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Storia, memoria ed identità Umbertide. Il sito si propone di divulgare la storia, la cultura e la memoria di coloro che hanno abitato ad Umbertide (Pg) per contribuire alla costruzione di una identità culturale comune nel rispetto dei principi Costituzionali. Questa divulgazione è e resterà senza sc HISTORY AND MEMORY UMBERTIDE Virtual place of memory and identity in motion Who we are We are a group of history lovers and scholars who want to create a space for the transmission of documents, memories and traditions of our city. The aim is the development of a shared identity that is inclusive of those who lived and those who live in Umbertide. The cultural and economic aspects, together with the Second World War, over time they have shaped the city, with its architectural elements and its spaces, but also the rural territory which for centuries has maintained its characteristic of scattered "settlement" and polyculture. For about 70 years, the scenario has been rapidly evolving. We are convinced that knowing the past, or who we were, will help understand how the life of the population will be structured, that is who we will be. Knowing allows you to have "new eyes" to see ... and think. Approfondisci la "memoria" ad ottanta anni di distanza dal bombardamento del 1944... Visita "OTTANT'ANNI" la sezione dedicata al progetto pensato da Mario Tosti con UNITRE di Umbertide, CENTRO SOCIO-CULTURALE S. FRANCESCO, UMBERTIDESTORIA e con il Patrocinio del COMUNE DI UMBERTIDE. Il racconto del passaggio del fronte durante la seconda guerra mondiale ad Umbertide, per riattivare la memoria, riflettere e non dimenticare. Progetto nato in collaborazione con il Dipartimento di Filosofia, Scienze umane e Storia della scuola secondaria superiore “Campus da Vinci” di Umbertide, in funzione della trasmissione e crescita della memoria tra le giovani generazioni, che ha visto già diversi incontri con le classe terze dell’a.s. 2023-24. Azioni che hanno portato alla ricerca e sistemazione delle informazioni poi diventate libro e pagine web. OTTANT'ANNI Il 1944 In questa sezione il progetto "Ottantani" per il ricordo della tragedia che colpì la nostra città il 25 aprile 1944. Tragedia che si lega in modo più vasto al territorio dell'alta Umbria per il periodo del passaggio del fronte nel 1944. Un progetto che ha permesso la pubblicazione di un libro cartaceo e ora la versione digitale, nata per far crescere la memoria in maniera collettiva. Un progetto a cura di Mario Tosti, Unitre di Umbertide, Centro Culturale San Francesco, Umbertidestoria, con il Patrocinio del Comune di Umbertide; con la collaborazione di Pietro Taverniti, Massimo Pascolini, Sergio Bargelli, Corrado Baldoni, Francesco Deplanu, Sergio Magrini Alunno, Antonio Renzini, Luca Silvioni, Romano Vibi. Gennaio La situazione al 31 dicembre del 1943... Aprile APRILE 1944 - L’ Umbria ed Umbertide nel mirino degli aerei inglesi... Luglio Luglio... distruzione e liberazione... Ottobre 1° ottobre: è morto Fabio Fornaci combattendo con la RSI... Febbraio 4 febbraio: Nuovo bando di arruolamento. La RSI ordina la chiamata alle armi per le classi 1922/1923/1924... ... Maggio 1° maggio. Dovrebbe essere la festa dei lavoratori, ma non si festeggia niente... Agosto Agosto... Le condizioni a Umbertide migliorano nettamente... Novembre 2 novembre . Gli americani hanno sferrato un attacco aereo su Tokio... Marzo Umbertide, già sconvolta dalla guerra civile, sta per trovarsi nel cratere del fronte del fuoco che avanza... Giugno 4 giugno: Liberazione di Roma... passaggio del fronte in altotevere... Settembre 2 settembre: nomina del nuovo Sindaco... Dicembre 1° dicembre: Morti umbertidesi: Piccioloni, artigliere, soldato della RSI... OTTANT'ANNI Il 1945 Continuiamo a raccontare, mese per mese, i piccoli fatti locali (ma coraggiosi e lungimiranti) che hanno caratterizzato il 1945, anno drammatico ed al tempo stesso esaltante, dopo la catastrofe della guerra in casa. Per superare le difficoltà è necessario rivitalizzare la forza con cui la comunità è riuscita, allora, a rinascere e prosperare in ottant’anni di pace. Gennaio Dopo il 6 luglio 1944, quando gli Alleati sono entrati a Umbertide, il nostro territorio passa formalmente dalla Repubblica Sociale Italiana (RSI), regime collaborazionista con la Germania nazista, al Regno d’Italia (cosiddetto Regno del Sud)... Aprile Il 24 aprile il sindaco Renato Ramaccioni comunica che, per ragioni di studio e di famiglia, dovrà assentarsi dalla sede per circa 20 giorni. Sentito il parere favorevole del locale Comitato di Liberazione e della Giunta comunale... Luglio Il sindaco Astorre Bellarosa, con la sua Giunta, non perde tempo per dare un forte segnale politico con l’intitolazione della Piazza a Giacomo Matteotti, simbolo dell’opposizione al fascismo... Ottobre Il Comune concede gratuitamente un loculo al cimitero per la salma della medaglia d’argento Giuseppe Starnini, caduto combattendo nella guerra di liberazione il 30 aprile 1945. Il Sindaco mette a disposizione della società sportiva Tiberis quanto rimane dell’attrezzatura del gioco pallacanestro... Febbraio Il 6 febbraio, Fausto Fornaci cade nel cielo di Thiene. Allontanatosi un po’ dalla sua formazione, è circondato da caccia americani. Dopo aver abbattuto uno degli avversari, viene attaccato da tutte le parti... Maggio Dopo le dimissioni del sindaco Ramaccioni, si insedia la nuova Giunta, formata in gran parte da comunisti e socialisti: Astorre Bellarosa (il nuovo sindaco)... Agosto La Giunta comunale, con il sindaco falegname e il vicesindaco meccanico, ha la sensibilità di perseguire l’apertura di un liceo scientifico, seppure in presenza di scuole senza vetri, distrutti dalle onde d’urto delle bombe, e senza sedie per gli insegnanti.... Novembre L’amministrazione Bellarosa segna un passo decisamente positivo nel difficile cammino della ricostruzione, anche morale, coinvolgendo quanto più possibile i cittadini che, responsabilizzati da una partecipazione dimenticata da anni... Marzo Il 3 marzo muore Rino Pucci del “Gruppo di combattimento Cremona”. Giuseppe Rosati, rimasto gravemente ferito, spira il 5 marzo all'ospedale canadese di Ravenna. Con essi cade anche la loro mascotte, un ragazzo di 15 anni, Giuseppe Battiglia di Roma, colpito alla testa, il cranio svuotato... Giugno L’urgenza di affrontare le condizioni disastrose, lasciate dalla guerra, non impedisce di impostare la soluzione del problema della ricostruzione... Settembre Il Comune si trova a fronteggiare gravi situazioni di necessità ed assistenza per diversi soggetti. Prende in carico la retta di refezione, a favore di 10 bambini poveri, per i pasti forniti nel locale interrato dell’ala posteriore della scuola elementare di Via Garibaldi... Dicembre Il 4 dicembre le salme di Quirino Pucci, Giuseppe Rosati e Giuseppe Starnini sono traslate ad Umbertide, dove si svolge un funerale solenne, con la partecipazione di tutta la popolazione... Scopri le nostre pagine dinamiche Ogni pagina è un percorso, un grande contenitore dinamico, anche con decide di approfondimenti, sempre in possibile crescita perché la ricerca non deve avere una fine. Ogni pagina è un piccolo "sito" specifico all'interno di "Umbertidestoria". Pagine strutturate in modo da facilitare la navigabilità e quindi la fruizione. La Fratta di Carta Prima della progressiva standardizzazione della cartografia tra '700 ed '800 si sono prodotte rappresentazioni del territorio e di città mosse da diverse esigenze... Memoria e Tradizioni La sezione delle nostre tradizioni e della memoria da preservare, curata da Sergio Magrini Alunno... Ricordi umbertidesi Nuova pagina del sito nella quale intendiamo dare spazio a tutti coloro che vorranno condividere con noi i loro ricordi e i personaggi caratteristici nella Umbertide di una volta anche con documenti e foto d’epoca... Montecorona Sabbianiani Estratti a cura di Giuliano Sabbiniani sulla storia, vita e produzione della Tenuta di Montecorona dal suo libro “Montecorona – la Tenuta e la sua gente”, Gruppo editoriale locale, Digital Editor srl, Umbertide - 2021"... Video di Storia e Territorio Raccolta di pagine con video si luoghi storici architettonici e particolari fonti storiche della storia e del territorio di Umbertide... Fratta del Quattrocento Prima pagina dinamica che raccoglie i vari aspetti del sito su uno specifico periodo storico: il XV secolo dell'antica Fratta... Le storie di Pascolini Prima pagina dinamica che raccoglie i vari contributi con ricerche di archivio di Massimo Pascolini... .... o visita le nostre pagine tematiche di raccordo... ... o scopri le nostre pagine tematiche tradizionali , strutturate come raccordo degli articoli singoli, a volte ancora da sistemare, da dove puoi accedere a specifici approfondimenti.. Nel tempo sostituiremo le pagine tradizionali con quelle dinamiche... "work in progress"! STORIA vai alla pagina STORIA PER TEMI vai alla pagina MEMORIA vai alla pagina TRADIZIONI vai alla pagina ARRIVI E PARTENZE vai alla pagina CALENDARI vai alla pagina TESI DI LAUREA vai alla pagina ALBUM vai alla pagina The information from the birth of the first residential agglomerations to the first archive news, The rapid time of political changes from the Middle Ages to the history of the twentieth century, the architectural remains, our monuments and works of art, the slow pace of changes in the territory that have come to define our landscape, the structuring of traditions, family memory ... all this defines the identity of a place and of the people who live there. Please help us to remember by sending photos (with date and place if possible), reporting errors on our texts, suggesting improvements or writing your memoirs, possibly with historical and contemporary sources, to build a vision of our future. Those who choose to send us images can choose to do overwrite, with the "water mark" technique, your "name and surname" or "family archive ..." on your photos, this to prevent the images from being used once on the web beyond the cultural purposes that we aim. For the same reason we have applied the " umbertidestoria " watermark over the historical photos of Umbertide which have been on the web for some time and in various private archives; in this way we try to avoid that further disclosure on our part favors purposes that are not consonant with our intentions. We come out publicly with parts that are incomplete and to be improved. Ours is an ongoing project that needed to be shared in order to grow. For now, thank you ... Adil, Adriano, Alberto, Alessandro, Alessandro C., Andrea Levi, Anna, Anna Maria, Brunella, Diego, Dritan, Fabio, Federico, Francesco, Giovanna, Giovanni, Giulio, Imperia, Isotta, Mario, Miriam, Loredana, Kalida, Paola, Silvia, Simona, Tiziana, Valentina RV, Valentina P. and all those who have sent us photos or supported. Help us remember umbertidestoria@gmail.com EH Carr "Change is certain. Progress is not "

