Кастильон-Фьорентино: Тарих пен мәдениеттер қаласы

Castiglion Fiorentino is a small, walled city in eastern Tuscany, Italy, in the province of Arezzo, between the cities of Arezzo and Cortona. It is known for its annual festivals and its Etruscan archeological site.

Due to the overall infrastructure, town walls, and building architecture, for many years scholars considered the town to have been established in the late medieval time frame. More recent excavations, however, have found the remains of an Etruscan city wall (c. 4th century BC) underneath the current Piazzale del Cassero, and have discovered the remains of an Etruscan temple under one of the town's churches, la chiesa di Sant'Angelo, which was built in the 12th century. Documents from the 10th century mention a town named "Castiglione" in the feudal property of the Marquis of Monte Santa Maria. During the following century, the town became a part of the Diocese of Arezzo.

Castiglion also has many festivals throughout the year including the famous "Palio dei Rioni" on the third Sunday of June. Similar to the festival in Siena, the Palio dei Rioni is a horse race around Piazza Garibaldi, including a colourful and energetic display of the ancient custom of flag waving, which dates back to the 13th century. During the week leading up to Easter Sunday, the parade along the city's streets, re enacting a scene from the Passion as they have done annually for the past four hundred years. In addition to the spring poppies, summer sunflowers and the famous Tuscan cypress and olive trees the beautiful green hillsides and country lanes are a must for any traveller any time of the year.

The first of the existing city walls, including Porta Fiorentina, the main entrance to the town's historical center, was erected in the 13th century, then enlarged in the 14th under the Perugians to connect the castle to the outside walls. An anti gate containing the Medici coat of arms is located outside of the walls, while the inside of the gate is constructed of three arches under a statue of the town's patron saint, St. Michael. The town's fortress, the Cassero, was completed in 1367. In the 15th century, the nuns of San Girolamo used the fortress as a convent, and by the 19th century much of the fortress had been destroyed, with the remaining structure used as a prison. Nearby is the Castello di Montecchio, which once was given to the British mercenary John Hawkwood.

Young children are educated at a school within the town. Older children attend secondary school in Arezzo. In June, 1989, Texas A&M University opened the Santa Chiara Study Center in Castiglion Fiorentino. Approximately 100 students from Texas A&M and other American universities, including Texas Tech University, University of Texas at Austin, Cal Poly Pomona, Colorado State University, University of Houston, and Kansas State University, study at Santa Chiara each semester, studying landscape architecture, art, architecture, literature, horticulture, music, and international business. The Santa Chiara center is named after the building in which it is found, which is a former convent of the Order of Poor Clares. The building still contains the Church of Saint Clare (Santa Chiara in Italian), although it is now considered to be structurally unsound and is not used. Found on the southeast edge of town, the building has also been used as a girl's academy, but was vacant when Texas A&M began to use the building which is operated by the Italart Cultural Association. The city of Castiglion Fiorentino owns and restored the building. Texas A&M also sends some of its rising freshmen every summer, all of which are national scholars (National Merit Finalists and National Hispanic Scholars) for a two and a half week trip named the Memorial Student Center Conway Fitzhugh International Honors Leadership Seminar in collaboration with the LAUNCH office at Texas A&M University, College Station (formerly the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas) .