Montecchio Vesponi is a small village part of the municipality of Castiglion Fiorentino, province of Arezzo. Located 4 km south of Castiglion Fiorentino, lies in a hill at the bottom of Chio valley, 364 m above sea level, there resides 1200 inhabitants.
The first dwellings on Montecchio hill date back to etrush-Roman era, a pagan sanctuary might have been built there. Around the 9th century the castle was built, part of the fee of the Marchiones family and related to Farneta abbey. Other related feudals were the Orselli and Panzoni of Cortona or the Da Vitiano. At the beginning of 13th century it became allied to the municipality of Arezzo and the castles of Mammi and Monticello. In around 1234 it was bought by the municipality of Arezzo which settled more people there, made it a municipality under its influence and a stronghold against Castiglion Fiorentino and Cortona.

In 1281 Arezzo enlarged the castle walls completing the fortress which is visible today, making it is similar to Montecolognola and Monteriggioni, and settled families in the interior. In 1289 after the defeat suffered by Arezzo in the battle of Campaldino it passed to Florence. It switched back to Arezzo in 1303 and at the beginning of the 14th century was a stronghold against Perugia.

In around 1383,the Arezzo military being weak and without control of its territory, the castle was occupied by John Hawkwood, known in Italy as "Giovanni Acuto", who settled there. Upon his death (1394) Montecchio became again the property of the municipality of Florence and was used by florentine administrators.

It was mede part of the Castiglion Fiorentino municipality in 1774 with administrative reform of Leopold II, Duke of Tuscany.

In the 19th century the castle, formerly subdivided in many small properties, was bought by a Servadio banker who started restoration work. It was later sold to the Budini and Gattai family which restored the tower and continued consolidating the walls. It was then abandoned. It became the property of cont Orietta Floridi.

Montecchio Vesponi

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Few properties provide such a complete vision of a country villa as Casa Rocca di Pierle near Cortona. This solid two-storey stone building, with its shuttered windows and pantiled roof, stands proud in the landscape, with astonishing views across the Val di Pierle. Its graceful iron gates open onto a vast garden that climbs the hill behind the villa, carpeted with lawn and surrounded by floral borders. At its centre lies a beautiful kidney-shaped private pool, crafted from local stone.

Yet, step inside this rambling villa and you will find it holds a secret. The space within has been divided neatly into three traditionally styled apartments, one on the ground floor and two on the first level, making it a great choice for a party of up to 10 family or friends to holiday together with a welcome degree of separation. There’s also a dining hall with its own kitchen – so if you like villa life to come with a few hotel-style benefits, forget cooking altogether and hire one of our recommended chefs.

https://www.to-tuscany.com

Rocca di Pierle

The castle Castello di Gargonza is a fortified village in 1200 located in the hills of Tuscany in a panoramic position on the Val di Chiana a short distance from the cities of Arezzo and Siena. Hotel & Residence Today Gargonza is a beautiful hotel with rooms and apartments enclosed within its walls, along with the medieval tower, the church, to the wells. Just the houses of the former inhabitants now the rooms and common areas have become of our hotel and residence because it combines the charm of history with that country chic typical of Tuscany. www.gargonza.it rooms The rooms and apartments of Gargonza Castle are all modern and equipped with every comfort and recall and reflect all, their former residents with their genuineness by binding to it their name: Argentina, Boccio, Niccolina and, with them, many others wonderful characters. Psicina & Restaurant Just outside the walls a large swimming pool and panoramic, the Val di Chiana and the typical landscape of Tuscany, is available for moments of relaxation or for brunch served directly from our restaurant La Torre di Gargonza offering typical dishes of traditional Tuscan cuisine made of fresh and genuine ingredients from the hotel or by Tuscan local producers. www.ristorantelatorredigargonza.it weddings Gargonza with the church, the restaurant and the rooms are always available also for weddings in style in a romantic setting and charming. We organize weddings for over 20 years and we put our expertise at our disposal to organize our wedding in every detail, hospitality, at the ceremony of receiving the photos. Meeting and Team Building Company If you need to arrange a meeting or business meetings, but also of Team Building with your collaborators, Gargonza has its own meeting rooms equipped with the most modern tools teconologici, 600 hectares of forest and the restaurant for Team activities building outside or in the kitchen.