Descrizione dell'Umbertide storica: dal Castello di Fratta ad Umbertide. Immagini e mappe storiche del nostro paese. From the Castle of Fratta to Umbertide ( edited by Francesco Deplanu) The first evidence of the castle of Fratta dates back to 1189. In fact, the deed with which "Fracta Filiorum Uberti", previously owned by the successors of Arimberto, was subjected to Perugia by the Marquis Ugolino di Uguccione, ascendant of the Marquises of Petrelle. Over the centuries the territory of Fratta it only once experienced a domination other than that of Perugia. In fact, in 1550, for a few months, the castle with all its territory, villas and rents was run by Paolo and Giovanni di Niccolò Vitelli Domicelli from Città di Castello. This did not mean a stable and peaceful life for the Castello della Fratta, on the SIUSA site we read: " In 1351 Fratta was devastated, on the occasion of the battles between the Visconti and Perugia, by the army of Giovanni di Cantuccio Gabrielli di Gubbio, captain of the archbishop of Milan. In the following decades, Fratta and its territory suffered the consequences of the clashes between the mercenary captain Braccio Fortebraccio da Montone and two thousand horses sent by Ladislao d'Angiò king of Naples, between 1403 and 1408; it was again devastated, in 1478, thanks to the plague, by the troops of Federico Duke of Urbino and, the following year, by the Florentines. Finally, Valentino too, at the head of the papal troops, moving towards Fossato di Vico, occupied it in 1500. " Also in this period the history of Fratta depended on the political life of Perugia, the struggles between the different opposing factions that took place in Perugia from the second half of the fourteenth century to the first decades of the following century often had repercussions in our country. In fact, on the Siusa website you can continue to read: "at the castle of Fratta, on various occasions, the exiles found refuge; it was the main interest of the Perugians, therefore, to" recover "or recapture the aforementioned castle. In 1385, for example, Fratta was occupied by the exiles, thanks to an uprising led by Tommaso di Ciardolino, captain of the guard; reconquered the following year by Albertino di Nino di Guidalotto and by Mattiolo di Angeluccio di Colle, being captain of the Perugia Pellino di Cucco Baglioni war, Fratta was extensively restored, in the defensive structures and equipped with an imposing fortress. " Thus our "Rocca" came to life. The construction was thus entrusted from Perugia to Alberto Guidalotti, the architect was named "Trocascio", or Angeluccio di Ceccolo. It was finished in 1389. Today the Rocca is consisting of large walls that at the base reach a width of 2.40 meters, is more than 30 meters high, presents with two circular towers, a square bulwark and two doors with a drawbridge, although today only one remains. Other episodes of occupations and recoveries took place in the years 1394, 1431 and 1495. During the rebellions for the salt gabelles in Perugia and then the famous "salt war" of 1540 Fratta, however, remained faithful to the papacy and thus saved himself from the destruction of the walls that he would otherwise have suffered. fig. 1 and 2: La Rocca in the 60s and a few years ago. Of this period there remain the precious Statutes of 1521 " ... of the sacred statutes of the notable castle of Fratta of the filioli de Uberto countryside of Perosa of the door of sancto Angelo ". A statute in the vernacular that also gives us a picture of the language used, although adequate for a clearer and more common linguistic expression in contemporary Tuscan. The notary, " Marino di Domenico di Marino Sponta of the dictum castle of Fratta, minimum servant of the community " rewrites the ruined ones of 1362. According to Francesco Mavarelli, who wrote about them in 1903 in “ Of the art of the Blacksmiths in the Land of Fratta (Umbertide). Memories and Documents ", they were only adequate copies of those of 1362 which had gone over time and were ruined. But what was Fratta like in the 16th century? In addition to information from Cyprian Piccolpasso there are also two maps of the sixteenth century that can tell us about it. let's start from these less known by Ubaldo Giorgi and Ignazio Danti. Thanks to the historian Fabrizio Cece who kindly provided it to us, we have an image, a detail, taken from the Map of the Diocese of Gubbio drawn by Don Ubaldo Giorgi in 1573. The intent to represent the Diocese with all its parishes characterizes the map : among others you can see S. Maria, S. Antonio, one of the first patrons of Fratta, S. Andrea and, in the center of the walls of Fratta, S. Giovanni. Fig. 1 and 2: Map of the Diocese of Gubbio drawn by Don Ubaldo Giorgi in 1573 and Detail of Fratta. Photo provided by Fabrizio Cece from the Diocesian Archives. Here we present, instead, the Texas University website that you can browse and zoom to see the description of Fratta in 1584 by Ignazio Danti. Here is the direct link to the portal of Texas University . Fratta owns the bridge over the Tiber, the only one on the map before "Ponte di Pattolo", "Ponte Felcino", "Ponte di Val di Ceppolo" north of Perugia. Yup they can see several designs of towers in the city with a part extended south of the bridge along the Tiber. Above all, as we indicated at the beginning, we have the best known map of Piccolpasso from 1565 with the representation of "Fratta" and then of its main quadrilateral defensive walls (at this link of the Municipality of Umbertide you can download the two documents in .pdf). In this period, Piccolpasso reports, the Community of Fratta presents itself as a place where " The men of this country sleep diligent, ingenious and solicitous and circumspect because their little site for the continuous exercise make it fruitful as a large countryside and a very large place. you work very well with archebugi and auction arms ". Further on, according to what Mavarelli and Prof. Porrozzi also report, the men of Fratta " have no cattle or pasture ". The city occupies " 138 reeds " of earth and " fires about 80 ", or 80 families. In the period between the middle of the sixteenth and the last years of the seventeenth century, the loss of much of the documentation of the municipal historical archive does not allow us to establish whether there have been particular changes in the institutions. The crucial year for the documentation is 1799: in fact, a large number of municipal papers were destroyed in a fire in the public square. Guerrini writes in his " History of the land of Fratta, now Umbertide ": " when in 1799 a gang of wicked brigands with blind vandalism and fury burned in the public square, as an infamous holocaust at the foot of the tree of Liberty, all the books and papers of the Town Hall ". TO starting from the mid-eighteenth century there is a fatigue towards the assumption of public responsibilities and a progressive worsening of some problems, such as the training of the bussolo (to choose the various institutional figures) and the choice of officers. From that moment on were introduced norms and new institutional figures that would allow the proper functioning of the government of the Community of Fratta. Thus it was from the point of view of the management of public offices it continued with a certain organizational difficulty, until in 1787 Pius VI, in April 1785, with an appointment of the then governor general of Umbria, Monsignor Angelo Altieri, found in the Perugian lawyer Silvestro Bruschi, the judge commissioner and general visitor of the communities of the territory of Perugia including the Community of Fratta . On January 28, 1787 the general council of Fratta was held and they emerged, according to what they report Sargentini Cristiana e Santolamazza Rossella who edited the item Fratta / Umbertide on the SIUSA site, " conspicuous administrative irregularities to be ascribed to the admixture in the exercise of the functions assumed by the administrators, to which was added a heavy debt of Fratta towards Perugia. Two were therefore proposed. assistants on public affairs, the canon Don Emanuele Cantabrana and the layman Paolo Mazzaforti, as practitioners of the interests of the community; moreover, having found that the number of councilors was not fixed, Bruschi ordered that the entanglement be carried out in his presence. decree established that the presence of at least twenty-four councilors was essential, << possessors, of good morals, and capable >>, the same number, that is, of the individuals who made up the magistracy's compass, up to the maximum number of thirty with the honorary members; and that, for the session to be valid, at least two thirds of the councilors were required . Particular attention was paid to the drafting and conservation of public writings, in such a way that << each of the four priors is given his key to the public case, where in addition to the documents and original receipts of interest, the community is kept closed the great seal. custodial and all the others, except that of the letters to remain with the secretary, according to the usual >>; moreover, that << it is the responsibility of the magistrate to do it, that all the books are kept exactly from the secretary, and that he is always at par in the register of deeds >> ". Silvestro Bruschi concluded the minutes of the visit to the Fratta Community with an approval dated September 16, 1787. The era of the French and then Napoleonic Revolution was coming, even for a an unimportant territory such as that of Fratta, changes arrived. With the proclamation of the Roman Republic, on February 15, 1798, the innovative principles of French administrative policy entered the former papal territories by right. The constitutional charter, published on March 17, contemplates the classic tripartition between legislative power, entrusted to two chambers (Senate and Tribunate), judicial power, exercised by elected and irremovable judges, to the courts, executive power attributed to five consuls. Four ministries (justice and police, interior, finance, marine warfare and foreign affairs), the large police headquarters (national treasury) and large accounting (national computisteria) depend on this. The territory of the State is divided into eight departments: Metauro ( Ancona), the Musone (Macerata), the Tronto (Fermo), the Trasimeno (Perugia), the Clitunno (Spoleto), the Cimino (Viterbo), the Tiber (Rome), the Circeo (Anagni). In turn, the departments are divided into cantons, and within the latter, which constitute the smallest of the state circumscriptions, the ancient pontifical communities undergo an incisive process of homogenization, as only the centers with more than 10,000 inhabitants constitute their own municipality, governed by building blocks, while the others are grouped together until this minimum population threshold is reached. Fratta thus became part of the Trasimeno Department, based in Perugia, as "Canton" with his own consular prefect: Giuseppe Savelli. The local company of the National Guard was also organized, with its own commander, the papal coat of arms was demolished and the municipality was given the name of municipality. But