Sarna Castle

Before the year 1000, Sarna was one of four self-governing "Corti" (territories) of the land of Chiusi in the Casentino. By around the 12th century, Sarna belonged to the Abbey of Arezzo of Saints Flora and Lucilla. In 1357, Sarna was attacked and sacked by the forces of Marco Tarlati, lord of Bibbiena, but in 1360 the Florentine Republic defeated the Tarlati and Sarna came under its control. The small fortified village remained property of the monks of the Abbey of Arezzo until the late 15th century, and on several occasions the abbot took refuge here with his monks when plague spread through Arezzo.

Today Castello di Sarna is a medieval stone complex situated atop a forested mountain, restored and modernized, including a chapel, a tower, and a stone well. The property offers multiple apartments of varying sizes, from one-bedroom accommodations for couples to four-bedroom apartments for up to 8 people.

Sarna's status as one of four self-governing "Corti" before the year 1000 gives it an unusually early documented form of local governance, distinct from the more common pattern of feudal lordship found at most other castles in this collection.

The Abbey of Arezzo's centuries-long ownership, including its repeated use as a plague refuge for the abbot and his monks, ties Sarna directly to the recurring public health crises that shaped medieval Tuscan urban and rural life.

The 1357 sacking by Marco Tarlati's forces and the subsequent 1360 Florentine victory situate Sarna within the broader territorial contest between Florence and the region's smaller feudal lords during this period.

The property's exclusively apartment-based accommodation, with no conventional hotel rooms, gives Sarna a genuinely self-catering character well suited to families or groups seeking autonomy within a historic, isolated setting.