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The castle Castello di Gargonza

The Guglielmi Castle, or Isabella Castle, is located in the southern part of the Isola Maggiore, one of the three islands in Trasimeno Lake in the province of Perugia, Umbria, Italy.

History
It was built as a summer residence, in 1887, by Senator Giacinto Guglielmi, Marquis of Vulci and Civitavecchia, in agreement with his wife Isabella, which was dedicated to the dwelling. In 1894 the Guglielmi organized a lavish inauguration: the building remained their property until 1975 and passed into new ownership in 1990. In 2010 the company which had purchased the complex and started the restoration declared bankruptcy. In 2014 the castle was offered at auction last time but this was not quorate. The asking price was 7.6 million.

Guglielmi castle

Castello di Reschio forms part of a chain of walled settlements in proximity of the Tuscan boundaries. It belonged to the county of Porta Sant’Angelo of the commune of Perugia, perched on a hillock above the valley of Pierle, along the right riverbank of the Niccone stream. Today it is part of the communal territory of Lisciano Niccone, province of Perugia.
Origins of Castle till mid-14th century
The name Reschio, derived from Resculum, suggests a fortification at the site dates to the late Roman Empire. The present structure was likely begun at some time between the 9th and 11th centuries. Historians from the 17th and 18th centuries (Muratori and Gamurrini respectively) refer to land grants by Charlemagne and other emperors wrote prior to the 11th centuries. These certificates, emitted for the Bourbon of Monte Santa Maria family(originally the Lords of Colle), possibly represent the first records referring to the Castle of Reschio. However, no such documentary evidence is still extant.

The first documentation of the castle is from 3rd of May, 1202, when Uguccione di Ranieri of the Vagliana branch of the Family of the Marchesi del Monte S. Maria, marchese di Colle e di Vagliana, submitted to the town of Perugia this castle and its properties along with those of Monte Gualandro, Castel Nuovo, Santa Maria di Pierle, Lisciano, and Tisciano. A treatise for protection was signed with the consuls of Perugia. The historian Litta, understands this to mean Uguccione was in possession of those sites by a grant from Federico Barbarossa, and, as the imperial power diminished, the obligation arose to keep them by vassalage treatise.

Reschio, Imperial Feud
The Emperor Charles IV, by a certificate of May 14, 1355, invests Ugolino and his nephews Angelo, Guiduccio and Pietro Marchesi del Monte Santa Maria, with the castles of Marzana, Lippiano and Reschio, confirming their privileges (Mariotti 1835). Ugolino requested this deed from the Emperor, by which all Feuds are freed from protection bonds, of which investiture was given or confirmed (amongst which the curia of Reschio is expressly mentioned). The family of the Marchesi del Monte S. Maria therefore depends directly from the Sacred Roman Empire, thus freed from the Umbrian towns, where the various factions were always in conflict with each other. The marquisate hereby became an imperial “sovereign” feud.Ranieri di Ugolino was the only member of the Bourbon del Monte family who, after the investiture by Charles IV, did not have the title of marquis of Monte S. Maria, but was the first one to take on the title marquis of Reschio, most probably his place of residence.

The Montemelini Family of Perugia
In 1364 the castle of Reschio still belonged to the Marquis of Monte S. Maria (Ranieri, the son of Ugolino di Berarda, used the title of Marquis of Reschio, likewise his son Antonio). The handing over to the Montemelini family took place in 1365 when Antonia (Ranieri’s granddaughter) inherits a part of the marquisate of Reschio (including the Castle). Antonia was married to Ranieri di Tiberio Montemelini di Perugia, but had to defend the Castle from the pitfalls of her relatives (amongst which the toughest one her cousin Cerbone, who had many relatives killed in order to be sole proprietor of the marquisate). In 1593 Montemelini Lord of Reschio put his feud under the protection of the Grand Duke of Tuscany and was condemned by the Pope for having placed the coat of arms of the Medici on the gateway of the Castle.

