Borgo of Sambuca (Borgo di Sambuca)

The historical village of Sambuca consists of a small nucleus built on the top of a cliff (395 metres above sea level) about 2 kilometres south of San Romano in Garfagnana, dominated by the remains of a late-medieval fortress of uncertain date and by the parish church of San Pantaleone (ancient branch of the Pieve di Fosciana), attested since the papal bull of 23 December 1168 of Pope Alexander III.

The fortress, of which few traces survive around the church, can be identified by observing the few surviving terraces, which make the complex resemble a compact and circumscribed fortress. To the north and south-east of the village, traces of two gates are recognisable, one of which was commonly ascribed to the 13th-century fortress. The fort is named in the list of fortresses and castles which was drawn up in 1401 by Paolo Guinigi. During the Este period it was part of the Vicariate of Camporgiano and the centre was identified with the toponym Villa (distinct from the nearby village of Villetta), which can also be found in chorographic maps of the Garfagnana, including the one engraved by Andrea Bolzoni in 1746.