Dating back to around the 11th century, it was modified by the Barbolani counts of Montauto in order to be inhabited, and remained in possession of the homonymous family branch until the 18th century. The decision to rebuild it, after the fire that devastated it in 1178, was taken by the lord of the imperial fief Federigo (1513-1582) who transformed it into a noble residence. It had a strategic function and controlled the connections between the Arezzo Valdarno and the upper course of the Tiber, together with the castle of Montauto. [2]
It is located on the right bank of the Sovara stream, a tributary of the Tiber, and the provincial road of Libbia (a hamlet of Arezzo).
It is currently an imposing residential castle-villa, as opposed to the nearby Villa La Barbolana. With a tower in the center and four small cylindrical corner towers, the architectural structure appears as a solid quadrilateral wall softened by Renaissance and Baroque windows. A loggia with stone columns runs along the entire facade. Despite the tactical commitment, its topographical position is precarious, so inserted in a small valley with an overhanging hill. Hence the well-founded hypothesis of a seventeenth-century restructuring, albeit on an earlier outpost of the more well-equipped fortress of Montauto. From the Barbolani it passed, by marriage, to the Velluti Zati dukes of San Clemente, then to the Baldeschi counts.