Città di Castello (); "Castle Town") is a city and ''
comune
A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...
'' in the
province of Perugia, in the northern part of
Umbria
Umbria ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region of central Italy. It includes Lake Trasimeno and Cascata delle Marmore, Marmore Falls, and is crossed by the Tiber. It is the only landlocked region on the Italian Peninsula, Apennine Peninsula. The re ...
. It is situated on a slope of the
Apennines
The Apennines or Apennine Mountains ( ; or Ἀπέννινον ὄρος; or – a singular with plural meaning; )Latin ''Apenninus'' (Greek or ) has the form of an adjective, which would be segmented ''Apenn-inus'', often used with nouns s ...
, on the flood plain along the upper part of the river
Tiber
The Tiber ( ; ; ) is the List of rivers of Italy, third-longest river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, where it is joined by the R ...
. The city is north of
Perugia
Perugia ( , ; ; ) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area. It has 162,467 ...
and south of
Cesena
Cesena (; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy; and - with Forlì - is the capital of the Province of Forlì-Cesena. Served by Autostrada A14 (Italy), Autostrada A14, and located near the Apennine M ...
on the motorway SS 3 bis. It is connected by the SS 73 with
Arezzo
Arezzo ( , ; ) is a city and ''comune'' in Italy and the capital of the Province of Arezzo, province of the same name located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about southeast of Florence at an elevation of Above mean sea level, above sea level. As of 2 ...
and the A1 highway, situated 38 km (23 mi) west. The ''comune'' of Città di Castello has an
exclave
An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is s ...
named Monte Ruperto within
Marche
Marche ( ; ), in English sometimes referred to as the Marches ( ) from the Italian name of the region (Le Marche), is one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. The region is located in the Central Italy, central area of the country, ...
.
History
The town was founded by the ancient
Umbri
The Umbri were an Italic peoples, Italic people of ancient Italy. A region called Umbria still exists and is now occupied by Italian speakers. It is somewhat smaller than the Regio VI Umbria, ancient Umbria.
Most ancient Umbrian cities were sett ...
, an Italic tribe, on the left bank of the
Tiber River
The Tiber ( ; ; ) is the List of rivers of Italy, third-longest river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, where it is joined by the R ...
. The town may have come into conflict with the nearby
Etruscans
The Etruscan civilization ( ) was an ancient civilization created by the Etruscans, a people who inhabited Etruria in List of ancient peoples of Italy, ancient Italy, with a common language and culture, and formed a federation of city-states. Af ...
. Beginning in the third century BC it became a ''civitates federata'' of Rome and was subsequently inserted into the
''Sexta Regio'' of
Roman Italy
Roman Italy is the period of ancient Italian history going from the founding of Rome, founding and Roman expansion in Italy, rise of ancient Rome, Rome to the decline and fall of the Western Roman Empire; the Latin name of the Italian peninsula ...
. The
Romans knew it as ''Tifernum Tiberinum'' ("Tifernum on the Tiber").
Nearby
Pliny the Younger
Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus (born Gaius Caecilius or Gaius Caecilius Cilo; 61 – ), better known in English as Pliny the Younger ( ), was a lawyer, author, and magistrate of Ancient Rome. Pliny's uncle, Pliny the Elder, helped raise and e ...
built his ''
villa in Tuscis'', which is identified with walls, mosaic floors and marble fragments surviving at a place now called Colle Plinio, the "Hill of Pliny".
In 550 AD Tifernum was largely destroyed during the
Ostrogothic
The Ostrogoths () were a Roman-era Germanic peoples, Germanic people. In the 5th century, they followed the Visigoths in creating one of the two great Goths, Gothic kingdoms within the Western Roman Empire, drawing upon the large Gothic populatio ...
campaign by Fantalogus at the orders of
Totila
Totila, original name Baduila (died 1 July 552), was the penultimate King of the Ostrogoths, reigning from 541 to 552 AD. A skilled military and political leader, Totila reversed the tide of the Gothic War (535–554), Gothic War, recovering b ...
. The town was subsequently rebuilt by its bishop Floridus around a castle and renamed first Castrum Felicitatis by
Lombards
The Lombards () or Longobards () were a Germanic peoples, Germanic people who conquered most of the Italian Peninsula between 568 and 774.
