Montefalco

Montefalco bears this name, which replaced the ancient Coccorone or Concurione, precisely because Frederick II attributed it to the town around 1249-50, after his stay. Today, there are no more hawks, but the ancient charm of this place has probably remained intact over the centuries.

Frederick II 1249-50

Montefalco bears this name, which replaced the ancient Coccorone o Concurionprecisely because Frederick II attributed it to the village around 1249-50, after his stay. Today, no more hawks, but the ancient charm of this place has probably remained intact over the centuries. The hill of Montefalco is the highest (473 m. a.s.l.) of a hill system on the edge of the Valle Umbra between Assisi and Spoleto and crossed by the Clitunno and Topino rivers. The Sources of the Clitumnolatent literary suggestions resurface and lead us back to a series of quotations from Pliny a Byron, from Carducci a Goethe. They are surrounded by willows and poplars, of undeniable charm, even though the river is no longer navigable as far as the Tiber as it once was. The town took on its rational structure in Roman times, and was the site of numerous aristocratic villas such as that of the patrician Marco Curione from whom, according to tradition, the ancient name of the place derives.
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Hesse recounts Montefalco

The incipient spring had once again lured me over the mountains, southwards. So I set off on my journey and, making short stops along familiar routes, I passed through Bologna, Florence, Arezzo, to wander some time in green Umbria again.


The incipient spring had once again lured me over the mountains, southwards. So I set out on my journey and, making brief stops along familiar routes, I passed through Bologna, Florence, Arezzo, to wander some time in green Umbria again. And one fine day, coming from Foligno, where I had been a guest at a provincial masked ball, I arrived in the rain and in a sea of mud at the perched town of Montefalco. Although situated in a bold position and having the appearance of a proud and warlike fortress, Montefalco is today one of the most peaceful places on earth, a quiet centre of Franciscan art

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Hermann Hesse From Italy (journey made by the writer in 1907)

Between walls, gardens and cloisters

Where the history of Sagrantino has never suffered a setback In Montefalco, you can feel the deep breath of the past, which joins with that of the present. Between the walls of rosy ashlars, along the narrow alleys, stretching out to gain the great light of the Vallata, a few Sagrantino vines.
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The Canticle of Benozzo

The gospel of, nature, by Brother Francis inspired the frescoes in the church of Montefalco that Gozzoli painted in the mid-15th century

La Repubblica - Travel 20.06.2002.

If not here, where? It is not a question, a doubt: it is the recherche that will accompany even the most lay traveller through a geography of the spirit traced by genius, substantiated by the sacredness of creation. If not here, where could Brother Francis have written his gospel of naturalness? It is a levity of soul that you will be left with from your encounter with places where rurality becomes elegance, the landscape amazement, art wonder and medieval architecture is transformed from grim buildings into delicate caskets of human events.  
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The frescoes of Benozzo Gozzoli

Our virtual voyage of discovery of the Montefalco territory continues through a wine like Sagrantino that conveys multiple meanings, the result of an important cultural heritage.


The St. Francis Municipal Museum in Montefalco preserves the fresco cycle of Benozzo Gozzoli with stories from the life of St. Francis: a significant work not only for its undisputed artistic value but also because it is fundamental to understanding the iconographic reference of Sagrantino di Montefalco. The museum of St. Francis represents a laboratory experience for the museum system. Between 1983 and 1990 it was restored by the Region, proceeding in small batches, and then reopened, entrusting its management to Museum System. It is a cooperative established in 1990 and based in Perugia. It works in various museums and circuits, providing qualified staff and organising a range of activities to enliven the museums. In Montefalco, maintenance of the works and premises is ensured and exhibitions, concerts and other cultural activities are organised. Educational activity with the school is intense. The bookshop of the museum is rich in publications. The resident population, as well as tourists, have benefited from the activity, in line with the regional spirit of returning cultural assets to the citizens. This is an example of how the municipality of Montefalco is in step with the times. Central apse of the former Church of St. Francis, now the Civic Museum of Montefalco Benozzo Gozzoli, Stories from the Life of Saint Francis, Saints and Characters of the Franciscan Order, frescoes, 1452. State of preservation and restoration. Benozzo's cycle has faced a long and adventurous history of neglect, misunderstandings, and damage, which have seriously endangered the survival of this pictorial text, one of the most important in early Renaissance Italian painting. The 1997 earthquake accentuated the state of instability of the vault, causing the partial detachment of a rib, but did not damage the frescoes. In general, the original parts of the cycle are largely preserved.  
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Benozzo in Montefalco




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