Castello Monticelli Marsciano

Castello Monticelli is a historic residence, protected by the italian Ministery of Art and Culture. From 593 to 774 A.D. it was a fortress to defend Perugia from the Longobards, then it became a Benedectine Monastry for about 500 years and from about 1470 was a summer and hunting residence of aristocratic families.

Castello Monticelli offers several types of accomodation from spacious and elegant suites, all finely furnished while at the same time maintaining its original character of a medieval castle, to comfortable and large apartments all with cotto floors and ceilings with oak or chestnut beams.

THE HISTORY OF THE CASTLE
Castello Monticelli is composed of 8 listed buildings located on top of a hill, 3 of which are military towers with stone walls of up to 1,60 meters thickness. These 3 towers date back to the end of the 6th century AD and they were part of a large fortress built by the Eastern Roman Empire in 593-5 to defend the city of Perugia and the Byzantine Corridor form the Longobards.

The latter are a Scadinavian-Northern German tribe which invaded Italy in 568 and occupied within a short time 80% of the country. The Byzantine corridor was a narrow strip of land linking Rome to Ravenna which the Byzantines managed to keep under their control from 570 to 774.

Castello Monticelli was built by the Eastern Roman Empire 40 meters from the border with the Longobards on the top of a lovely and green hill with a beautiful 360 degees view all around.

One sees at a 15 km. distance the Etruscan city of Perugia, now the capital of Umbria, at a 30 km distance Monte Subasio, the mountain behind Assisi, the religious capital of Italy and at a distance of 60 km. Monte Amiata, the highest mountain of Southern Tuscany. At least other 15 medieval hamlets and listed buildings are also visible.

When in 774 Charles the Great defeated the Longobards, the fortress of Monticelli lost its military function and it became not immediately a Benedictine monastery. In about 1470 it was bought by a family of counts and transformed into their private summer and hunting resdence.

The buildings of Castello Monticelli could last for so long because their walls are so thick and solid and because their use was cleverly changed when Italy underwent big military, political or social changes. In the course of its long history Castello Monticelli was also used as a farm (1920-60) and as a prison (WWI and WWII).

The oldest document mentioning Castello Monticelli is a papal bull of the year 1115 issued by Pasquale II (1099-1118). It states that the church of Monticelli belonged to the important and powerful Benedictine Monastery of Saint Pietro in Perugia.

Pasquale II also nominated in 1112, well before the discovery of America by Columbus, Henricus bishop of Groenland and Newfoundland, an island of Eastern Canada. Henricus is a Scandinavian and a saint of the Catholic Church.

The church of Saint Pietro in Monticelli must have existed well before 1115, because the Benedictines had taken over the hill and the land around it aboout 150 years before. They commissioned the painter Meo da Siena, a student of Giotto, well known to art-historians to paint two walls of the church.

The name Monticelli has historic origins. The name stems from manuscript n.1423 of the Biblioteca Comunale Augusta of Perugia written in the 18th century by Annibale Mariotti: “its heavenly site that is a small hill in the middle of a large valley.

The name “Castello Monticelli” appears also in the 2 Government decrees listing the buildings, thus reminding us that in origin it was a fortress. In Monticelli there is also another sign of its great antiquity.

When the Benedictines commissioned the frescoes to Meo da Siena they asked him to include Saint Costanzo among the saints. He was the first bishop of Perugia and a Saint of the Catholic Church.

He is said to have been hiding at Monticelli for about 3 weeks in 174 AD during a persecution of the Christians under Emperor Marcus Aurelius. This is reported by Cardinal Ceasar Baronio in his “The Life of Saints” written in the 16th century.

If the Benedictines asked the painter to depict also Saint Costanzo, all in all a very minor figure compared to the eight others saints of the frescoes, it means that they remembered that he had been hiding there almost 1150 years before.

SUITES
Castello Monticelli offers several types of accomodation from spacious and elegant suites, all finely furnished while at the same time maintaining its original character of a medieval castle, to comfortable and large apartments all with cotto floors and ceilings with oak or chestnut beams.

Some suites have air conditioning and floor heating, private gardens and open fireplaces. The Suites are located in the Torre Grande, Torre Piccola, in the Case Corte and Case Bosco.

PRESIDENTIAL SUITE
Our suite Botticelli of about 95 sqm. is a real jewel. In ancient times the room on ground floor was used to press the wine grapes. During the restauration we took the bold decision to transform the antique wine-basins into a modern bathroom with a large bathtub comfortable enough for 4 people and to separate the wine-basin from the main bedroom with a transparent glass rather than with a wall.