the Republic fell after 18 months with the surrender (29 September 1799) to the Neapolitan and Austrian armies. Fratta thus returned again under the state of the Church. Sources: - Antonio Guerrini: History of the land of Fratta now Umbertide from its origins until the year 1845 (for Antonio Guerrini completed by Genesio Perugini) - Tip. Tiberina Umbertide, 1883 -Francesco Mavarelli: On the art of blacksmiths in the land of Fratta (Umbertide) - Memories and documents - Stab. Tipografico Tiberino, 1903 - Cipriano Piccolpasso, The plants and portraits of the cities and lands of Umbria submitted to the Government of the city of Perugia , edited by G. Cecchini, Publisher of the National Institute of Archeology and History of Art, Rome 1963. - Bruno Porrozzi (edited by), Umbertide in the images. From the 1500s to the present day , Pro Loco Association Umbertide, Rubini and Petruzzi Typolithography, Città di Castello, 1977. - SIUSA (Unified Information System for Archival Superintendencies) on Umbertide http://siusa.archivi.beniculturali.it/cgi-bin/pagina.pl?TipoPag=prodente&Chiave=50311&RicProgetto=reg-umb&fbclid=IwAR2ydRABe1Uw3MxVbj3WkZrexe4eu0lBSPZe_991_1LwwGoww - http://siusa.archivi.beniculturali.it/cgi-bin/pagina.pl?TipoPag=profist&Chiave=84&RicProgetto=reg%2dumb - http://siusa.archivi.beniculturali.it/cgi-bin/pagina.pl?TipoPag=comparc&Chiave=330615&RicProgetto=reg%2dumb - https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth187370/m1/1/zoom/?resolution=6&lat=4964.5&lon=4844 http://www.umbertideturismo.it/content/download/293210/3113338/file/Immagine%20di%20Fratta%20disegnata%20nel%201665.pdf Photo: Fabrizio Cece Photo: Francesco Deplanu Photos: historical photos of Umbertide from the web and from various private archives to which we applied the " umbertidestoria " watermark in this way we try to avoid that the further disclosure on our part favors purposes not consonant with our intentions exclusively social and cultural. Help us remember umbertidestoria@gmail.com Marc Bloch , Apology of history « The story is there science of men over time "

TERRITORY and MEZZADRIA (edited by Simona Bellucci and Francesco Deplanu) Flat land towards Montecastelli view give her hills of Spedalicchio di Umbertide: note the landscape characterized by the scattered settlement. The territory of Umbertide, like that of almost all of central Italy, was "shaped" by the very long choice of economic management of the properties that began at the end of the Middle Ages, it went into crisis after the war and ended in 1964 with the legislation that put an end to the new sharecropping contracts. Even the landscape of our area it can be defined with the terms of the rural landscape used for the whole of Europe, that is, it falls within the agricultural landscape a bocagé and does not belong to the other large category of openfields. Openfields that developed where the property came from managed directly by large landowners or jointly. In central Italy it was instead the indirect management of the land, through sharecropping, which gave rise to the division into plots and the distinction by hedges, trees and ditches, of the various plots. Plots that often went unevenly to form a farm, the economic unit of indirect land management typical of our areas. Thus from above the territory appeared completely fragmented. This subdivision, although decreased after the sixties, is also clearly visible from the satellite images that can be seen with "Google Earth": ditches, ancient oaks and other types of trees continue to be inexplicable functional elements within the fields without "seeing them. "with historical eyes. The plots of different positions and types that made up the farm they are a consequence of the need to make the family that settled there work well in several periods according to the different crops or maturation times. The economic management of the territory in an indirect form has therefore given rise to a particular rural landscape: the scattered settlement and polyculture. Particularly stable type of settlement with isolated houses in the plains and hills which today sees the replacement of the old farmhouses connected to the "Poderi" where the sharecroppers lived with houses often second property and, for 20 years and more, birth of a new economic use of the rural territory devoted to tourism. Farmhouses, country houses, holiday homes with swimming pools, often in the area of the old "ara", enrich our hills and flat areas. Polyculture was clearly visible in the so-called "Alberata", that is, in the mixed cultivation of vines alternating with cereals and in the small crops around the farmhouses. What is sharecropping The sharecropping is an agrarian contract under which the agricultural exercise was carried out on a farm. On the basis of the sharecropping agreement, a subject (grantor), holder of the right to enjoy a rustic land, associated himself with another subject (sharecropper), on his own and as head of a farmhouse for the cultivation of the land and the exercise of related activities, in order to divide the products and profits in half. In particular, the grantor conferred the enjoyment of the farm, while the sharecropper lent his own work and that of the farmhouse, with the obligation to reside permanently on the farm. On the day of San Martino, on the decision of the "owner", the change of farmhouse could take place based on the real ability of a "family", also for this patriarchal and numerous one, to make the "farm" profitable in an adequate manner. The first forms of sharecropping were born around the year one thousand but had a rapid growth in the fourteenth century. starting from the areas of the municipal counties. This form of contract dominated in our areas until the twentieth century, when after the war there was a rapid decline in sharecropping not only due to the push towards the direct cultivation of the farms, which took the form of the law n. 756 of 1964, but also due to the growing refusal of farmers to reside in old farmhouses, often without electricity and running water. Plain of the Tiber at the crossroads of the road to the Umbertide cemetery in the 1960s: you can see the use of the rural territory with the promiscuous culture of the vine, probably with field maples as a support, pruned like a candelabra, a useful form also for collecting vine shoots at the time of pruning and wood collected to dry. Plain of the Tiber at the crossroads of the road to the Umbertide cemetery in 2019, unfortunately in summer, among the leaves of the "downy oaks" you can see the complete disappearance of the arborata with the promiscuous culture of the vine; the division with the ditches of the plots remains. The same plain of the Tiber at the crossroads of the road to the Umbertide cemetery in the IGM "Tablets" with relief carried out in 1941, where you can see the cemetery on the right in the middle of the image and the land completely cultivated with the promiscuous culture of the vine: in fact it can be seen how the plots are characterized by "circles" to indicate the presence of a crop, with a sort of wavy line inside with shadow that characterizes the type of crop of the plots themselves, or the symbol of the vine. The "Tablet" thus represents the dominant presence of the arborata with the promiscuous culture of the vine. The Mezzadria in Umbertide Simona Bellucci who dealt with the sharecropping system and the relations between the two worlds of "owners" and "workers" writes about it in its " The incomplete modernization. Umbertide farmers and owners between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries ": " The form of land management determines the type of farmer prevalent in Umbertide, the sharecroppers, who are flanked by the laborers:" The sharecropping contract applies everywhere, There is a good number of laborers. "The sources never mention the small owners direct farmers because in the Municipality we find only medium and large land ownership. Small peasant property is scarcely present in all of Umbria, limited to certain Apennine areas, only "in the immediate post-war period there is a whole movement for the formation of small peasant speculative of the sharp rise in land and without adequate support for the necessary transformations and the exercise of the activity itself, it was quickly wrecked around 1930, after which it quickly returned to the pre-war structure. "" The large owners adopt the sharecropping management system, long-standing contract, dating back to the Middle Ages, which generally provides for the division of products in half, due to its characteristics of a corporate pact particularly suitable for maintaining social peace. In Umbria, however, there are clear signs of a worsening of the sharecropping contract at the end of the nineteenth century due to a relationship that becomes more unfavorable to workers due to excess labor. However, sharecropping is not a real corporate pact, because the settler suffers injuries to his individual freedoms, from those concerning marriage, to education, for which he must ask for and obtain the master's consent. The contracts, all disadvantageous, also provide for a series of obligations for the sharecropper, in fact he is subject to additional donations of poultry and eggs on certain festive occasions such as Easter and Christmas, he must also bear part of the land tax, the wife of the settler, in addition, she has to do laundry for the owner's family. The sharecropping contract has different clauses from area to area, in Umbertide «in principle the division of the products takes place in half; only for grapes to a third in favor of the owner ». In the general condition of poverty there are, however, sharecroppers who live in a better way than others, they are those who cultivate farms in the plains, more fertile than those of hills or mountains and where the number of arms is in balance with the extension of the earth. ". Consequences of indirect management Over time, this type of management of agricultural property also imposed a cultivation method: polyculture, exemplified in our area by the mixed cultivation of the vine mixed with cereals but also by the fruit and walnut trees in front of the house. It characterized the typology of human settlement in the Umbrian-Tuscan-Emilian countryside, that is the scattered settlement, or our "landscape" with our hamlets called "Ca '" or "Cai", the water mills, the country churches with their viability necessary for a world of faithful who moved on foot, and microtoponyms still alive in those who frequent the countryside. The characteristic of polyculture was combined with the need to produce cereals and grapevines taking the form of the “mixed cultivation of the vine”: that is, parts of a cereal field divided by rows of vines. Often "married" to trees, to favor their growth. In Umbria, especially in the south, usually the vine was associated with maple, even today, which has been replaced by concrete poles, the maple is visible in our countryside as a "residue" of the ancient way of farming. For