Castello di Umbriano

The castle of Umbriano is a ruined castle in the comune of Ferentillo (TR).

It was built on the north side of Monte Sant'Angelo in 890, right after the Saracen raids in Umbria, in a commanding and naturally impregnable position. Together with the fortress of Ferentillo, it defended the important abbey of San Pietro in Valle. During its thousand-year history it changed hands several times and largely followed the fortunes of Ferentillo, which, once it became a comune again, bought it back in 1860.

One owner of the castle was Luigi Desiderato di Montholon, who was made Prince of Umbriano and Precetto by Pope Pius IX in 1847.

With no road link to the Valnerina and no economic draw, after the Second World War it slowly emptied, like all the smaller Umbrian villages, and since 1950 it has been completely abandoned. In the 19th century the population registers of the Papal States recorded 19 inhabitants in Umbriano (in 1835).

Besides the castle, the village has a church with frescoes by Lo Spagna: Saint Sebastian and a Crucifixion with God the Father.

Text: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0 · translated from Italian