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HISTORY OF UMBRIANO

The castle of Umbriano and the Catholic Abbey of San Pietro in Valle. The castle was used also to defend the Abbey in the Middle Ages.

In front of the Abbey of San Pietro in Valle, surrounded by green woods and perched on a rocky outcrop, rises Umbriano. The village is now completely uninhabited and accessible only by foot.

Traditionally Umbriano is considered, and also its name confirms it, for sure the most ancient settlement of Valnerina and traced back to one of the early urban settlements in Umbria (about VIII-VII century B.C.).

In the IX century A.D., the central watchtower and the walls were erected around the village to defend the facing Catholic Abbey of San Pietro in Valle against the invasions of the Saracens, transforming Umbriano into a proper castle.

Given the strategic importance, the castle was further fortified in 1400 and 1570.

The abbot of San Pietro in Valle granted the castle to the town of Spoleto in the XIII century.

In 1517 it passed, as barter, to the Count Cybo-Malaspina of Ferentillo, along with nearby villages.

In 1730 Umbriano became property of the family Benedetti of Spoleto, who, in 1847, sold it to the Duke Luigi Desiderato of Monthalon, whom from Pope Pius IX had the title of Prince of Umbriano and Precetto.

Afterwards, in 1860 Umbriano was acquired by the town of Ferentillo.

Now, Umbriano in its entirety is again a private property, now on sale.

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