Battlement tower and Town Hall
Dating back to the Middle Ages are respectively the bartizan of the castle (that allowed defending it “in muro comunis de super et de suptus”, as prescribed by the Statutes – all along the wall from above and from below) and the annexed domus (master house), integrated by “unam domunculam pro stantia custodum” (a smaller building to accommodate the keepers); in order to increase the defensive armament, each outgoing Vicar, after his 6-month office, was supposed to donate to the Municipality “unam balistam et unam rotella” (a crossbow and a shield) worth two golden florins. Well visible on the bartizan is the traditional emblem of Perugia “cum armis comunis et cum grifone” (in common arms and with the gryphon), a sign of domination and protection. Of all the bartizans built around the town walls as per Statute, this is the only one left, which constitutes also one of the “turres” (towers) (already documented in maps of the mid-thirteenth century); according to the oldest map of Fossato, that of 1734, originally there were 14 towers. The brick battlement seems to have been built after the fourteenth century, while the large door, of which only a panel is left, is dated 1536; it was part of the Gothic arch at the entrance, under which you can still see the hinges; this door, of which we also preserve the key, used to be guarded by custodes ad portas (door guards) day and night, like all the other doors in Fossato (with hot wax, armor, blade and wood provided by the Municipality at the expense of the citizens, who had also to supply food and wine) during the times preceding (and slightly following) its submission to the Papal States in 1540. Those were years marked by attacks, betrayals, plagues and troubles of any kind, during which the citizenship showed a legendary capacity of survival and brilliant defensive skills, as on other occasions in the past.