aesthetic / affective reasons, the landscape has continued to maintain "survivals" that are no longer functional to the economic context that had generated them as in the residues of "promiscuous culture" that are sporadically encountered in the countryside. An example of "survival" can be seen just beyond the junction of the road that climbs to the cemetery in the direction of Montone, near the junction for S. Lorenzo. The end of Sharecropping the law N ° 756 of 1964 discouraged the stipulation of these contracts then prohibiting the establishment of new ones starting from September 1974, while acknowledging those already existing. The law No. 203 of 1982 then imposed the termination of sharecropping or middle-range contracts with their conversion into rental contracts. Rural architecture and appliances There is a commendable text, published by the Umbria Region and written by the professors, Melelli, Fatichenti of the University of Perugia that can guide us to re-read the historical stratification of the landscape both in terms of rural architecture and the appurtenances and open spaces of our Region and also of our Valley: Alberto Melelli Fabio Fatichenti Massimo Sargolini. “ Architecture and Rural Landscape in Umbria. Tradition and contemporaneity. "Umbria Region, Quattroemme Srl. But there are many human elements that are found in the apparently natural agricultural landscape, the fruit instead of one historical economic stratification that has remained stable for hundreds of years and then has changed rapidly, in the text indicated by prof. Fatichenti indicates in fact, as "historical assets" a series of elements: “ Minor elements of religious architecture (chapels, oratories, farm churches, country cemeteries, road crosses, niches or votive plaques, tabernacles, newsstands); - service goods (public springs and wash houses, taverns, springs, aqueducts, masonry huts, stone boundary stones); - appurtenances to buildings (farmyards in beaten or paved earth, wells or cisterns with or without cover, wash houses, fertilizers, ovens, dryers, barns, sheepfolds); - agricultural arrangements (terracing and embankments, dry stone walls); - hydraulic arrangements (embankments, canals, dams). " It must be said that in our area, unlike the rest of Umbria, the "barns" were not used, the hay was instead collected and left to dry outdoors, in the large "sheaf" near the threshing floor, a space that was also the small "square" of the farm house or of the groups of neighboring houses. Harvest time, Montecorona area, 1928 The rural house The rural house is an expression of the needs of the production system in which it is located. Its housing structure, the new parts that are built and the annexes are all functional to that economic cell of the exploitation of the property in an indirect form which is the appoderamento, or rather the farm with the typical farmhouse of sharecropping. The space in front of the house is used for the arrangement of agricultural work; new buildings, if they exist, are an expression of production needs, stables, dryers, any barns, even the external bathrooms are usually built in the same area where the excrements of animals taken from the stables for fertilization are kept. Usually the house has two floors, with an external staircase that ends in our areas with a small roof, in the basement often hens or rabbits were placed; downstairs there is the stable for the animals, now rearranged in beautiful halls; upstairs, with an internal hatch to go up and down with a wooden staircase for the winter, there was space for the settlers. The second floor always had a large fireplace in the central room which had to be enough to heat all the rooms, where we all ate together. Especially in the hills the external structure of the rural house appears from far away in harmony with the colors of the surrounding nature; this happened unintentionally because the building materials were being taken from the surrounding terrain. This last geological typology is clearly visible on the roads leading to Pietralunga or Gubbio with the yellow "sandstone" sections that protrude with "teeth" alternating with gray "marls"; marls also present as on some badlands forms visible going up from Umbertide towards the Monte Acuto area. The great majority of our rural houses have the use of marly stones, more gray, or sandstone, of a browning yellow, leaving the external appearance of the houses in harmony with the surrounding hills. The fortress of Umbertide itself is built from stones of this type and for the finishing of the portals and the first step is also the "Collegiate". From a geological point of view, the area of the Municipality of Umbertide insists on fluvial-lacustrine sedimentary deposits of the alluvial plain together with a Miocene sedimentation area, of marly-arenaceous type, which characterizes the high hill between the Tiber and the limestone ridge of the Umbrian-Marche Apennines. These geological structures they are interrupted by some calcareous rocky outcrops of more ancient formation which occupy a limited area of their own near Monte Acuto. Just look at the rural houses once you enter the Gubbio plain to notice of the difference with those of our area, and of how the limestone quarries have the choice of the construction material of the houses. The housing structures closest to Umbertide have the most frequent use of bricks deriving from clay. Stratification of architectural elements Let's have two here examples of historical stratification in the still visible rural buildings, an older one, the dovecote tower, and one much closer to us, but now already a "historical" stratification, or rather the "dryers" of tobaccos. Among the elements that the sharecropping system has left in our rural landscape architecture are the dovecote (or palombine) towers . Example of an Umbrian rural house rebuilt maintaining the previous characteristics, including the "dovecote tower" and with original materials, with the ancient housing structure on the upper floor with the old "shed" integrated, however, in the roof. "Buzzacchero" area. Photo 1. Dovecote tower in the countryside, located on the banks of the "Assino" stream. Photo n. 2. Dovecote tower in the ancient countryside, located towards the Polgeto road. Photo n. 3 Probable dovecote tower on the border between the urban area and the old one countryside, placed in front of the walls of Fratta. Other sources would be needed to be sure, but the four-storey height, the "roost" between the third and fourth floors suggest this type of architecture. They seem to have arisen earlier than the rest of the buildings and although it is thought that the use of buildings from urban towers has extended, they have become characteristic of the rural environment. They wore various advantages advantages in addition to the meat of the pigeons, there was the fact of eliminating the seeds of weeds from the farmyard to the fields and providing a precious fertilizer for the cultivation of hemp and flax, but in any case it was also used to fertilize olive groves and vineyards. They could have three, four or five floors (those born with defensive purposes) but usually the last level, still reachable from the inside or with an external ladder, consisted of the real diver. Levels could be used for different purposes. On its walls often numerous niches were opened with nest functions, they were plastered and made very smooth so as to prevent weasels, stone martens and other predators from climbing up and killing pigeons. "Outside there were the entrance holes for the doves, and the rose window for the ventilation of the compartment, both overlooking the" roost "(or" walk ") which served both as a shelf for the dove but also as a further obstacle to predatory animals. " Today many of these towers in our territory are used for tourism purposes and perform an attractive function for tourism. The breeding of doves or pigeons was an activity of breeding present well centuries before the construction of the dovecote towers in the area, just think that in the "Statutes of Fratta of 1535" we read a specific rule: " DELI PIGLANTI LE COLOMBE DOMESTICHE or DE COLOMBAJO ". The Statutes deal with "the taking of domestic doves ", specifying the penalty for those who have stolen or killed them: "... X de dinars worth of money for everyone who steals in any way, palomba de palomboro or domesticho or casalengho ". The characteristic tower probably acquired an aesthetic value and in the twentieth century also the rural houses that did not use them for such purposes they equipped themselves with towers, as reported by prof. Fatichenti for the Spoleto in “Architecture and Rural Landscape in Umbria. Tradition and contemporaneity. ". Our country lacks studies on this aspect and so we can hypothesize that the numerous turrets that can be seen which however have a four-pitched roof were built for aesthetic or "rank" reasons. We recommend reading the Degree Thesis on the "dovecote towers" of our territory created in 1990-91 by Professor Anna Maria Boldrini who kindly allowed us to show it on this page. Photo 1. Probably a turret built in ememulation of the "dovecote tower" for the fact that it is different type of cover (four sides). "Poste" area. Photo 2. Probably a turret built in ememulation of the "dovecote tower" for the fact that it is different type of cover (four sides). "Station" area. Photo n. 3 Probable tower built in ememulation of the "dovecote tower" for the fact that it is different type of cover (four sides). "Buzzacchero" area. Among the recent constructions that the introduction of a new culture has left over time there are the tobacco "dryers" , rather tall buildings with many chimneys, today sometimes replaced by "dormers" when the buildings were reused as homes. These annexes next to or directly separated from the farmhouse were connected to the cultivation of tobacco by carrying out the drying time here with the leaves strung on strings, placed on poles which were then raised to a considerable height. Tobacco production allowed the birth of a thriving manufacture. just think that in 1946 the "Tabacchi plant in Umbertide, employed 230 people, 180 women. The total rose to 315 people in 1951. Subsequently the shift to cooperative and mechanized (bulk-curing) forms of production first concentrated drying in large buildings and then replaced it with machinery. Thus almost all of the "dryers" lost their function. A similar fate also for the large buildings such as those of the FAT company in Città di Castello which today are used in a museum key for the works of Alberto Burri after the relocation to Regnano. Tobacco cultivation that contributed also to homogenize the use of agricultural land from the early 1900s to the seventies in our flat and low hill areas, contributing to the elimination of the "tree" with the promiscuous culture of the vine. 1/1 Figs. 1-4: we show here some of the many characteristic dryers of the whole upper Tiberina Valley, here photos starting from the border with the Municipality of