Florence - Fortezza da Basso / San Giovanni Battista

The vast five-sided fortress near the main station, today used as a barracks and exhibition building, was designed in 1534 by Antonio Sangallo the Younger and built under the direction of Pier Francesco da Viterbo and Alessandro Vitelli (1534/1535). With this bastion Alessandro de'Medici sought to manifest and consolidate his power after his return to the city.