Il Fossolungo

The Armando Diaz street is one of the few wide and practically flat roads. The people of Seggiano call it the “Fossolungo” (Long ditch) because there, in the Middle Ages, there was a moat to protect the castle walls.

There are those who doubt that there has ever been water, given the difficulty to bring it up there and maintain it especially during the summer.

And then, in an enemy army had attacked the fortified castle of Seggiano, it would have emptied it in a moment only by digging a small furrow. Even the castle of Potentino had no protective moat.

More probably, as for many medieval fortresses, it was a stream that collected all the waters of Seggiano and swelled in rainy periods. Its function of military defense, more than the presence of water, was linked to the absence of trees and other structures that could be a shelter for the assailants. In the open were easy targets for archers and crossbowmen from the top of the walls.

For the same reason also on the nord side the “Mori” did not have high vegetation. Today’ s olive trees were planted when Seggiano lost its strategic role as the cornerstone of the Republic of Siena and it was more useful to use the land for olive groves and pasture.

From “Seggiano Curiosa”

by Fondazione Le Radici di Seggiano (website)