Where: Camaiore – town of Pedona

When: 1099 - 1446

Nowadays, there are only a few remains of the ancient castle of Pedona, whose urban structure is however easily recognizable in the present plan of the center of Pedona, a name that seems to derive from the Roman noble Pedius. It was the feudal residence of the nobles of Pedona, who sold some parts of it to the bishop of Lucca in 1183, while in 1219 it appeared to be a fief of the Vallecchia, who co-owned it by the noble consorts of Corvaia.

The castle was located in a strategic position that allowed it to dominate the Camaiore plain and the western Ligurian coast up to the Versilia plain. From Pedona there were also visible castles of Montecastrese, Montebello, Montemagno, Greppolungo and Peralla.

A few sections of the boundary wall are still visible. The church of San Jacopo, already mentioned in the bull of Pope Urban III of 1186, maintains a stretch of original wall fabric (that dates back to XII or XIII century), visible on the wall incorporated in the current sacristy. Finally, inside the cassero there was a circular tower, wide enough to be habitable. Later, in 1322, Castruccio Castracani ordered the construction of another triangular tower, which was still standing at the beginning of the 19th century.

The castle of Pedona was attacked and conquered by the Lucca army in 1223 and in the following centuries, due to its panoramic and strategic position, it was used by Lucca as a place of sighting.