Montefalco is an Italian town of 5 496 inhabitants in the province of Perugia in Umbria. Landmark of the wine region where Sagrantino di Montefalco and Montefalco Rosso are produced, it is part of the club of the most beautiful villages in Italy.
The walls with its gates, including the crenellated Porta
Sant'Agostino, and its towers, including the Torre del Verziere.
The church of Sant'Agostino, built between 1279 and 1285, where
there are, in addition to the important evidence of the original
fourteenth-century pictorial decoration, frescoes recalling Ambrogio
Lorenzetti; it also houses the bodies of the blessed Chiarella and
Illuminata and the mummified body of blessed Pellegrino.
The
Piazza del Comune, with, among others, the thirteenth-century
Palazzo Comunale, the well-preserved medieval center that surrounds
it and the former church of Santa Maria di Piazza, dating back to
the origins of the free municipality.
The museum complex of San
Francesco, which includes the former church of San Francesco, built
between 1335 and 1338, where you can admire the important cycle of
frescoes by Benozzo Gozzoli depicting the Stories of the life of San
Francesco; it also contains a Nativity by Perugino and holds a
lapidary in the crypt with Roman and medieval sculptures and
archaeological finds. It also houses the Municipal Art Gallery in
the rooms already annexed to the former Franciscan convent,
including paintings from the Umbrian and Forlì schools (in
particular, from the workshop of Melozzo da Forlì). The ancient
cellars of the Minor Conventual friars of Montefalco have recently
been made accessible and open to visitors, set up with 18th and 19th
century materials linked to grape processing and wine production
(Marco Gambacurta collection).
- the church of Santa Lucia, from
the 12th century.
The church of San Bartolomeo and Porta San
Bartolomeo, later called Porta Federico II.
The church of Santa
Chiara da Montefalco, which houses the body of Santa Chiara da
Montefalco, and the chapel of Santa Croce, decorated with frescoes
from the Umbrian school of the fourteenth century.
The church of
Santa Illuminata, from the end of the 15th century, rebuilt on the
site of the primitive enclosure inhabited by Blessed Giovanna and
Santa Chiara.
- the church of San Leonardo.
The parish church
of San Fortunato, which preserves works by Benozzo Gozzoli and
Tiberio d'Assisi less than a kilometer from the city.
The church
of San Rocco and the church of Sant'Anna, in the hamlet of Camiano
about 2 km from the city, which can be reached by exiting Porta
Camiano and along a road lined with ancient frescoed aedicules and
sources fed by local springs.
The 12th century church of Santa
Maria di Turrita, in the hamlet of Turrita, a few kilometers from
the city. Originally a Benedictine monastery was annexed, which was
later suppressed. The legend of the patron saint San Fortunato tells
that the saint was the parish priest of this church. The interior of
the church has devotional frescoes, including those of the fifteenth
century by Giovanni di Corradduccio and Bartolomeo da Miranda, and
the canvas by Giampiero Canotti depicting the Madonna appearing to
San Filippo Neri.
The sanctuary of the Madonna della Stella, a
few kilometers from the city.
The 14th century castle of Fabbri,
a few kilometers from the city.
- the church of San Lorenzo in
the hamlet of Casale.
According to tradition, the toponym Montefalco is due to
Frederick II of Swabia. The emperor, visiting the places in the
thirteenth century, noting the large number of hawks, decided to
change the name of the place from Coccorone (Cors Coronae) to the
current one. The presence of the animal in the territory has
gradually diminished, until it reaches an all-time low in the modern
age. On 31 July 2007, a pair of kestrels was released in the skies
of Montefalco, with the aim of restocking. The project was extremely
successful and the kestrels reproduced.
Around 1280 the city
was conquered by Todi, as evidenced by the city coat of arms
representing an eagle and placed on a building to the right of the
door of Sant'Agostino. During the period of the Todi occupation, the
cultivation of grapes for Grechetto begins, which are added to the
oldest traction of red wine. In the same period, the construction of
the public building (now the seat of the municipality) and the main
religious buildings also took place. The city thus became the most
important fortification of the Todi territory against Foligno and
Spoleto and remained so until 1383, when it first passed under the
Trinci of Foligno and then became, like the other Umbrian centers,
under papal dominion.
Montefalco, surrounded by vineyards and olive groves, is located on top of a hill overlooking the plain of the Topino and Clitunno rivers. For this favorable panoramic position, since 1568 it has been given the nickname "Railing of Umbria". From here, on clear days, it is possible to admire, from various viewpoints, a 360 ° panorama that sweeps from the entire valley between Perugia and Spoleto, from the slopes of the Sub-Apennines to those of the Martani Mountains.
The climate of the
city and the surrounding hills is continental. On the basis of the
30-year reference average 1961-1990, the average temperature of the
coldest month, January, is +3.8 ° C; that of the hottest month,
July, is +23.5 ° C.
Average annual rainfall is around 700 mm,
distributed on average over 89 days, with a relative minimum in
summer and a peak in autumn.
Snow appears about seven times a
year in the city, and sometimes the accumulations are quite
substantial. On average there are 40 days of frost per year.