The Castle
of Montecchio
Vesponi
Tuscany - Italy
The Castle of Montecchio Vesponi - 1014 - 2014
The Castle of Montecchio Vespone is a walled, castle
with turrets and battlements, which occupies the top of a hill (Montecchio),
overlooking the Val di Chiana, named and drawn on a well-documented survey
map by Leonardo da Vinci in 1503.
The castle is first recorded in documents in 1014 as Castrum Montis
Guisponi. The origin of this early place name is unclear. Although
the Castrum formed part of the territories controlled by the powerful Marchese
del Monte family, they conceded certain privileges and obligations to the nearby
monastery of Farneta.
Today the Castle of Montecchio Vesponi is the last surviving
medieval bastion of its type and is an essential element in the history of
the region.
This is a story of successive battles for ownership, the result of a fierce
sense of territorial identity. It is all that remains to us of a long forgotten
landscape (castles on each hilltop) which we can still see in the background
of some paintings of both Fra Angelico and Sassetta.
More recently, a series of restoration works is the result of a fruitful cooperation between private sources of funds and public bodies such as the Italian Ministries of Culture and of Public Works.
Many cultural events have taken place within its walls, including art exhibitions
(the last being one of works of Manzù), concerts, folklore festivals,
re- enactments and events in the local dialect.
Famous visitors to the Castle have included the late Queen Elizabeth,
The Queen Mother (of England) who came to learn more about the castle
and the area and owned in 1384 by another Englishman, Sir
John Hawkwood (known in Italian as Giovanni
Acuto). Hawkwood appears in the world famous fresco by Paolo
Uccello in the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, The
Duomo of Florence.
In 1986, Uccello's Giovanni Acuto/John Hawkwood was
reproduced along with the image of the castle, making him and Montecchio known
all over the world, thanks to its appearance on an Italian postage
stamp as
one of a series featuring Italian castles.
The idea for the stamp was issued in 1986 emerged from a meeting of the Lions Club of Cortona-Valdichiana. The Lions Club also arranged for the floodlighting of the castle which creates a striking and stunning effect which enables people to enjoy a view of the castle by night, a great jewel set in the darkness of Tuscany.
The Castle of Montecchio Vesponi begins the second Millennium in grand style with the restoration of the defensive heart of the castle including the lookout tower, carried out with the timely assistance of the Office of the Prime Minister of Italy. Plans are in place to celebrate the Castle's 1,000 years of recorded history with a wide ranging series of events.
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The Castle of Montecchio Vesponi as seen by Daniela Piegai
The Castle of Montecchio Vesponi can be seen a dream in stone, or perhaps, more simply, as the guardian of our history, repeating the same stories of love and war that have always formed part of the fabric of human life.
Today,
the Castle of Montecchio Vesponi is home to exhibitions, concerts
and cultural events, bring together under its towers a community which
is sheltered from today's transient and sloppy approach to life, just as it
protected people in the Middle Ages from armed attack.
And yet, like an endangered species which we try to save from extinction, the Castle could disappear, snapping the thread of memory, of narrative, that links us to the past and makes our present better. This is why the sense of identity and charm which the Castle conveys to us also places a heavy burden of responsibility upon us. Our generation should not be the one, which through our inaction, allows the Castle to fall into ruin. It must be allowed to continue its story and then to speak of us to the generations who will come after us. We should now act as modern knights and ladies, as those who protected the Castle in the past from the enemy, Time, which is now trying to force it to capitulate forever under the weight of centuries of neglect and inclement weather.
The owner of the Castle, Orietta Floridi Viterbini, is Sir John Hawkwood's latest "heir". Her total commitment to the Castle is palpable when she tells its history to visitors on open days.
However, a property of this importance needs the efforts of all in order to survive. Sponsors are needed who are willing to have their names linked to a history which already stretches back over a thousand years. There could be many more surprises in store: what mysteries remain to be discovered under the grass-covered earthworks or under the ruins of houses of its ancient village?
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Daniela Piegai - is a
journalist, consultant
and lecturer in communications.
She
has written a dozen science-fiction and other novels, essays and a biographical
novel based on the life of Sir John Hawkwood.
She is a recipient of the Premio
Italia for science fiction and of the Europe Prize.
She has also written a hundred or so short stories, including
one inspired by the Castle La fabbricante di
storie, which appeared as a comic
book with illustrations by Marinella Di Gennaro.
As a painter, Daniela has
exhibited in Italy and abroad, including England in September 2006.
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