Montone

An authentic hill top town 

Montone is about 35 km north of Perugia, and carries the designation of: I Borghi più belli d'Italia (The most beautiful villages of Italy) - and that got me to take a drive early one morning to see the town. It is a walled medieval village, drive through the "modern town" to the main gate. Park the car and walk in.

It sits on a hill 480 meters above sea level overlooking the confluence of two rivers: the Tiber and the Carpina.

It wsas built in the Middle Ages, and in the 11th Century was a fiefdom of the Colle Margravate, later to change hands to the Del Monte family. Later it came under the control of the independent city-state of Perugia which gave Montone sovereignty over its own laws and officers (1121).

Andrea Braccio da Montone Fortebraccio controlled the city, the Antipope John XXIII created and awarded Fortebraccio the title of Couont of Montone in 1414. The Fortebraccio Family firmly supported the Pope.

This is a well preserved stone town, the streets within the stone walls, complete with a stately bell tower and the Rocca di Braccio, whose remains have been restored after destruction in 1478 at the hands of Pope Sixtus IV in 1478. How things changed. Braccio da Montone tried to create an independent state, apart from the Papal States. Big mistake.

The houses and buildings are all made of stone and there are some significant sized buildings and buildings with impressive doors.

As you walk through the town you will find the Civic Museum housed in the former San Francesco Monastery.

I just enjoyed walking through the town and having a coffee off one of the squares.