Tenuta di Montegiove, 05010 Montegabbione (TR), Umbria, ITALIA. HISTORY OF THE CASTLE OF MONTEGIOVE |
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| CASTLE
OF MONTEGIOVE Country house Extra virgin olive oil DOC Red wine History of the Castle Guided tours of the castle CASTELLO DI MONTEGIOVE MONTEGIOVE SLOT SCHLOSS MONTEGIOVE CHÂTEAU MONTEGIOVE |
The castle of Montegiove rises on a hillside on the
border between the old city-states Orvieto and Perugia. The name of the
castle originates from the existence of a Roman temple dedicated to
“Jupiter elicius” proven by the discovery of two votive terracotta
heads of the God. In the middle ages, Montegiove was one of the
thirty-two villages belonging to Orvieto. The construction of the castle
itself was due to the efforts of the family Bulgarelli, the counts of
Parrano and Marsciano, and took place sometime between 1278 and 1282.
Precise historic documents show that in 1282 Nerio, son of Bulgaruccio and
a follower of the “rules” of St. Francis, obtained the permission from
the bishop of Orvieto to construct an oratory on the territory of
Montegiove close to the castle. Consequently
we might deduct that the castle was already constructed. The original
shape of the castle was a simple construction with one egg-shaped ring
wall with a low tower at the entry, an open tower in one side with the
still existing door provided with portcullis, the tower lingering over a
still existing low arcade in the typical Orvieto stile. The buildings were
leaning to the ring wall and in the inner courtyard was a tall tower, a
so-called donjon and a cistern. The 1363 Orvieto Register lists Montegiove Castle among
the belongings of the Bulgarelli family. Through marriage Montegiove becomes the property of the family Monaldeschi della Vipera, known for the Guelf fights against the Filippeschi as described in Dante’s Purgatorio VII’s song “viene a vedere Montecchi, e Cappelletti Monaldi a Filippeschi, o uom senza cura”. In the fourteen’s century mercenaries and their “condottieri” were responsible for the outbreak of fights and battles all over the peninsula. This involved also Umbria as there were continuous fights between the condottieri like Attendolo Sforza, Fortebraccio, Baccarin della Leonessa and Gattamelata, whose wife Giacoma, after widowhood, owned Montegiove and maintained the property with intelligence and insight, and during the period of 1455 till 1466 carried out important transformation and restoration works necessary due to the continuous incursions and raids. When the gunpowder was discovered the original structure of the castle had to undergo considerable alterations. In front of the original gate a ravelin was constructed from where it was possible to protect a new entrance gate with drawbridge positioned in a building close to the old external wall. Furthermore a round and a square tower was erected protruding from the old ring wall enabling grazing fire and the entire external ring wall of the castle was lined thus thickening the surrounding wall by one Orvieto foot (34 cm). A second ring wall was constructed with a drawbridge and a portal where it is possible to see a square stone where Giacoma displayed Gattamelata’s coat of arms. To honour her husband’s memory Giacoma commissioned the renowned sculptor Donatello to make an equestrian statue. Today this statue stands in Padua, the first memorial to a man not of royal birth. After passing the bridge
leading to the courtyard you arrive at the original entry gate to the
castle where the counts of Montegiove’s cote of arms is clearly visible
above the doorway, but another plait carved in the architrave of the new
fireplace in the entry hall bears witness of the power of the Gattamelata
and also certifies the dates of the different stages of construction of
the castle. The will by notary Giacomo
della Leonessa states that Giacoma Gattamelata bequeathed all her
possessions to her daughter Todeschina who married Antonio di Ranuccio,
count of Marsciano in 1460 and hereby through marriage the castle of
Montegiove returns to the ancient proprietors. Todeschina and Antonio had
11 children of whom 9 were minors by the death of their father, and in
1505 commenced the fights between the children for the heritance of the
vast territories. Bernardino survived his brothers and sisters and his two
sons Ranuccio and Alessandro divided the castle (the tower and the cistern
remained undivided). Ranuccio carried out new
restorations of the damaged constructions due to heavy earthquakes having
injured the walls, but he also carried out numerous alterations in order
to adhere to more contemporary demands. After the wars and the
appeasement between the neighbouring warlords following the descent of
Charles the VIII, defensive castles lost importance and were now
transformed into mansions with the characteristics of a city palace.
Behind the defence walls new ring walls were constructed to give space for
gardens and courtyards. On the 2nd of
January 1500 the division between the two brothers gave Bernardino’s
second son Alessandro the other half of Montegiove, and once more through
daughters descend the various later owners like degli Atti and the
Aviamonzi. In the year 1780 Angelo
Misciattelli was granted a perpetual lease of all the land owned by
Monsignore G. Varese degli Atti. The Misciattelli family already owned
surrounding land and unified the ancient fief to the castle’s property.
Later the old castle was adapted to agricultural purposes leading to
transformations, demolitions and additions. At the end of the 19th
century the property passed on to the Marchese Lorenzo Misciattelli who
commenced the restoration according to the criteria of the 19th
century in order to transform the castle into a country residence. |
Sources:
Further reading Link
to Mondimedievali's accounts of the |
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