Casa Fisco

This is Casa Fisco, a gate that has long since abandoned any pretence of welcoming visitors. Its polygonal plan rises over two storeys in irregular stone courses, the masonry speaking of a time when fortification was a local, hand-hewn affair. The roof, a wooden-framed sloping structure, has partially collapsed, letting in the sky and the seasons.

To one side, a city gate survives, built of squared stone blocks. It stands as a more formal counterpoint to the ruinous bulk beside it. The whole site embodies a familiar Italian paradox: a structure built to control passage left, in time, to the passage of time itself. It is a silent, stubborn piece of urban geology, more interesting for what it has become than for what it once was.

Description via source. Coordinates and heritage data from the Atika atlas.