Montone at Tenute di Montecorona. Buildings of this type can be seen almost in every area of the municipality. We present here in .pdf a reconstruction of the agricultural use of Tobacco made by Prof. Simona Bellucci who kindly grants us from her work: “ Tobacco and tobacconists. The tobacco plant in the economy and society of Umbertide ", Crace / Fondazione Museo Storico Scientifico del Tabacco, Città di Castello 2009, pp. 58-61. Umbertide and his countryside, year 1933. In the lower left corner it is clearly visible the mixed cultivation of vines on the right bank of the Tiber. To deepen the relationship between rural architecture and sharecropping in our territory, we refer you to the page of the "Graduation theses" where there is the beautiful and accurate work of Professor Anna Maria Boldrini: " Rural architecture in the upper Tiber Valley: Umbertide in the century XVI ". Clicking on the image below opens the complete work directly. We conclude by returning to the present: today between Farmhouses, Guest Houses, Bed and Breakfasts, Holiday Homes, etc. present in the Municipality of Umbertide in the "Alta Umbria" site are counted 96 accommodation facilities ... almost all of them belong to that agricultural system that it has today changed economic function. Facilities that usually must to the scattered settlement born with the appoderamento their existence. Sources: - Alberto Melelli Fabio Fatichenti Massimo Sargolini. “ Architecture and Rural Landscape in Umbria. Tradition and contemporaneity . " Umbria Region, 2010, Quattroemme Srl. We present some elements in summary - http://www.treccani.it/encyclopedia/mezzadria_%28Dtionary-di-Storia%29/ - IGMI Tablet, Series M 891, Edition 3, Sheet, NICCONE, 122, I, NO - http://umbertide.infoaltaumbria.it/Ricettivita/Dove_Dormire.aspx - Simona Bellucci, " The incomplete modernization. Umbertide peasants and owners between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries ". Edimond, Città di Castello 2004, pp. 18-20. - Simona Bellucci, “ Tobacco and tobacconists. The tobacco plant in the economy and society of Umbertide ", Crace / Fondazione Museo Storico Scientifico del Tabacco, Città di Castello 2009, pp. 58-61. - Simona Bellucci, Umbertide in the 20th century: 1943-2000, Nuova Prhomos Editions, 2018. - Photo: Francesco Deplanu. - Photo: historical photos of Umbertide from the web and from various private archives to which we applied the " umbertidestoria " watermark in this way we try to avoid that the further disclosure on our part favors purposes not consonant with our intentions exclusively social and cultural. Henri Desplanques, Campagnes Ombriennes, 1969 “ A complex historical stratigraphy is the basis of rural landscapes. . .. " Help us remember umbertidestoria@gmail.com

L'Abbazia di San Salvatore di Monteacuto e poi Montecorona Il Ciborio di Montecorona Monuments, Museums and Sacred Places L'Abbazia di San Salvatore di Monteacuto e poi Montecorona I ruderi della chiesa della Madonna della Costa Il Ciborio di Montecorona The abbey of S. Salvatore of Monte Acuto, then Montecorona The abbey of S. Salvatore di Monte Acuto, then Montecorona, 4 km from Umbertide, was a powerful monastic institution, not a de facto hermit, but well rooted in the territory and an economic and jurisdictional interlocutor of both civil and ecclesiastical power . Despite the traditional attributions of its foundation to San Romualdo, this foundation does not seem to be a historical truth; although in a short time its "management" was entrusted to the Benedictine current which was based on San Romualdo. The "management" was then assigned to the Cistercians in the 13th century; substantially returned to the Camaldolese in the sixteenth century. Since then, its history has been linked to that of the hermitage above. In this article we will focus above all on the possible history relating to the origin of the Abbey in the eleventh century. and up to the sixteenth century. Above all we will dwell on its foundation which, despite the erudite "assignments" of the seventeenth century, is neither certain nor known. In the continuation we will dwell on the description of the beautiful 8th century ciborium brought back to the Abbey by San Giuliano delle Pignatte, because this is considered to be its original place. Its existence opens up scenarios, still not investigated archaeologically, of the early medieval presence of one pre-existing religious structure on the same site as the abbey. We will conclude with an in-depth study on the reuse materials present in the crypt of the Abbey. By whom was the Abbey of San Salvatore di Monteacuto really founded? In a historical conference in 2009 on the Abbey, its history and its characteristics, ("THE ABBEY OF SAN SALVATORE DI MONTE ACUTO - MONTECORONA IN THE XI-XVIII CENTURIES"), the problem of the foundation was retraced, presenting the few traces available, and highlighting the fixed points traceable after the destruction of the Abbey archive in the war between the Oddi and the Baglioni in the mid-1400s. The professor. D'Acunto, during the study days of June 2009 dedicated to the Abbey, argued the possibility that the original building was even older than the indications of early millennium. Perhaps a pre-existing structure, a hypothesis to be investigated with archaeological methods, could have arisen from the role of local early medieval aristocratic elites. Hypothesis that could explain the presence in the area of the "Carolingian" ciborium of the eighth century of San Giuliano delle Pignatte. Tradition, on the other hand, has reported 1008 as the date of the foundation and the person of Romualdo as the founder. Felice Ciatti in the "Of the annal and historical memories of the things of Perugia, Part Four, that is, Pontifical Perugia", of 1638, supported the foundation by San Romualdo. This foundation is not confirmed, however, by all the sources that refer directly to San Romualdo. Ludovico Iacobilli, on the other hand, in his Lives of the saints and blessed of Umbria, published between 1647 and 1661, was the first to affirm that the abbey of S. Salvatore was founded in 1008, ascribing it to the Cistercian Order ... probable date of existence but we do not know from which sources it took this indication. In the following centuries, however, it was the Camaldolese who managed the institution. Certainly, even if we are not sure that the reference is to the current building, since it was consecrated only in 1056, we have news of the role of San Salvatore di Monte Acuto in the territory as early as 1036. In fact on this date the papacy granted the exemption in S. Salvatore di Monte Acuto from the jurisdiction of the diocesan ordinary, or rather from the power of the Dioceses that surrounded it (Perugia, Città di Castello and Gubbio). This is a sign of the institution's rising importance. This information is provided to us by Stefania Zucchini who dealt with the question in “Umbrian monastic foundations between the 10th and 12th centuries and S. Salvatore di Monte Acuto”. Giovanna Casagrande in "The Abbey of S. Salvatore di Monte Acuto in the Cistercian period through the Protocol of the notary Achille of Bernardino di Montone (XIII century)", underlines, however, how under the Emperor Henry VI, in 1186, we to indirectly identify the indication of the importance already acquired by the monastery, that its probable pro-imperial position in the clash between the Empire and the Papacy. In fact, Henry VI recognizes the jurisdiction over the countryside to the municipality of Perugia, but excludes some lay lords from this jurisdiction… and our monastery of S. Salvatore. This would find further confirmation in the diplomas of Otto IV (1210) and of Frederick II (1220). As regards the uncomfortable pro-imperial position of the institution, Prof. Casagrande points out that Gregory IX found a "solution" after the peace of San Germano in 1230, in the stasis clash between the papacy and the Empire. In fact, an abbey of the imperial part in the Perugian territory, but close to the border with Città di Castello, it could well be a nuisance. "So 1234 actually marks a turning point ... On June 26, 1234 Gregory IX wrote to the abbot and the convent of Cîteaux so that the monastery of S. Salvatore di Monte Acuto does not remain "in spiritualibus et temporalibus desolatum" and intends to "ibidem Cistercensem fundare sistema" and orders that "immediate subiaceat reverentia filiali »To the abbey of Cîteaux.". In this way the monastery passed to the Cistercians. Subsequently, with Pope Eugene IV, in 1434, the management of the institution changed again and returned to the Camaldolese, but the "handover" was anything but immediate. This was a troubled period, think of the noble conflicts in Perugia which involved the destruction of the documents in the Abbey's archive when the Oddi, based in Umbertide, were attacked by the Baglioni. In fact, the forces of the Baglioni also poured into the Abbey causing the destruction of goods and documents, only some brought by the Oddi to safety in the Rocca di Spoleto. Finally, the canon Galeazzo Gabrielli da Fano, commendatory of the abbey, donated it in 1524 with all its appurtenances to the company of San Romualdo, including a small church dedicated to San Savino, not far from the Abbey. The company, in the general chapter of 1525 and more explicitly in that of 1530, which was held right in the abbey of San Salvatore, approved the construction of a hermitage that was to serve as the mother house, following the design of the Hermitage of Camaldoli, and at the same time it was decided to erect it near the abbey on the mountain called "Montecorona". From this moment the word "coronesi" is also used to indicate the monks of the abbey of San Salvatore and the hermitage above. The hermitage and the Abbey were thus connected by a long path called "brick", even two meters wide, built with blocks of dry-laid sandstone that can still be traveled today. After the foundation of the Hermitage, it is remembered as the Hermitage of Monte Corona, a name later extended to the abbey as well, which became San Salvatore di Monte Corona. The abbey, in addition to the appurtenances not for religious use, is structured in an upper church, with a large nave at the entrance and the raised presbytery above the crypt, divided into three naves with an apse. Basement insists a crypt which can itself be considered a lower church with 5 naves and 3 apses. A bell tower that probably in some periods, given some slits, had different purposes from the current one and different construction moments that see it pass from a circular to an octagonal base. The crypt: The basement crypt is of the “ad oratorium” type, a vast and unique room with 5 naves although it ends with 3 apses, divided into 30 cross-vaulted bays with Byzantine-style decorations from Ravenna. The cross vaults are supported by columns of various styles, reused material from the first century. BC to the fourth century. AD, except one which is later. Along the walls of the area the arches of the cruises fall