Since the 6th century BCE
The first written record of Castiglione (“big castle”) Ugolino is inked on sheepskin in a massive leather bound book found in the archives of Perugia.
Dated 1198, the document memorializes when the Marchese Ugulinus submits of all his lands “in peace and war” to the authority of the Commune of Perugia. It is likely, however, that the story of this place begins much earlier as there are indications that the site was a strategic outpost for the Etruscan tribes who commanded the hilltops of the western side of the Tiber River as early as the 6th century BCE.
La Bruna, Italy, 1950s | credit unknown
La Bruna, Italy today
We know just bits and pieces of the history of the castle through the centuries. We do know that by 1377 the fortress had been sacked twice before finally succumbing to brutal attacks by Perugia in a two-week-long siege. Castiglione Ugolino had sided with the Papacy during this tumultuous time just before what is known as the Western Schism, when actually two Popes reigned, one in Rome and one in Avignon, France.
Perugia, then an independent city state, defending itself against Papal authority, ordered that the fortress at Castiglione Ugolino be burned to the ground and completely destroyed. Ugolino was to serve as an example to those other neighboring castles who might consider the same treachery. Records on sheepskin tell of 27 prisoners and beheaded members of the noble family.
Castiglione Ugolino is now available for private bookings and events.
While the fortress itself never regained its early prominence, the borgo thrived on the hilltop and is said to have housed over 300 inhabitants at various points with the attached Chiesa of Santa Maria Maddalena serving as a hospital during the late Renaissance.
Today that church and its rambling structure still dominate the view from the Tiber Valley below. While the castle walls are broken and crumbling, arrow slits allow glimpses of six structures, including two medieval watchtowers, that form part of the borgo which was lived in and hectares of land around it farmed until the 1950s.
