Rocca di Sala e Rocchetta

Via della Rocca, 55045 Pietrasanta LU

Rocca di Sala: the village walls that mount to the rocca are currently undergoing repair. Palazzo Guinigi experienced a series of changes and today only a small decaying portion remains.
Rocchetta "Arrighina": now private property, it underwent, since the beginning of the XIX^th century, drastic changes: part of a factory was built next to it, new windows were opened on the ground floor, where public lavatories were housed.
The Rocchetta is now in poor condition and badly needs repair in order to recover it's late XV^th century character.

A colony of Lucca, probably founded in the XII^th century, Pietrasanta grew to become, in the XIII^th, the region's sole political centre. Castruccio Castracani promoted the town's fortification, renovating the ancient rocca di Sala and building, in 1324, the Rocchetta that he dedicated to his son Arrigo. During the XV^th century Lucca defended its Versilia holdings against Florentine interferences by joining forces with Genova and supporting the King of France, Charles VIII^th. At the end of the century, however, the war between Florence and Sarzana brought Pietrasanta and the whole of central Versilia under the control of the Medici. The Florentines fortified the town, whose walls and towers had been badly damaged during the war. Castracani's Rocchetta, that had been completely destroyed, was rebuilt: it retained though the old name of "Arrighina", as it is called to this day.
In the middle of the XVIII^th century the Rocchetta, that had by then lost all military significance, was deprived of all ammunition, that was instead transferred to the Torre del Salto della Cervia and of Cinquale. The Rocca di Sala was sold in 1779 by Leopoldo I, Grand Duke of Tuscany, to Andrea and Giovanni di Dio Luccetti of Pietrasanta for 950 scudi.

• BUSELLI F., Pietrasanta e le sue rocche, Giunti-Barbera, Firenze 1970
• SANTINI V., Commentari storici della Versilia, Pacini Editore, Pisa 1992