In addition a good painter who was a guest of Castello Monticelli did some splendid frescoes on the walls of the bedroom and of the wine-basin. The apartment has three floors.

The groundfloor has a double bedroom, a large bathroom and a direct exit to the private garden with a beautiful view on Perugia. On the first floor there is a large living room with an open fireplace, a kitchenette and 3 windows with a beautiful view on the underlying valley and on Perugia.

This floor has also a second bathroom. From the living room one can climb through a staircase to a wooden gallery with two more single beds. All in all this suite is very special. Very often couples who celebrate their wedding at Castello Monticelli choose to stay in this suite. It has satellite TV, Internet, USB, a hair-drier and a Nespresso coffee machine.

SUITE DELUXE
Our suites Deluxe are from 60 to 80 smq. large. They have a bedroom, a private bath with shower and/or bathtub and a living room with a nice view on the underlying valley. Some of these suites have a fireplace and/or a private garden.

APARTMENTS
Castello Monticelli offers several types of accomodation from spacious and elegant suites, all finely furnished while at the same time maintaining its original character of a medieval castle, to comfortable and large apartments all with cotto floors and ceilings with oak or chestnut beams.

Some apartments have air conditioning and floor heating, private gardens and open fireplaces. The apartments are situated in the Torre Grande, Torre Piccola, Case Corte and the Case Bosco.

APARTMENT DE LUXE RAFFAELLO
This apartment is located on ground floor of the Torre Piccola measures 150sqm. It has 2 bedrooms one with a double bed and one with 2 single beds which can be put toghether to form a double bed.

What makes this apartment special is the very large living room measuring 90 sqm. The living room has a large kitchenette, a double bedcouch and another entrance leading to the private garden.

One of the bedrooms is inside the tower of the year 593 AD, the rest of the apartement is ouside which implies that the extremely old external walls are very visible both from the living room and from the other bedroom. It has satellite TV, Internet, USB, a hair-drier and a Nespresso coffee machine.

THE BREAKFAST
The rich continental breakfast offered at Castello Monticelli includes selected and local products, often coming from our own organic farm, like fresh fruits, cheeses, hams, vegetables and home-made jellies. The bread and the cakes are often also home-made.

Castello Monticelli follows the philosophy of serving a king’s breakfast, a light and quick pilgrim’s lunch and the dinner of a prince. The breakfast is served in the veranda with a view on Perugia. Upon request breakfast can also be served in the living room of your suite.

L’OSTERIA
The Osteria is normally open for dinner from Thursday to Monday. However, upon request for groups of at least 10 persons it can open any other day for dinner or for lunch.

Our kitchen focuses on typical Italian regional meals and uses preferably raw materials from organic farms of the neighbourhood, including our own which is at zero kilometeres at the bottom of the hill! Also the meat comes form selected Chianina farmers of our neighbourhood.

For fresh pasta we try to use as much as possible organic flour and our bread comes from closeby bakers or is home-made in our antique oven which in the long past was used for all the about 150 inhabitants of the hamlet.

The organic berries grown in the vegetable garden of Castello Monticelli are transformed into jellies and used for delicious home made desserts and cakes. The restauranti is located in our most beautiful hall which we call the gothic hall and which has a cross-bow ceiling of the year 1230.

When the weather permits we offer meals in the internal courtyard between the East and the West Wing of Castello Monticelli which has a view on Perugia. This internal courtyard is ideal to create a very magic atmosphere especially when the stars are shining! The carefully studied night- lights of the internal courtyard give a contribution of their own to create a very special atmosphere.

THE WINE BAR
The Wine Bar of Castello Monticelli works in close contact with the Osteria and offers mainly but not only Umbrian wines. It serves sparkling wine from Venice and good wines from Tuscany and Southern Italy.

While in the Osteria the wine accompanies the menu, here the food accompanies the wine: we propose chopping boards of selected Italian cheeses, hams and salami, regional soups,and grilled meat which are carefully adapted to the proposed wines. The Wine Bar is ideal for those who desire a light and fanciful typical Italian dinner.

COOKING CLASSES
We love our italian kitchen and we would love to share with you some secrets of mediterranean cuisine art. From handmade pasta, to delicious appetizers made with the fresh organic products of our farm, from main courses with the incredible umbrian Nero (local pork) to the Persico (local fish) from the Lake Trasimeno.

And many more unforgettable recipes, which we will then taste together, of course with a glass of good umbrian wine. And how could we forget: Panna Cotta allo Zafferano, Tiramisu al Vin Santo, Semifreddo al amaretto.

