The Corsini Park

The charming Corsini Park, with its ancient buildings, is located in the historic center of the village. The area includes the palace, the medieval towers, the park and a series of buildings united by common areas. 
The palace and the adjacent fortified area of the fortress - in the eleventh century already the seat of the castle cadolingio Salamarzana - initially lived different and separate events. The first functional unification of the two areas took place in the early fifteenth century when the buildings and fortifications passed under the control of rich Florentine families. In 1460 the palace, once the administrative centre of a farm, was bought by Giovanni di Cosimo dei Medici, then by his nephew Lorenzo il Magnifico and finally by the hospital of Altopascio. The phase of the Medici property dates back to important renovations that gave the building its current appearance. In 1643 the farm was bought by the Marchesi Corsini who in 1864 also became masters of the Rocca. Since 1981 the entire complex has returned to municipal ownership. 
Inside the area there are the Museum, the Municipal Library with the Historical Archives, the Auditorium La Tinaia (headquarters of the Youth Centre Sottosopra), the Performing Arts Centre "Il Frantoio" and the former lemon house.

In December 2021 was inaugurated the panoramic point on the top of the Torre di Mezzo, born from the insertion inside the structure of an iron staircase and some balconies that allow the view from above the Arno valley. The project, approved definitively in 2018, was co-financed by the Region and the Municipality of Fucecchio and is located along the route of the Via Francigena (Fucecchio is the common leader of the Tuscan center-south aggregation) enhancing the ancient route of pilgrims. The intervention has not only a tourist value but also has the aim of preserving at best one of the ancient towers of Parco Corsini, through seismic consolidation.

The Torre di Mezzo after a few centuries returns, in a certain sense, to its original function: once a fundamental sighting point for the defensive strategies of the Rocca Corsini and the Castle of Salamarzana, today panoramic point to admire the valley of the Arno looking towards the Rocca di Federico II in San Miniato.

Opening time and cost
For timetables, access methods and costs visit the website museofucecchio.it - tel. 0571 268262

The building, which is accessed from Piazza Vittorio Veneto, is divided into three floors and ends with an elegant side loggia supported by brick columns. Built on the oldest castle walls, the building included a door that opened onto the "piazzetta" (now Piazza Niccolini) and connected directly to the main villages. Inside the building you can still see traces of the previous medieval buildings, being formed by at least two bodies gathered during the restructuring of the fifteenth century. In particular, on the first floor there is a decorated terracotta arch, a fresco fragment from the 14th-15th century and some pictorial decorations (landscapes and cornices) made by Stefano Fabbrini in the second half of the 18th century. To the main building are connected two wings formed by the premises once used as services of the Farm and which now house the Library, the Historical Archives and the Civic Museum.

From the palace you enter the park, where the towers of the fortress dominate a forest of oaks, oaks and cypresses. The fortification, commissioned by the Florentines in 1322, served to play a role of control over the important Fucecchian crossroads and the bridge of the Arno, as well as to restrain the restless local population repressing the frequent ferments.

Destined for military use until the end of the 14th century, the fortification lost its original strategic importance in the early fifteenth century, after Florence, conquered Pisa, consolidated its frontier to the west. Dominato dalla maestosità della “Torre grossa”, quanto resta del più antico castello cadolingio di Salamarzana, il parco ospita inoltre l’alta “Torre di mezzo” e la più piccola “Pagliaiola” che sorge sul lato orientale.

Since 2007 in Parco Corsini there is Eloisa, an enormous statue in white Carrara marble made by the artist Arturo Carmassi (1925-2015). Carmassi, an internationally renowned artist, has lived many years in the countryside of Fucecchi. He designed this high sculpture that devours space and comes to life like a tree specifically for this place. A new form, which does not exist in geometry or in nature, that stands out against the sky. A female sculpture that expresses a quiet and strong energy that bursts with generosity. The artist has chosen Carrara marble above all for its brightness in the space for the lights that prospects and pushed out of itself in the daily variations of light.