Yesterday was a day of discovery – of a lesser known northern Umbrian town, a heritage of beautiful Renaissance family palazzos (palaces), old and modern artists, and a deadly temptress.
Citta di Castello is a town largely off the tourist track set amongst rolling green hills of the Val Tiberina and just waiting to be explored.
With Roman origins, the town was taken over by the Vitelli family in the 15th century after civil wars between three other families. The Vitelli family built several palaces and invested in art. Over the subsequent centuries Citta di Castello built up a treasure trove of art from several key periods from the Middle Ages, through the Renaissance and to modern day.
The town also has a heritage of craftsmen – weavers, potters and printers – living and working in the old town centre until this very day.
We park the car near a small market and make our way first to one of the most beautiful buildings in town, the renaissance villa Palazzo Vitelli alla Cannoniera, originally built to celebrate the wedding of Alexandro Vitelli and Paola Rossi.
The rear garden of Palazzo Vitelli alla Cannoniera
A closer look at the exterior wall detail
The Palazzo now hosts an art gallery, the Pinocoteca Communale which can be visited for just €4 per person.
The interior of the Palazzo is a work of art itself
So much to gaze at – ceiling detail
As we explore the fine collection including works by Raphael and Luca Signorelli, and admire the beautiful Renaissance frescoes that adorn the exterior, ceilings and walls, we uncover a legend linked to the original Vitelli owners.
The legend of Laura
The palace is said to still be haunted by a young beautiful woman with long dark hair, Laura or Sora Laura who was the subject of Alessandro Vitelli’s love.
According to legend, Alessandro and Laura first met one day when Alessandro was coming back from the Palazzo of Citerna. When passing through the San Florido gate, their gazes met. Instantly fascinated by the young woman, the lord of the town had her brought to his home, despite the fact that his wife Angela Paola was living there as well. The latter soon grew very tired of the whole situation and eventually left her husband, overcome by her rival.
Alessandro was the commander of the troops and as a result left for long periods of time, fighting victorious battles, but at the same time leaving his sad lover by herself. Therefore Laura began to spend her time embroidering handkerchiefs, each one more beautiful than the lady.
One day she was standing at one of the windows of the palace and she saw a handsome young man and filled with emotion she dropped one of her handkerchiefs. The man gallantly picked it up and returned it to her. After having lain together, when he was about to leave, the young woman told him to get out through a secondary door, supposedly to avoid encountering the servants. She showed him a door, hidden by the frescoes that adorned the room and which hid a well. The unlucky man trusted her and did so without fear and ended up plunging to his death.
A dropped perfumed handkerchief led many more gallant men to the same fate. Thus for many years the young men of Città di Castello used to avoid passing under the vault of the palace during the nights of full moon, afraid of the wandering soul of the young woman, associated with both love and death.
Today the vault bears her name (“Sora Laura’s vault”), but some say that she never actually existed. Instead they believe that Angela Paola spread these rumors in order to hide her own affairs from her husband.
As the gallery closes at lunchtime for two hours, like just about everything in Italian towns we have visited to date, we too have lunch – bruschetta, polenta sausiccon and grilled chicken – at the intimate L’Osterio which is well frequented by the locals.
Continuing on the Vitelli family trail
Another fine backyard – Palazzo Vitelli A Sant’Egidio
Next searching for Palazzo Albizzini for the Collezione Burri, we find ourselves first at the 16th century Palazzo Vitelli A Sant’Egidio, also built for the Vitelli family for Paola II. The Palazzo is resplendent with delicate frescoes on the ceilings and walls which portray the achievements of the Vitellis. This surprisingly makes a fitting setting for the current exhibition of modern art, mostly sculptures and installations.
Finally we cross the road to the Renaissance house Palazzo Albizzini which houses the Collezione Burri set up by the artist Alberto Burri in 1978 to display more than a 100 of his works from 1948 to 1989 in 20 rooms, currently being freshly painted and reorganised. These particular pieces, largely comprised of sacks material, wood, iron and plastic to me seem the style of art that would best grace large corporate buildings, however his later more colourful style is more appealing.
There are a number of events and publications to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Burri’s birth this year. His later works are housed former tobacco drying pavilions on the southern side of Citta di Castelli. But we already have enough to contemplate from the art and sights we have seen.
We stroll back through the centre of town admiring the architecture and pick up some freshly made ravioli for dinner to go with our truffle oil and truffle flavoured grappa.
Is there anything truffles haven’t been put into?