Sassi Fortress (Rocca di Sassi)

The ruins of the Rocca di Sassi extend at the top of a rugged hill overlooking the town of Sassi, located a few kilometres south of Castelnuovo di Garfagnana. The complex of surviving buildings lost its function as a military outpost overlooking the right bank of the Turrite Secca over a century ago, and today it can be enjoyed as a multi-layered cultural asset of exceptional landscape value. The centuries-old decline of the site originally occupied by the fortress was partially countered by the functional transformations that occurred and in particular by the construction of the town cemetery within the walled enclosure, with access through the original guardhouse. Of particular architectural interest are the remains of the church of San Frediano, with a single hall, with a completely blind fortified apse that can be clearly seen when observing the outline of the building from the west. The bell tower is the result of the adaptation of an earlier late-medieval defensive tower structure. The completion of the recent restorations to the fortified structures, the church, its bell tower and the neighbouring pedestrian paths have ensured its consolidation and accessibility, safeguarding the conservation of the entire complex.