the Arno river in the Casentino Valley. The seat of the Count Guidi family who ruled the valley from the early 1000s until 1289 when they finally became part of the Florentine Republic. From the late 1200s to 1448 the Guidi family presided in the Palazzo dei Guidi and controlled the land from Poppi to the mountain pass of the Consuma. Approaching the Campaldino plain, the tall and imposing thirteenth-century castle of the Guidi Counts on the hilltop of Poppi dominates the surrounding countryside. The Castle is characterised by a facade with double-arched windows and the tall tower rising from the centre




Inside the Castel of Poppi is the famous "Biblioteca Rilliana", with a wealth of important volumes, and the Chapel frescoed by Taddeo Gaddi, Giotto``s favourite pupil. On the outskirts of the residential centre of Ponte a Poppi stands the Convent of Certomondo, with a church dedicated to SS. Annunziata e Giovan Battista, which was built for the Guidi Counts in 1260. In the 1440 s, in an unsuccessful attempt to capture full control of their lands the Guidi family fell out of grace and where permanently exiled from their territory.



The late-thirteenth-century Badia di S. Fedele in the old town centre of Poppi houses many precious paintings, while to the north of the town lies the 10th-century Abbey of Strumi.