GARDENS & POOLS
The buildings of Castello Monticelli are surrounded by almost 10.000 square meters of gardens and lawns, of which about 1.600 are “private gardens” of suites and apartments on the ground floor. The rest of the gardens are at the disposal of our guests who are free to choose where they want to sit and relax.

On the top of the hill which is quite large and flat there are squares, lawns and terraces with spectacular views on the underlying valleys, on the forests nearby and on the medieval hamlets around.

Perugia with its Ertuscan walls and its main monasteries is visible at a 16 km distance from one of its terraces and from one of its pools, from several private gardens and from many windows of the apartments. At only 2 km one sees the forest Sereni-Torricella, protected by the Italian Government and by the EU.

From the hill of Castello Monticelli one enjoys the sun which rises in Umbria and sets in Tuscany. Castello Monticelli, thanks to its favoured location, represents a good starting point to visit also Tuscany, Latium and Central Italy.

Castello Monticelli has 2 pools with good views on the underlying valleys. The largest pool is on the north-western side of the hill and is 16 meters long and 6 meters wide. The smaller one, which is 8 times 4 meters, lies on the north-easten side of the hill and has a good view on Perugia.

THE ORGANIC FARM
The farm of Castello Monticelli has about 4 hectars of arable land in the valley, and about 4 hectars of woods and olive groves on the sometime quite steep slope of the hill.

The organic vegetable garden produces many types of vegetables, of aromatic herbs and of berries, mainly strawberries, raspberries, currants and gooseberries. Furthermore the farm has planted 4 years ago 160 fruit trees, to produce mainly apples, pears, apricots, peaches and mulberries.all of an antique variety.

A part of the production of our farm is used for our breakfasts and for the restaurant. A part of the production of our fruit trees and of our berries is trasformed into jellies and the rest is sold.

SPA, YOGA & WELLNESS
Our Spa has a sauna for 4-6 people, a turkish bath of about 20 sqm and a whirlpool which is covered by a glass veranda and which can be heated in the winter. It also has a sensory shower and a room where one can fully relax which is in full agreement with the philosophy of Castello Monticelli of desiring the recreation and the recharging of our guest’s vital energies.

WEDDINGS & HONEYMOONS
Castello Monticelli is an ideal place for an unforgatteble wedding, where one enjoys a magical atmosphere of bygone times and a beautiful view on the many medieval hamlets of the surroundings.

BUSINESS MEETINGS
Castello Monticelli, born as a military structure in the 6th century AD, is ideal to stimulate the concentration and to focus on the important matters to be discussed with your team. Our halls and our living rooms with antique stone walls on sight, with a carefully planned illumination and with terracotta tiles on the floors and on the ceilings, help creating the right atmosphere to guarantee the success of your meetings.

For team building and incentives Castello Monticelli is good for groups of up to 60 people. The Osteria at Castello Monticelli, our delicious restaurant , can prepare for you a good breakfast, a nice lunch and very special dinners.

The evenings can be made even more interesting by the tasting of our selected wines, by live music on the terrace with a marvellous view on Perugia or by a delicious BBQ. Castello Monticelli has several halls for business meetings, all with Internet and Wi-Fi connections.

We can also organize for you sport events like cycling, trekking, golf, rafting, sailing, free climbing e paragliding. Upon request we can also organize cultural tours, wine-tasting and gourmet tours, truffle huntind, cooking courses and medieval dinners. We can also organize a Shuttle service from and to the Rome and Florence airports and from and to the nearby railway stations.

A CASTLE EXCLUSIVELY FOR YOU
Getting together with family and friends in a very old castle with a marvellous view all around can be a magic experience. Castello Monticelli can host up to 80 guests. Its terraces and gardens have a spectacular view all around and its typical Italian regional cuisine is quite delicate.

All the above makes of Casello Monticelli an ideal place for family reunions and to celebrate special anniversaries. The outdoors of Monticelli are safe for children of all ages because cars have no access to the top of the hill.

Imagine the effects on your relatives and friends of a good breakfast on the terrace of Monticelli with the view on a city which is 2700 years old, of a good swim in one of our pools, of nice walks in the surrounding gardens and forests and of a delicious dinner in our restaurant under a starry sky and with the magic illumination of our medieval towers.

TRUFFLE, WINE & CHEESE
At Monticelli Castle you can see where the black truffles grow and touch them with your hands, you can participate in the harvest of olives and in the production of typical Italian cheeses, which are only some of the many aspects of Italian culture.

We put you in contact with people who are experts in the research of truffles in the area, with producers of olive oil and with young people who produce delicious fresh and seasoned cheeses at a distance of just a few kilometres. You can taste the truffle, oil and the cheese and decide if you want to take some home.