on semi-columns leaning against pilasters, creating an articulation of the walls accentuated by the presence of arched recesses, in turn pierced by double niches. The bare material, of the columns e it could come from a pre-existing pagan or early Christian temple. For this reason, there would be a need for archaeological investigations on the site of the present abbey. Externally to it are visible vertical pilasters. The upper church and the presbytery The part of the church that stands above the crypt was built first and consecrated by San Giovanni da Lodi, bishop of Gubbio; the central nave was added to it in the 13th and 14th centuries; so the oldest part served as a presbytery with 3 naves marked by 4 round arches. Each nave ends with an apse. An arch divides the oldest part from the most recent one. At the center of the great nave of the present Presbytery, there was an altar, whose table is now leaning against the wall of the left aisle. In 1959, in the execution of the renovation and restoration works, an 8th century Ciborium was placed in place of the great altar, present in the nearby Church of San Giuliano delle Pignatte. Later we will describe the Ciborium and the techniques of descriptions that were investigated in the 2009 conference on the Abbey. A 16th century wooden choir is located in the apse which has an ogival arch. Here we have paintings by unknown authors, right above the wooden choir: the TRANSFIGURATION - CHRIST IN GLORY AMONG THE PROPHETS AND APOSTLES, sec. XVII, an oil on canvas measuring 340 x 190 cm; the MADONNA DELLE GRAZIE, from 1549, oil on canvas, 174 x 167 cm; the ASCENSION, from 1602, oil on canvas, 168 x 104 cm; the FLAGELLATION, sec. XVI, oil on canvas cm. 102 x 75 (which does not appear in the video images because it is covered by the Ciborium); S. Andrea XVIII century, tempera canvas measuring 160 x 76 cm; the MADONNA DEL ROSARIO AND SAN DOMENICO, sec. XVII, oil on canvas, 236 x 100 cm. The most recent part of the upper church has a single large nave with two ribbed vaults and two chapels on the sides adorned with Baroque altars. The bell tower The bell tower which probably had different uses over the centuries has a particular structure diversified in three moments: the base is circular in shape, perhaps from the Lombard period, then it has 11 sides in the 14th century, endecagonal with battlements that were integrated, finally, in the octagonal continuation which now shows the large clock and bells. Sources: Proceedings of the Conference (Abbey of San Salvatore di Montecorona, June 18-19, 2009) edited by Nicolangelo D'Acunto and Mirko Santanicchia in Bulletin of the National History Deputation for Umbria, CVIII (2011), fasc. I-II (pp. 165- 183). Monographic section: "THE ABBEY OF SAN SALVATORE DI MONTE ACUTO - MONTECORONA IN THE XI-XVIII CENTURIES" - History and art - - Nicolangelo D'Acunto: "The origins of the monastery of S. Salvatore di Monte Acuto and its monastic network" Maria Teresa Gigliozzi: "From the Benedictines to the Cistercians: the architecture of the abbey of San Salvatore in Montecorona in Romanesque Umbria" Giovanna Casagrande: "The abbey of S. Salvatore di Monte Acuto in the Cistercian period through the Protocol of the notary Achille of Bernardino di Montone (13th century)" - Stefania Zucchini: "Umbrian monastic foundations between the 10th and 12th centuries and S. Salvatore di Monte Acuto" -The indications on the paintings in the apse of the upper church come from the “Alto Tiber” Archaeological Group with the patronage of the Municipality of Umbertide: “Initiative“ adopt a work of art from your territory ”with the contribution of local companies. http://turismo.comune.perugia.it/poi/abbazia-di-san-salvatore-di-montecorona https://www.iluoghidelsilenzio.it/abbazia-di-san-salvatore-di-montecorona/nggallery/page/1 For the images of the 2009 Conference see: https://www.comune.umbertide.pg.it/it/page/l-abbazia-di-san-salvatore-di-montecorona Abbey of San Salvatore - interior of the crypt The Abbey of Montecorona during the flood of the Tiber in 2005. By clicking here you can to download the photo in original resolution. For a study of the extent of the flood in Umbria you can see the IRPI report here ( Tiber River Basin Authority). The Monastery, the Montecorona Hermitage seen from Montacuto at the "Croce". THE CIBORIO OF THE ABBEY OF MONTECORONA formerly of San Giuliano delle Pignatte (By Francesco Deplanu, from the 2009 study days dedicated to the Abbey and indicated at the bottom) This artifact is one of the very few early medieval cibori that have come down to us intact. Its canopy has a square plan, and is made up of four slabs of equal size, two and two, placed on four supports with a monobloc capital and a crowning with an octagonal pyramid ending with a pinnacle. Where does the Ciborium come from The Ciborium was moved (or moved again) in the 1950s from "San Giuliano delle Pignatte" inside the Presbytery of the upper church of the Abbey of S. Salvatore of Montecorona. This choice is based on the certain inadequacy of the position of the Ciborium in the small church of San Giuliano delle pignatte, a photo from the 1950s shows it positioned with one side against the wall in a clear position that does not respect its function. The prevailing hypothesis is that it is a "dismantling", perhaps precisely from the place where the Abbey stands today. it underwent a period of near abandonment. It is probable at this point that the artefact was moved in that period, also taking into account the decorations on the wall of the small church. Let's start with a "conclusion" before describing in detail this treasure of the Abbey of S. Salvatore, that of Donatella Scortecci in "THE CIBORIO DELL'ABBAZIA DI MONTECORONA" in the study days of 2009: "the stimulating reflections proposed by Nicolangelo D 'Acunto on a possible lay foundation of the monastery by noble elites would well explain the presence of a luxury artifact, such as the ciborium, a liturgical object for display, to be flaunted. Perhaps a donation from the founder, a treasure exhibited as was widespread practice in the early Middle Ages by the hegemonic classes who, through what have been defined earthly and heavenly treasures, represented themselves, reaffirming their status to the religious and secular community, earning, if anything, also a place in paradise ". The Ciborium is an artifact of the "Carolingian" period, built in the eighth century. d. C .. With this identification, Prof. Scortecci recalls how it is not possible for the sculptural creations of the period to catalog them as "Lombard" or "Byzantine", or "barbaric", because there is "evidence of a variety of languages that contribute to the definition of a unitary context ". Furthermore, it must also be considered that the difference between the client and the workers who then create the artifacts must be considered, with their more complex ethnic, social and economic origin. We can therefore, in summary, indicate the sculpture as "early medieval". It is clearly a liturgical furniture that we can define as "luxury", and which is the testimony of a religious commission of high prestige, probably also economic. By indicating the front plate that looks at the faithful as plate "A", it can be seen that it is of a different material than the rest of the artifact. Also with regard to the Ciborium of San Prospero in Perugia, always “early medieval”, the tendency to standardize production is clear, reserving only the front plate, the more complex and full of symbolism decoration. In fact, the two side faces "B" and "D" and the back, indicated with "C", are also similar in the decorative motifs, with the body of the slabs having the same three-ply braid with buttons that accompanies the archivolt, and the same palm with long fringed leaves that fields the resulting spaces. However, only the frames of the upper margin have three variants of the usual spiral motif. In the front plate you can see a “cantharos” where two large peacocks cool off. The peacock, an immortal bird, which drinks from the cantharos is an iconography that goes from antiquity to the whole of the early Middle Ages. However, its extensive use does not make it possible to trace back to specific customers or workers. Harmonic forms are certainly not found here in the arrangement of the drawing of that of the aforementioned Perugian Ciborium; the birds in our ciborium are more cumbersome and a kind of "horrori vacui" with S-shaped "volutine", small circles with quatrefoil flowers and a short intertwining of mesh, this above the "braid" that runs through the arch, seems to prevail. How the Ciborium was built The structure of the Ciborium rests on four columns that form a quadrilateral with monolithic capitals in sandstone. Columns and capitals that support four variously sculpted stone slabs. Indicating the front plate that looks at the faithful as plate "A", it can be seen that it is of a different material, pietra serena, of a blue-blue color, like the columns, compared to the side ones, all instead of different materials, always sedimentary, or compact micritic limestones, which we can indicate as tending to a white color. Above the front slabs rises a pyramid made up of 11 slabs: eight major stone slabs, triangular in shape, as well as three smaller ones used to close the gaps left by the placement of the first eight. This can only be seen from the inside due to the “dull”, grayish plaster applied in previous restoration interventions. On the top there is a pinnacle that may look like a bell even if, again due to the "dull" present, it is difficult to see well. These indications come to us from Laura Zamperoni in "Stone materials, executive technique and state of conservation" presented again during the days of 2009 indicated in the notes. This distinction is important because in addition to the different color that can be immediately identified, the different stone nature has led to a different destiny of conservation: the pietra serena of the front facade has been damaged more than the "white" parts of the three "secondary" facades "(" B "," C "and" D ") in limestone. In particular, plate "A" has a fairly thin grain size and free from large colored impurities; the other three, on the other hand, are characterized by extremely small and homogeneous alveoli. What is worrying, as mentioned before, is the durability of the sandstone of the columns and related capitals. Sandstone (and pietra serena) which is exposed to an important erosion phenomenon that "pulverizes" it. Erosion also present in the front plate visible to the faithful but fortunately to a lesser extent than the capitals. Erosion that does not affect the "white" parts in limestone. These considerations lead Zamperoni (... and all of us) to say that "given the exceptionality of the artefact, a conservative restoration intervention would be desirable both to improve the state of alteration and to block its deterioration, and to enhance its historical-artistic importance. … ". Furthermore Zamperoni writes, after having studied