The bishop of Todi, Angiolo Cesi
In 1601 Count Niccolò, son of Napoleone Montemelini, sold this feud, through the Congregation of the Barons, to Mons. Angelo Cesi, bishop of Todi, who made a present of this to his nephew Venanzio Chiappino (as can be read in the inscription placed above the entrance to the Castle). The Notary Francesco Torelli drew up the sales deed in Perugia.

Prospero Cimarra
On December 5, 1678 the County of Reschio was purchased by the Duke of Acquasparta for the sum of 25000 scudi. Cimarra, contractor of the Gabella del Macinato (grain and flour taxes) of the Towns, Countryside and Castles of the District of Rome, was indebted with the Apostolic Chamber by the sum of approximately 30000 scutes and therefore forced to sell the propriety of Reschio.

The noble family Bichi Ruspoli Forteguerri di Siena
On May 27, 1692 Cardinal Carlo Bichi (May 6, 1638 – November 7, 1718; nominated cardinal by Alexander VIII in 1690), offered to purchase the County of Reschio for the sum of 23000 scutes on behalf of his nephew Marquis Galgano Bichi, of the noble family Bichi of Siena. The notary Francesco Antamoro drew up the sales deed, confirmed by Pope Innocenzo XII on October 11, on October 20, 1692.

This important family from Siena contributed decisively to the development of the community of Reschio, right up to the 1920s, when the inauguration of the first (and only) elementary school of Reschio took place, thanks to the determination of the teacher Nazareno Carnevali.

The Castle in the Twentieth Century
In 1932, after 240 years, the marquis Ridolfo Bichi Ruspoli Forteguerri sold the estate of Reschio, including a number of farmhouses still part of the propriety to this day, to Professor Angiolo Maria Cenciarini. The sale took place “per aversionem” or, as one would say today, “with closed gates” meaning including all the contents of the Castle, of the houses and farms on the estate. In the deed, drawn up by the notary Zati of Florence, one can read that the entire sum paid for the purchase corresponded to a total price of 800,000 lire. Under the Cenciarini, the property was dedicated to cultivation and processing of tobacco.


In 1970s, the property belonged to the counts of Bosca di Roveto, who renovated the castle.


In 1994, the Bolza Family (aristocratic Austro-Hungarian family of Italian origins) purchased the estate. The present owners have started a process of requalification of the entire real estate heritage, and recovery of the Castle.

Castello di Reschio

Il castello di Sorbello è situato su un'altura davanti a Reschio, nel comune di Cortona, ma non lontano da Umbertide, al confine un tempo tra il granducato di Toscana e lo Stato Pontificio. Dalla rocca prese titolo un ramo della dinastia dei Bourbon del Monte Santa Maria e fu, dal 1416 al 1815, sede dell'omonimo piccolo marchesato, feudo imperiale mediato che comprendeva anche Pereto e la val di Pierle.
Storia
È costituito da un massiccio palazzo a planimetria rettangolare con torre merlata ghibellina e rivellino, inserito in un basamento trapezoidale con forti rastremature ed accenno a bastionatura, cordolato e con guardiole ai vertici. Il maniero domina tuttora l'alto corso del Tevere ed è sempre la residenza dei marchesi Ranieri Bourbon del Monte. Alle pendici del colle, raggiunto da due sentieri, si trova il borgo agricolo di Sant'Andrea, intorno a un piazzale, con antiche costruzioni e la chiesa, il cui arciprete un tempo era nominato dai signori di Sorbello.