Umbria has excellent wines and wineries. We have chosen for you some of the best ones and you can also enjoy one or more wine-tasting during your stay. You can reach by foot some of wineries.

SPORT & ACTIVITIES 
For those of you who love sports, there are many interesting opportunities around Monticelli. For golfers we have at only 8 km distance the Golf Court of Perugia which has 18 holes. Another not too distant Golf Court is the beautiful, but a bit hilly golf course of Castello Antognolla which is at about 40 minutes by car.

Biking around Monticelli is possible and relatively easy. However, one needs a road-bike or a mountain bike. One itinerary, which starts at 200 meters from Monticelli, follows the course of a river and takes you into a beautiful valley covered with trees and full of historic buildings.

The other takes you around Lake Trasimeno and starts a bit farther away. If you like to walk around or doing your daily footing there are several lovely unpaved country roads which start right at Monticelli. And for those who want to walk or jog along more distant paths and in different valleys, just ask the reception and you will get the necessary information.

Rafting is possible in the Sibillini Mountains, about an hour away from Monticelli, where we have a nice rafting area along – Le Gole di Biselli – an interesting site to visit for adults and children.

And you can combine this adventure with the visit of Norcia, famous as the birth place of Saint Benedict and famous also for its superb regional products: truffle, salami, ham, cheese and lentils.

THE SURROUNDINGS
Whoever decides to visit Umbria will be surprised by the beauty of its landscape, its luxuriant nature, its gentle hills often covered with olive groves, its colours and its perfumes; yes, because in Umbria the air is full of perfumes!!

Similarly one finds in Umbria very many worth-seeing art works, churches and palaces, which are often to be found in relatively isolated hamlets and in the countryside. And who knows that Lake Trasimeno, the biggest lake of Central Italy, is only 12 km from Castello Monticelli and that its colours and the beautiful hills surrounding it, many covered with olive groves, are really worth visiting?

Near Castello Monticelli there are several cities well known for their art and for their architectural heritage, like Cortona, Perugia, Assisi, Todi and Orvieto. In Umbria there are also some of the most important Italian national parks and a wealth of prehistoric and paleontologic remains.

In a good part of Umbria nature is still relatively uncontaminated, also because the population density is rather low, and a high degree of its past spirituality is still preserved. This contributes to create in visitors a perfect harmony of body and mind.

One national park is just 2 km away from Castello Monticelli. It is a forest which is untouched by thouseds of years, called Sereni-Torricella and which is protected also by the European Union.

In Umbria there are many enchanting small hamlets which are rather unknown to both Italians and forigners, where time seems to have stopped and where the authenticity of life and the SLOW rythm of life seem still to be alive.

These hamlets are rarely mentiond in tourist guides. Some of them are very close to Castello Monticelli, like Castiglione della Valle, Spina, Mercatello, Morcella, Migliano, Cerqueto, Compignano and Monte Vibiano Vecchio, where a Roman Emperor was born.

These hamlets were originally castles for the advance defence of the city of Perugia. Today they are inside an area of about 100 square kilometers called “Contado di Porta Eburnea” characterized by an architectural heritage of enourmous value and by a large number of churches and palaces with antique frescoes which are art true art treasures one would normally find only in museums of large cities.

In the above mentioned area there are about 100 buildings listed by the Italian Government and at least 14 churches and palaces with frescoes of renowned artists, among which Perugino, Tiberio d’Assisi, Meo da Siena, Bonfigli and Gerardo Dottori.

The peculiarity of these art treasures is that they are still where they were conceived and painted by the artists, surrounded by the nature and the atmosphere which undoubtedly influenced the artists. Most of these numerous hamlets and listed buildings were originally fortesses at the border of the Byzantine Corridor, much like Castello Monticelli.

It is therefore not by chance that the Italian Ministry of Culturali Affairs has started the procedures to list the landscape of the whole area called Contado di Porta Eburnea and that the European Union has declared that the forest Sereni-Torricella is part of the European Natural Endowment.

See the site www.eburena.it, the documentaries of the Italian National Television RAI of 2017 and 2018 and an entire page of the most widely red Italian national daily newspaper Repubblica published in the issue of October 29 2015.

The hill of Castello Monticelli is almost exactly halfway between Florence and Rome (ca. 160 km). Both cities are easily reachable by car and by train. Thanks to its ideal location Castello Monticelli represents a good starting point to visit also the regions of Tuscany, Latium and Marche.

Rooms: 12

Price: from 123 EUR per night

Source: www.castellomonticelli.com