Terra del Sole
Encyclopedia
Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany
Cosimo I de' Medici was Duke of Florence from 1537 to 1574, reigning as the first Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1569.-Biography:...
by Baldassarre Lanci
Baldassarre Lanci
Baldassarre Lanci was an Italian architect, inventor, theatrical set designer, and master of perspective of the Renaissance period. Born in Urbino, he spent most of his working life in Tuscany.-Early career:...
of Urbino
Urbino
Urbino is a walled city in the Marche region of Italy, south-west of Pesaro, a World Heritage Site notable for a remarkable historical legacy of independent Renaissance culture, especially under the patronage of Federico da Montefeltro, duke of Urbino from 1444 to 1482...
, in what is now the Province of Forlì-Cesena
Province of Forlì-Cesena
The Province of Forlì-Cesena is a province in the Emilia–Romagna region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Forlì.It has an area of 2,377 km², and a total population of 371,318 . There are 30 comuni in the province, see Comuni of the Province of Forlì-Cesena...
, northern Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. It was one of the first fortified cities to be constructed entirely from new on a planned grid
Grid plan
The grid plan, grid street plan or gridiron plan is a type of city plan in which streets run at right angles to each other, forming a grid...
system. Meaning Town of the Sun it was conceived to be the ideal town of the Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
period.
Designed on a rectangular plan, with a square inner wall with a bastion
Bastion
A bastion, or a bulwark, is a structure projecting outward from the main enclosure of a fortification, situated in both corners of a straight wall , facilitating active defence against assaulting troops...
at each corner. Terra del Sole was not just a residential town, but also had a strong defence to meet any onslaught that may have arisen following the recent invention, and common use of firearms in military
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
attacks. In places the walls are 9 metres thick. Within the walls (2087 metres wide and 12,36 metres high) are symmetrical settlements divided by streets. Two small castle
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
s within the walls were the strongholds of the "Captain of the Artillery" and the "Governor of the City". The four quarters of the town were named Santa Maria, Santa Reparata, Sant’Andrea and San Martino.
The central piazza
Piazza
A piazza is a city square in Italy, Malta, along the Dalmatian coast and in surrounding regions. The term is roughly equivalent to the Spanish plaza...
was named "Piazza d’Armi", and was enclosed by the principal public buildings of - Church of Santa Reparata, the Palazzo del Provveditore, the Palazzo della Cancelleria , other civic buildings, and the Palazzo Pretorio (today the Museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
of Man and the Environment)
The town still stands and today has a population of 6,096, while small clusters of houses have sprung up outside its walls, the town as conceived by Cosimo de' Medici is still very evident.