The historically given over zone to the cultivations to vineyard and olive grove, important are also the olive oil produced inside territory, had its maximum expansion with the recent affirmation to world-wide level of the Sagrantino di Montefalco and the Red Montefalco due to the recognized engagement of some important producers.
The enograstromic tourist will remain fascinated from wonderful hills, from the small but wonderful historical centers (to remember that Bevagna and Montefalco are 2 of the recognized "beautiful villages of Italy"), from people and obviously from the characterized umbrian kitchen made with poor and genuine foods.
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Gualdo Cattaneo, “castle on the offshoots of Martani Mounts, between the Peglia and Arrone streams”, is situated the Umbrian valley (stretching from Foligno to Spoleto) and the Tiber valley. Probably this castle with an old name (Gualdum Captaneorum) was built in 975 thanks to the Germanic count Edoardo Cattaneo.
The town played a strategic role during the centuries, thanks to its location and the towns of Spoleto and Foligno struggled hard to conquer it
Montefalco
It is known as “The Balcony of Umbria” for its enchanting
location: it is, indeed, situated on a nice hill (473 mt.), among the
valleys of Clitunno, Topino and Tevere. The town is worth visiting also
because of the frescoes of its churches, essential to know the Umbrian
school of painting. Moreover, its sanctuaries are paramount to understand
the Umbrian spirituality. Montefalco was inhabited even in the remotest
past: maybe it was a country district and it still keeps a very rare epigraph
of the marone (a magistrate of the ancient Umbrian people).
Bevagna
Bevagna, the ancient Mevania, is situated on the edge of the wide Umbrian
valley, at the extreme offshoots of Martani Mounts. The first historical
references to Bevagna coincide with the Roman conquest of Umbria, even
though there are traces of human settlement dating back to the Iron Age
and some important archaeological findings witness the presence of the
Umbrian people in this area. Bevagna, built on the ancient Roman Flaminian
Way, was first an Umbrian town and then it turned into the wealthy Roman
town of Mevania, belonging to the Aemilia tribe.
Mevania was paramount in the Roman roading and this determined its richness
until the 3rd century A.C., along with its waterway commerce. In 774 it
fell under the Church’s power. After the year 1000, it became a
free Town, governed by Roman Consuls. Yet, it was the medieval development
that shaped Bevagna as we know it today. In fact, even though the Romans
had built the ancient Mevania in such a way that the Flaminian Way was
the decuman axis of the town, nowadays the town centre is placed more
in the south.
Castel Ritaldi
It is situated where once stood the Roman vicus, the town of Castel Ritaldi
originally consisted of three medieval boroughs, Colle del Marchese, Castel
S.Giovanni and Castel Ritaldi itself. Here, during the 11th Century lived
a viscount who governed a territory called “Normandia”(Normandy)
and which included many other castles, some of them still inhabited, others
partly ruined. Many remains confirm that this area was inhabited even
in Roman times: the best-known antiquity is the “Lex Lucaria”
that ruled the cutting of the tress in a sacred wood dedicated to Gianus,
the Roman god. Many fragments of amphoras or other manufactured goods
are still emerging today during the restoration of the walls of some buildings
or of the many little churches scattered all over the hills. From the
12th up to the 15th Century, all the castles witnessed the struggle between
the Imperator and the Church, until they fell under the religious domination
Giano of the Umbria
Giano dell’Umbria was born in the 11th Century in the area named
“Normandia” (Normandy) after the siege of Normans to the Duchy
of Spoleto. The Umbrian town remained under Spoleto’s rule from
the half of the 13th Century until the beginning of the 19th Century,
although keeping its independence and the administration of a territory
which included Montecchio and Castagnola as well.
Although not very big, the castle has a complex scheme formed by two fortified
structures where there are the Palazzo Pubblico and the Church of St.
Michael the Archangel of the 13th Century. The medieval walls are still
preserved and there are also traces of the Roman town wall