the artefact in detail that “interesting considerations can be drawn on the working technique of stonemasons. The tools and the work of the artisans are characterized by a strong conservatism that has contributed to maintaining almost unchanged, until the 19th century, working methods and tools, with a certain reluctance to introduce innovative elements. As is well known, the tools for working stone essentially belong to two large classes: percussive and abrasive. In the first group are inserted the various hammers and cutting tools (chisels and the like), in the second the saws, drills, files and all the powders used for polishing. The percussive instruments shape the stone by striking and crushing it, the abrasive ones by rubbing it. Most of the early medieval and medieval stone sculptures were made with the direct cutting process, without making use of models in ductile material: the design was traced directly on the planes of the block (front and side) to then be engraved. ". This allows her to argue that flat and sharp edge chisels were used for the construction. Specifically, a chisel called "little nail" seems to have been used: thin but sturdy which allowed to reach fine but deep carvings; but also a "group of flat and sharp edge chisels (from 3 mm up to 8 mm) capable of smoothing the surface producing shading effects that essentially depend on the angle at which the instrument was held on the stone and on the intensity with he was hit. "In addition, the flat chisel was also used for the low-relief creations; finally he identifies a series of" bush hammering "in the intrados of the arches but also on the shafts of the columns and the capitals in the non-decorated parts, the latter probably not contemporary. Front plate of the Ciborium of the eighth century AD I ruderi della chiesa della Madonna della Costa Stone carving in the 19th and 20th centuries. Having placed the attention on the methods of construction of the Ciborium, the use of the tools used, has highlighted the strong conservatism of the masons' workers over the centuries. This allows us to indicate a hypothesis of "continuity", clearly only spatial to the state of knowledge, on the methods of sculpting stone in the areas under the influence of the Abbey of San Salvatore and the Hermitage of Montecorona. That is to remember, without clearly claiming to establish a real connection, how even the workers of the 19th-20th centuries of Niccone's stonemasons used tools that were partly similar: think of the “bocciarda” who had become the “liar” in our dialect. We also add, more to meet some curiosity, news of much later on the stones that could still be found in the nineteenth century in the area of the discovery of the Ciborium and the Abbey of San Salvatore. In the text of Bernardino Sperandio, "Of the Umbrian construction and ornamental stones" a document is reported among the "Inventories" entitled "State of Mines, Mineral Sources, Quarries, Workshops existing in the Municipality of Fratta, province of Perugia, district of Perugia", ASCU year 1861. This inventory indicates the "Quarries and Torbiere" of Fratta (cited in the text "Umbertide" also if in fact his name hadn't been changed yet). The document reports various types of stones, among these the "Strong sandstone or stone are used for use [...]" (the "pietraforte" in Tuscany is a very solid sandstone) and their presence is indicated as well as in the Parish di Romeggio, also a site in the “parish of M. Migiano owned by the suppressed Eremo di Montecorona”. As far as quarries and peat bogs are concerned, the "substances" indicated in 1861 were "white marble", "dark red or white marble", "cenerino marble", "red veined white marble", "white veined marble", "black marble" , "Sand quarry", "Clay quarry", "Pozzolana quarry", "Quarry for Macine" as well as "Strong sandstone stones". The "quarry for millstones" was located at the Parish of San Giuliano, or in the area of San Giuliano delle Pignatte. Precisely the Montecorona area, along the Nese stream, was characterized by the presence of "calcarenites", or "marbles". Sources: -Donatella Scortecci, “The ciborium of the Montecorona abbey”, with a contribution by Laura Zamperoni, “The ciborium and early medieval sculptural material. In "THE ABBEY OF SAN SALVATORE DI MONTE ACUTO - MONTECORONA IN THE XI-XVIII CENTURIES" - Bulletin of the National History Deputation for Umbria, CVIII (2011), fasc. I-II (pp. 165- 183). Proceedings of the Conference (Abbey of San Salvatore di Montecorona, June 18-19, 2009) curated by Nicolangelo D'Acunto and Mirko Santanicchia - Bernardino Sperandio, Of the Umbrian construction and ornamental stones., Perugia, Quattroemme, 2004 (p. 265, pp 288-289). https://www.umbertidestoria.net/gli-scalpellini-di-niccone Photo: -Image of the Ciborium located in San Giuliano delle Pignatte by Mons. Renzo Piccioni Tignai published in the “Bulletin of the National History Deputation for Umbria, CVIII (2011), fasc. I-II (pp. 165- 183). " - Other images and videos: Francesco Deplanu. The Church of the Madonna della Costa and the wooden statue (Curated by Francesco Deplanu) The Church of the Madonna della Costa of Monte Acuto This little one church on the slopes of Monte Acuto, known among other names over time as “S. Giovanni della Costa ”,“ Santa Maria della Costa ”and later known as“ Madonna della Costa ”, is located on the southwest coast of Monte Acuto. This church today is dilapidated but until 70 years ago it was a popular place of worship that is still lived and deeply felt. Anciently it was employed by the Abbey of San Salvatore di Montecorona, then passed under that of the Perugia dioceses. The church has a rectangular plan, with an entrance door under the bell tower and, opposite to it, a small door to the right of the altar connected to a small sacristy is still visible. The building shows its different construction phases with a lower part in well-worked stone masonry ceasing on a floor highlighted by a frame above the entrance door. Above this frame, on the main gabled façade, the bell gable was built. On the entrance a small niche above the architrave bore a dedicatory inscription which is now illegible. The left facade of the church is partially embedded towards Monteacuto. The opposite facade, on the right, it bears the trace of a loophole and “looks” at a panorama that opens up between valleys and high hills. The added walls are in unworked stone and everything had been plastered both inside and outside. The roofs appear to have been trussed and on the back wall a niche is still visible where the statue of the Madonna with the child was housed. Several photos from the recent past show signs that look like those of frescoes in the part near the altar area. Immagine 1: Chiesa della Madonna della Costa. Campanile a vela visibile tra la boscaglia; facciata principale (foto di Fabio Mariotti, scattata circa nel 2000). La Storia Una struttura per il culto è presente fin dal 1145: è documentata la sua presenza nella Bolla di Eugenio III del 1145 vche ede tra i beni confermati all’Abbazia di San Salvatore la “Cellam Sancti Joannis in Monte Acuto, cum Ecclesiis, & pertinenti suiis”. Nel primo elenco delle comunità perugine del 1258 è indicata come “Villa S. Iohannis de Costa”. Dal 1361 la parrocchia “eccelse S. Iohannis de Costa Montis Acuti” possiede un catasto di beni propri e nel 1367 si ha notizia della dotazione di una campana. Nel 1564, sotto il Vescovo Della Corgna, alla parrocchia di San Giovanni, denomina in questo periodo sembra anche Santa Maria, fu unita la chiesa diroccata di Santa Lucia, che sorgeva presso il castello della Fratticiola di Montacuto. Altre notizie più recenti ci attestano della diminuita importanza del luogo, perlomeno dal punto di vista dell’organizzazione parrocchiale, tanto che nel 1821 la parrocchia di San Giovanni/Santa Maria fu unita provvisoriamente alle parrocchie di San Simone in Monestevole, San Bartolomeo in San Bartolomeo dei Fossi e San Michele Arcangelo in Racchiusole. La chiesa, in tempi più recenti, venne chiamata della “Madonna della Costa” di Monte Acuto, per via della statua lignea medievale della Madonna con il bambino che lì si trovava. L’insediamento in età alto medievale attorno a questa zona vide una quasi costante presenza di una quarantina di “fuochi” (come media gli storici riferiscono che un fuoco era composto da 4 persone. n.d.r.): nel 278 sono riportati 42 “fuochi”, nel 1882 sono 32, nel 1410 supponiamo circa 38 (perché si contarono 152 “bocche”, cioè persone); ma già tra il 1438 ed il 1501 si contavano un numero minore di popolazione dimorante, tra i 20 e i 29 fuochi. Sicuramente l’insediamento sparso dei secoli a venire mantenne parte della popolazione nelle zone nelle vicinanze della chiesa, vista la necessitata di un popolamento connesso al sistema produttivo. Quasi in concomitanza con la fine della mezzadria, che possiamo datare ad inizio anni’60, nel 1954, crollò il tetto della chiesetta che fu dichiarata inagibile. Fino a quel momento, la domenica dopo l’Ascensione, veniva festeggiata in loco la festa della “Madonna della Costa”, che vedeva anche la presenza della Banda di Preggio; notizia attestata almeno fino al 1947 a causa di uno scontro politico che in quell’anno ebbe un certo risalto. La statua della Madonna con il bambino Che sappiamo al momento della storia della “madonna con il bambino” nella chiesetta della Costa di Monte Acuto ? E’ una statua lignea di un autore ignoto del romanico umbro del secolo XII (datata 1150 - 1199), alta cm 132 e dipinta in maniera policroma. E’ difficile pensare che nel corso di 8 secoli dalla sua realizzazione datata già dalla seconda metà del 1100, cambiando la tipologia di popolamento e di conseguenza il valore e la funzione dei luoghi di culto, la locazione della statua sia stata la stessa. Anche le indicazioni delle fonti storiche indicano un “peregrinare” della statua, “peregrinare” influenzato anche dalla dottrina della Chiesa dopo il Concilio di Trento. A questo proposito si può affermare che la statua lignea della madonna con bambino non fosse posizionata fin dalla sua realizzazione nell’attuale chiesa, ridotta quasi in cumuli, o nelle strutture originarie dedicate al culto in quel luogo. Seguendo le indicazioni di Elvio Lunghi, professore di Storia dell’arte medievale a Perugia, lo spostamento sulla “costa” di Monte Acuto della scultura lignea dovrebbe essere avvenuto successivamente alla seconda metà del XVI sec.: da San Giuliano delle Pignatte dell’Abbazia di Montecorona dove venne descritta come una “madonnam rilievi” nelle fonti delle visite pastorali del Vescovo Fulvio Della Corgna . Infatti nei decenni seguenti la conclusione del concilio tridentino i vescovi furono particolarmente rigidi verso le immagini obsolete o semplicemente mal conservate oltre che all’uso di statue lignee utilizzate in maniera lontana dalla liturgia, in questo periodo è anche possibile che le immagini sacre meno adeguate fossero destinate a una sede meno prestigiosa. Questo potrebbe essere stato il destino della nostra statua ritenuta comunque di “valore” e, piuttosto che eliminata, venne spostata in un luogo meno importante. Spostamento funzionale a salvarne il valore popolare di devozione; devozione molto sentita nella zona tra Romeggio e Preggio e proseguita fino al dopoguerra. Immagine 8: Statua della Madonna della Costa da: https://www.beweb.chiesacattolica.it/benistorici/bene/5504739/Bottega+umbra+sec.