I marchesi, dopo che i Bourbon di Sorbello si estinsero nei Ranieri tramite il matrimonio di Giovanni Antonio con Altavilla, pronipote dell'ultimo feudatario reggente Lodovico IV (1805-1815), utilizzavano la rocca come residenza estiva, unitamente alla villa del Pischiello sulle colline del lago Trasimeno, ma soggiornavano a lungo anche nel palazzo di Perugia e nel castello di Civitella Ranieri, nei dintorni di Umbertide.

L'edificio non dispone di muri di cinta, ma di due maestosi ingressi, uno orientato a est, l'altro a ovest, collegati attraverso un'ampia corte. In mezzo a questa si erge uno scalone, illuminato da un secondo cortile, che sovrasta i locali un tempo adibiti a carcere feudale: a sud-est la fortezza è rivolta verso il sottostante castello di Reschio. La struttura è stata realizzata alle falde di un abbassamento del monte Montaccio e il primo cantiere fu installato nei primi anni dell'XI secolo, secondo quanto risulta dalla prima documentazione concernente la stipulazione di un contratto tra i marchesi e il governo di Città di Castello, avente per oggetto l'alienazione di alcuni immobili. I signori, prima della costruzione della rocca, abitavano in cima al monte e si possono ancora vedere i resti della dimora.

Il feudo dei Bourbon di Sorbello era denominato imperiale, perché concesso, nel 1416, dall'imperatore Sigismondo di Lussemburgo (1410-1437) a Lodovico I (1416-1441), appartenente a una linea collaterale dei Bourbon del Monte, marchesi del Monte Santa Maria: la sovranità su questo piccolo ma strategico territorio - 4 km² e 500 abitanti - durò fino al Congresso di Vienna. I feudatari rogavano atti pubblici, riconosciuti dagli altri governi, e amministravano la giustizia civile e penale in una sala del castello. Il marchesato dipendeva dal Sacro Romano Impero, ma, per motivi di tutela e difesa in caso di guerra, aveva sottoscritto un atto di accomandigia con il granducato di Toscana: il 24 giugno di ogni anno i Sorbello partecipavano, a Firenze, al corteo di San Giovanni Battista per l'omaggio feudale ed erano i primi nella gerarchia dei nobili titolari.

Il maniero, delimitato da un ampio giardino, risulta essere l'unico dell'odierno comune cortonese ad essere intatto e abitabile, dopo alcuni restauri che, non essendo più attuale la destinazione militare, lo convertirono in residenza signorile. Intorno ad esso si notano i ruderi di antiche fortificazioni, ma la facciata, il retro e la torre con i merli a coda di rondine sono inalterati. L'androne, la scalea, il corpo di guardia, le prigioni sono tutti particolari dal volto poliedrico che ricordano i tempi feudali. Nel piano terra la cappella di Sant'Andrea custodisce una pala d'altare dedicata all'apostolo e un graffito raffigurante la Madonna, patrona di tutti i rami dei Bourbon del Monte Santa Maria.

L'interno del monumentale edificio è stato quasi totalmente rimaneggiato nel Seicento secondo il gusto barocco, prevalente nel periodo. È caratterizzato da 365 stanze, secondo la composizione dell'anno solare: interessanti, anche per l'arredamento e le opere d'arte conservate, il piano nobile, la sala del marchese, del trono, dei busti (rappresentanti molti componenti della prolifica dinastia).

Lo stesso marchese Uguccione Ranieri parla, inoltre, dell'inquietante presenza soprannaturale di un fantasma che si manifesterebbe ogni 19 luglio, riferibile a Battistello di Sorbello, figlio legittimato di Guidone I e della favorita Rosa di Bagnolo, fatto decapitare nella sala di giustizia del castello, appunto in quel giorno del 1558, per volere dello zio Lodovico II per timore che ostacolasse la successione del proprio erede Tancredi II. Lo spettro, come in un rito, pare compia la sua annuale comparsa nella sala del trono con la testa male attaccata quasi ad angolo retto, percorra la sala dei busti e, attraverso scale non più esistenti, si soffermi nel luogo dove morì.