The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the ''History of the Lombards'' (written betwee ...
and later Civitas Castelli. By the
Donation of Pepin
The Donation of Pepin, or Donation of Pippin, was the transfer of Frankish territory in central Italy to Pope Stephen II made by Pepin the Short, King of the Franks, in 756. The Donation took place amid the Byzantine Empire's decline in Italy ...
of the Frankish king
Pepin the Short
the Short (; ; ; – 24 September 768), was King of the Franks from 751 until his death in 768. He was the first Carolingian dynasty, Carolingian to become king.
Pepin was the son of the Frankish prince Charles Martel and his wife Rotrude of H ...
in 752, it went to the
Papal States
The Papal States ( ; ; ), officially the State of the Church, were a conglomeration of territories on the Italian peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope from 756 to 1870. They were among the major states of Italy from the 8th c ...
.
It became an independent
commune in the first half of the 12th century. Among its various rulers was
Pier Saccone Tarlati di Pietramala, brother of Guido, Bishop of Arezzo. Pier Saccone sold it in 1322 to Guido Alberto de' Guidi di Modigliana. In the Middle Ages, the Diocese of Città di Castello included also many territories that are today in the provinces of
Arezzo
Arezzo ( , ; ) is a city and ''comune'' in Italy and the capital of the Province of Arezzo, province of the same name located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about southeast of Florence at an elevation of Above mean sea level, above sea level. As of 2 ...
,
Forlì-Cesena,
Pesaro
Pesaro (; ) is a (municipality) in the Italy, Italian region of Marche, capital of the province of Pesaro and Urbino, on the Adriatic Sea. According to the 2011 census, its population was 95,011, making it the second most populous city in the ...
and
Rimini
Rimini ( , ; or ; ) is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy.
Sprawling along the Adriatic Sea, Rimini is situated at a strategically-important north-south passage along the coast at the southern tip of the Po Valley. It is ...
. In the later Middle Ages, it was governed successively by the
Guelphs
The Guelphs and Ghibellines ( , ; ) were Political faction, factions supporting the Pope (Guelphs) and the Holy Roman Emperor (Ghibellines) in the Italian city-states of Central Italy and Northern Italy during the Middle Ages. During the 12th ...
and
Ghibellines
The Guelphs and Ghibellines ( , ; ) were factions supporting the Pope (Guelphs) and the Holy Roman Emperor (Ghibellines) in the Italian city-states of Central Italy and Northern Italy during the Middle Ages. During the 12th and 13th centurie ...
. In 1375 Città di Castello joined the insurrection of other cities of the
States of the Church. Cardinal
Robert of Geneva, later
Antipope Clement VII
Robert of Geneva (; 1342 – 16 September 1394) was elected to the papacy as Clement VII () by the cardinals who opposed Pope Urban VI and was the first antipope residing in Avignon, France. His election led to the Western Schism.
The son of ...
, tried to capture it using Breton mercenaries, but was repulsed. Under
Pope Martin V
Pope Martin V (; ; January/February 1369 – 20 February 1431), born Oddone Colonna, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 11 November 1417 to his death in February 1431. His election effectively ended the We ...
in 1420 it was taken by the condottiero
Braccio da Montone. Later
Niccolò Vitelli, aided by Florence and Milan, became
absolute ruler.
Antonio da Sangallo the Younger built an extensive palace for the
Vitelli family.
In 1474
Sixtus IV
Pope Sixtus IV (or Xystus IV, ; born Francesco della Rovere; (21 July 1414 – 12 August 1484) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 August 1471 until his death in 1484. His accomplishments as pope included ...
sent his nephew Cardinal
Giuliano della Rovere, later Pope
Julius II, to rule the town. After fruitless negotiations, he laid siege to the city, but Vitelli did not surrender until he knew that the command of the army had been given to Duke
Federico III da Montefeltro. The following year Vitelli tried unsuccessfully to recapture the city.
