The castle of Monteriggioni was founded in March 1213 by the Sienese Republic against the Florentines; the powers of the two towns were separated by river “Staggia”, and the area was a site of several fights for the control of the territories. Monteriggioni was built as a military structure. Most of its inhabitants were soldiers but some civilians. There are two entrance doors, The Porta Romea or Franca and the Porta S.Giovanni. The walls are a defensive structure linked to the XIII century’s way of fighting. The disputed border territory between Florence and Siena is easy to monitor from this hill on the Via Francigena, which was why the Sienese fortified it in 1203 with a ring-shaped wall. After their victory in 1260 at Montaperti, they extended the fortifications to cover an area of 570 square meter (6135 square feet) and strengthened the walls with fourteen towers. In the early 14th century Dante, in his Divine Comedy, memorably compared the towers on Monteriggioni’s walls to the giants who surrounded the deepest pit of hell. The present-day picturesque village is still completely contained within its unique ring of walls, which is reminiscent of depictions of fortresses in early European landscape painting.