The Fortress or Rocca della Verruca, on the peak of the same name (537 meters) of the Monti Pisani, dominates the entire Pisan plain and the course of the Arno. Sources testify to its existence even before the year 1000. The name derives from the fact that it is located on the mountain of the same name, whose shape resembles a wart. Although in poor condition, it has maintained a certain charm in addition to its pentagonal plan. Inside there was an epigraph with the first trace of Italian rowing that reads "Dodici Giugno MCIII", today preserved in Pisa in the National Museum of San Matteo. The Rocca della Verruca was an important place in the defensive system of the Pisan Republic, so much so that it was called "the eye of the Pisans" because from up there it was possible to control a large part of the territory. If a village was attacked, it signaled the request for help by waving flags, lighting fires, ringing bells. These signals were played until they were seen by Verruca who played them back, alarming Pisa.