Cesare Borgia
Cesare Borgia (13 September 1475 – 12 March 1507) was a Cardinal (Catholic Church)#Cardinal_deacons, cardinal deacon and later an Italians, Italian ''condottieri, condottiero''. He was the illegitimate son of Pope Alexander VI of the Aragonese ...
through a conspiracy in
Senigallia
Senigallia (or Sinigaglia in Old Italian; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) and port town on Italy's Adriatic Sea, Adriatic coast. It is situated in the province of Ancona, in the Italian region of Marche, and lies approximately 30 kilometres nor ...
ordered
Vitellozzo Vitelli, who had inherited the city to be strangled on the evening of 31 December 1502 and Città di Castello were added to the Papal possessions.
On 11 September 1860, Città di Castello was occupied by
Piedmontese troops. On 17 March 1861, it became part of the
Kingdom of Italy
The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...
.
Towards the end of the twentieth century, the city has seen a considerable expansion northwards toward San Giustino, with industrial parks tracking the river, railroad and main highway. In the area, several kinds of mechanical goods, textiles, ceramics and furnishings are produced. Agriculture is at a very advanced level. Today it's the main economic centre in the region.
Geography
Overview
The town is located in northern
Umbria
Umbria ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region of central Italy. It includes Lake Trasimeno and Cascata delle Marmore, Marmore Falls, and is crossed by the Tiber. It is the only landlocked region on the Italian Peninsula, Apennine Peninsula. The re ...
, near the borders with
Tuscany
Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence.
Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...
and
Marche
Marche ( ; ), in English sometimes referred to as the Marches ( ) from the Italian name of the region (Le Marche), is one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. The region is located in the Central Italy, central area of the country, ...
, and the
Tiber
The Tiber ( ; ; ) is the List of rivers of Italy, third-longest river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, where it is joined by the R ...
river flows along its western side. The municipality borders with
Apecchio (
PU),
Arezzo
Arezzo ( , ; ) is a city and ''comune'' in Italy and the capital of the Province of Arezzo, province of the same name located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about southeast of Florence at an elevation of Above mean sea level, above sea level. As of 2 ...
(
AR),
Citerna,
Cortona
Cortona (, ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Arezzo, in Tuscany, Italy. It is the main cultural and artistic centre of the Val di Chiana after Arezzo.
Toponymy
Cortona is derived from Latin Cortōna, and from Etruscan language, Etr ...
(AR),
Mercatello sul Metauro (PU),
Monte Santa Maria Tiberina,
Monterchi (AR),
Montone,
Pietralunga,
San Giustino,
Sansepolcro (AR),
Sant'Angelo in Vado (PU) and
Umbertide.
''Frazioni''
Città di Castello's ''
frazioni
A ''frazione'' (: ''frazioni'') is a type of subdivision of a ''comune'' ('municipality') in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist era (1922–1943) as a way to consolidat ...
'' (a kind of subdivision) are Antirata, Astucci,
Badia Petroia,
Badiali, Barzotti, Baucca, Belvedere, Bisacchi,
Bivio Canoscio,
Bivio Lugnano, Bonsciano, Caifirenze, Candeggio,
Canoscio, Capitana, Celle, Cerbara,
Cinquemiglia, Colcello, Coldipozzo,
Cornetto,
Croce di Castiglione,
Fabbrecce, Fiume,
Fraccano, Grumale,
Lerchi,
Lugnano, Madonna di Canoscio, Marchigliano, Montemaggiore, Monte Ruperto,
Morra, Muccignano, Nuvole, Palazzone,
Petrelle, Pettinari,
Piosina,
Promano, Riosecco, Roccagnano, Ronti, Rovigliano, San Biagio del Cornetto,
San Leo Bastia, San Lorenzo Bibbiana,
San Maiano, San Martin Pereto, San Martino di Castelvecchio, San Martino d'Upò, San Pietro a Monte,
San Secondo,
Santa Lucia, Scalocchio, Seripole, Terme di Fontecchio,
Titta,
Trestina, Uppiano, Userna, Userna Bassa, Valdipetrina, Vallurbana, Vingone, and
Volterrano.
Culture
The dialect is particular and derives in turn from the Romagnolo Gaelic and the eastern Tuscan dialects. The comune territory is one of the largest in Italy, for this reason, dialect changes a lot according to the considered zone. Culture is linked to Marche, Romagna and Tuscany ones.
The art historian Vittorio Sgarbi has referred to the town as the place of the origin of the Renaissance or its capital.
Main sights
The city is mostly built of brick, since the local sandstone deriving from the Apennines erodes very rapidly. Its principal monuments include the medieval ''Palazzo Comunale'', the tall civic tower or ''Torre Comunale'', and the ''
Pinacoteca Comunale'', an art museum with mostly
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
works by
Raphael
Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), now generally known in English as Raphael ( , ), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of paintings by Raphael, His work is admired for its cl ...
,
Luca Signorelli,
Andrea della Robbia,
Lorenzo Ghiberti
Lorenzo Ghiberti (, , ; 1378 – 1 December 1455), born Lorenzo di Bartolo, was an Italian Renaissance sculptor from Florence, a key figure in the Early Renaissance, best known as the creator of two sets of bronze doors of the Florence Baptister ...
,
Domenico Ghirlandaio, and others, notable for its external decorations by
Giorgio Vasari
Giorgio Vasari (30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance painter, architect, art historian, and biographer who is best known for his work ''Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects'', considered the ideol ...
.
The much-reworked cathedral, from the 18th century with an unfinished 17th-century façade, has an
altar frontal (''Paliotto'') of chased silver dating to the 12th century, and a
crosier
A crozier or crosier (also known as a paterissa, pastoral staff, or bishop's staff) is a stylized staff that is a symbol of the governing office of a bishop or abbot and is carried by high-ranking prelates of Roman Catholic, Eastern Catho ...
from the 15th. It also houses works by
Niccolò Circignani,
Rosso Fiorentino
Giovanni Battista di Jacopo (8 March 1495 – 14 November 1540), known as Rosso Fiorentino (meaning "Florentine Redhead" in Italian) or Il Rosso ("The Redhead"), was an Italian Mannerist painter who worked in oil and fresco
Fresco ( or ...
and
Raffaellino del Colle. The bell tower is in
Romanesque style of the 11th century. The cathedral's museum is home to the
Canoscio hoard, a set of
Late Antique silver spoons and plates with Christian motifs, as well as a silvered altarpiece donated by Pope
Celestine II in the 12th century, a ''Madonna'' by
Pinturicchio (1486) and ''Angels'' by
Giulio Romano. It also houses a letter by
Emperor Frederick Barbarossa.
Other religious structures of interest include:
*
Sanctuary of the Madonna di Belvedere
The city has memorialized the abstract painter and sculptor
Alberto Burri, who was born in Città di Castello, with the "Fondazione Palazzo Albizzini Collezione Burri" housing a large permanent museum of his works in the former Palazzo Albizzini.
The
Palazzo Terranova in Ronti and the nearby Castello di Santa Eurasia near Monte Tezio in the countryside of Città di Castello are owned by
Alexander Lebedev.
Notable people
For persons from the city, see
People from Città di Castello. In addition, the following are believed to have had a local connection, usually through long residence there:
*
Pliny the Younger
Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus (born Gaius Caecilius or Gaius Caecilius Cilo; 61 – ), better known in English as Pliny the Younger ( ), was a lawyer, author, and magistrate of Ancient Rome. Pliny's uncle, Pliny the Elder, helped raise and e ...
*
Pope Celestine II
*
Monica Bellucci, film actress, was born here
*
Vitellozzo Vitelli
*
Alberto Burri
*
Salvatore Sciarrino
*
Margaret of Castello
*
Frankie Hi-NRG MC
Twin towns
Majano,
Friuli-Venezia Giulia
Friuli-Venezia Giulia () is one of the 20 regions of Italy and one of five autonomous regions with special statute. The regional capital is Trieste on the Gulf of Trieste, a bay of the Adriatic Sea.
Friuli-Venezia Giulia has an area of and a ...
, Italy, is the only official twin
comune
A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...
.
References
Notes
Sources
Newadvent.org*Touring Club Italiano, 1966. ''Guida d'Italia: Umbria''. pp. 136–42
Official homepage (in Italian)(in English)
YouTube.com
External links
*
Città di Castello official website*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Citta Di Castello
Roman sites of Umbria
Cities and towns in Umbria