+XII,+Statua+della+Madonna+della+Costa Immagine 9: Statua della Madonna della Costa pubblicata in: Elvio Lunghi, “Considerazioni e ipotesi sulle sculture lignee nelle chiese dell’Umbria tra XII e XIII secolo” in “Umbria e Marche in età romanica. Arti e tecniche a confronto tra XI e XIII secolo”, a cura di E. Neri Lusanna, Todi, Ediart, 2013, pp. 203-212 Il destino delle opere lignee delle nostre zone sotto il potere temporale della Chiesa, risentì notevolmente del Concilio post-tridentino. Basti pensare al bellissimo gruppo della “Deposizione” di Montone, originario della Pieve di San Gregorio, che fu trasformato per secoli in “Crocifissione” con braccia e piedi non coevi e con la sparizione certa, perché poi ritrovata, della statua di Giuseppe d’Arimatea. Questa statua fu “ricomposta” con la testa ritrovata sempre nella Pieve di San Gregorio nel 1956, mentre il resto del corpo venne ritrovato sempre qui, nel 1977, tra le macerie di una volta crollata, e poi individuato come parte del San Giuseppe dal prof. Toscano nella Galleria Nazionale dell’Umbria. Solo da allora si prese consapevolezza dell’originaria disposizione e funzione che si può godere oggi nel Museo di San Francesco a Montone. Immagine 9: Deposizione della Croce di Montone (particolare) (foto di Francesco Deplanu). Immagine 10: Deposizione della Croce di Montone (particolare). Statua lignea di San Giovanni d’Arimatea ricomposta (foto di Francesco Deplanu). Per capire la portata del cambiamento che avvenne nel periodo post-tridentino basta leggere, riportate nelle pagine di Lunghi riprese dall’Archivio Vescovile di Perugia che riporta le visite pastorali sempre sotto il Vescovo Fulvio Della Corgna. Ad esempio nella chiesa di San Giustino alle porte di Perugia una statua della Madonna fu direttamente data alle fiamme: “Visitavit figuras virginis in quadam nicchio cum filio in brachio vetustate consumptas / quas igni comburi iussit». Ovvero: “In una nicchia ispezionò una statua della Vergine col figlio in braccio consumata dal tempo che ordinò fosse bruciata dal fuoco.”. Ma vediamo cosa scrive a proposito della statua lignea della madonna Elvio Lunghi, in “CONSIDERAZIONI E IPOTESI SULLE SCULTURE LIGNEE NELLE CHIESE DELL'UMBRIA TRA XII E XIII SECOLO”: “Nel Museo del Duomo di Perugia è conservata una scultura romanica in legno policromo di una Madonna in trono con il Bambino benedicente in grembo, che vi è stata depositata per esigenze conservative dall’abbazia di San Salvatore di Montecorona. È agevole riconoscervi una statua della Madonna che il vicario del vescovo Fulvio Della Corgna vide il 24 novembre 1564 sopra l’altare maggiore della chiesa di San Clemente nel villaggio di San Giuliano delle Pignatte, nelle immediate vicinanze di quell’abbazia cistercense. La Madonna era in rilievo e era posta tra due tavole dipinte con le storie del Santissimo.” Riportiamo per intero, vista la brevità, il passo che nelle note il Lunghi ripropone della visita pastorale, testo sempre conservato nell’Archivio Diocesiano di Perugia: “«Visitavit madonnam rilievi cum tabulis pictis Santissime inde / quas reaptari si potest santissimi aut retineri quanto decentius». Ovvero “Ispezionò una madonna in rilievo con tavole dipinte della storia del Santissimo, poi le quali se è possibile siano restaurate o conservate nel modo più decente”. Il passo è brevissimo ma accerta la presenza certa di una statua della madonna nella zona, difficile pensare che non fosse quella poi finita sulla Costa di Monte Acuto. Gli sportelli laterali sono andati perduti ma la madonna in legno con il bambino ha “proseguito” il suo cammino. In una data imprecisata, ma successiva chiaramente a questa visita pastorale del Della Corgna, arrivò alla chiesa di San Giovanni della Costa .”. Lo scopo di queste visite pastorali post tridentine era anche di “correggere la dottrina cattolica, espellere le eresie, promuovere i buoni costumi, e per quanto riguarda l’aspetto degli edifici religiosi era accertare l'idoneità degli edifici di culto e la celebrazione degli uffici liturgici secondo le nuove regole stabilite a Trento. Fonti: Elvio Lunghi, “Considerazioni e ipotesi sulle sculture lignee nelle chiese dell’Umbria tra XII e XIII secolo”, in Umbria e Marche in età romanica. Arti e tecniche a confronto tra XI e XIII secolo”, a cura di E. Neri Lusanna, Todi, Ediart, 2013, pp. 203-212. Luca Mor : “Esposte a Montone le sculture lignee medievali della deposito Christi, Bollettino d’arte” del Ministero per i beni e le Attività Culturali”, n. 108 - Aprile Giugno 1999. Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato, Libreria dello Stato Giovanna Sapori, “Il Gruppo Ligneo di Montone”, in Museo Comunale di San Francesco a Montone - Regione dell’Umbria - Electa Editori Umbri Associati, Perugia 1997. - https://www.iluoghidelsilenzio.it/chiesa-della-madonna-della-costa-monte-acuto-di-umbertide-pg/ - https://www.beweb.chiesacattolica.it/benistorici/bene/5504739/Bottega+umbra+sec.+XII,+Statua+della+Madonna+della+Costa - http://www.chieseitaliane.chiesacattolica.it/chieseitaliane/AccessoEsterno.do?mode=guest&type=auto&code=32565 - http://www.umbrialeft.it/node/33429 - https://www.stradeeposti.it/stradeeposti/Italy/Umbria/Umbertide/Monte-Acuto/Umbertide_Monte-Acuto_Chiesetta-della-Madonna-della-Costa.html - https://www.umbertidestoria.net/cenni-storici-della-banda Under construction... The "Croce" of Montacuto and the Apennine chain behind it. Photos before the restoration. The Collegiate Church in 1918 Piazza XII Settembre in 1912 Piazza San Francesco and the Deposition by Signorelli SOURCES: - Photo by Francesco Deplanu, Giulio Foiani and Anna Boldrini. - Photo: historical photos of Umbertide from the web and from various private archives to which we applied the " umbertidestoria " watermark in this way we try to avoid that further disclosure on our part favors purposes that are not consonant with our intentions exclusively social and cultural. Help us remember umbertidestoria@gmail.com

In questa sezione, con le sue sottosezioni, viene presentata la storia documentale ed archivistica, che tende soprattutto a descrivere gli accadimenti istituzionali e politici.  History In this section, with its subsections, documentary and archival history is presented, which tends above all to describe institutional and political events. For the moment we will focus on the main town, Fratta and then Umbertide, and on the hilly and flat rural territory. The main settlements present in the municipal territory are still not investigated, some such as Preggio with an established settlement history even older than the current Umbertide; we will try in the continuation of this adventure to heal these shortcomings. The history of the populations who inhabited our territory, the productive use they made of it, the settlements built, centralized and isolated, touch a horizon of aspects so broad that they all deserve to be addressed. Our intent, in fact, is to present all the different "perspectives" with which the "history" of our country can be reconstructed. The "short time" in fact, the guideline of the research reported in the subsections described above, gives us a story focused on the birth and history of the main agglomeration of Fratta / Umbertide, but allows us to see only the institutional-political events, as far as they can add up in a millennial diachronic sequence. While the development and consequences of economic structures require an investigation that you seek with a "long time" to be recognized, they are detailed in the " Thematic history " page . At the moment for the subsections " From Antiquity to '700 " and for " Nineteenth century and Risorgimento " we present a historical reconstruction based on paper archives starting from the XII century, while we will subsequently analyze more adequately the history of our most fragmented territory, that is to say that up to the origins. " The Fratta of the sixteenth century" and " The War of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany " retrace the events and social life of the sixteenth century. Together with them, for the same historical period, we have created the subsection on the Statutes of the Fratta of 1521, which allows you to read and download the Statutes in a complete transcription in the vernacular with an interactive internal search mode. And many more The contemporaneity will be investigated above all in the section " From the twentieth century to today ", benefiting from a greater series of historical sources and news. The reference sources of the first two subsections are those of the SIUSA (Unified Information System for Archival Superintendencies) which in 2010-11 with Sargentini Cristiana and Santolamazza Rossella drafted and corrected the relative entry on "Fratta / Umbertide". As regards the history in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, also for our country it was necessary to resort to the statutory sources of Perugia, which constitute the reference regulatory framework for the communities scattered in the countryside; in particular the Perugian reform of 1396, with which the roles of castellan and podestà of Sigillo, Montone and Fratta, up to then carried out by two distinct officials, were unified forming "unum officium et unum corpus castellanantia cum potestaria". With this resolution, a "vir bonus et fidelis" was designated to administer each of those communities. The territory of the castle of Fratta from that moment had different "institutional profiles": from sec. XIV - sec. XVIII was a " Community" of the "State of the Church", a denomination which, due to the loss of archival material, with certainty will return only in the period 1815 - 1870, after the short period in which Fratta was part, from 1798-1814, of the Communities of Lazio in the French period; in the 1859 it was established as a "Municipality" and then equipped with a " Civil State Office" in Umbria, 1860 - 1865. In this period, in 1862, it passed from the name of Fratta to that of "Umbertide". A bibliography " Texts and links to consult" with the studies published on Umbertide and his history and society and a sitography to deepen on the web, they will allow us to continue in the knowledge of our Umbertide. The page on the " Degree Thesis " will host the parts or complete theses of young and old who have wanted to study our territory in some aspect and wish to make it a common cultural heritage. Photo: Umbertide da Montacuto: the growth of the city to the south of the original nucleus of Fratta. Help us remember umbertidestoria@gmail.com Winston Churchill "The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see." "The more you can look back, the more you will be able to see forward."

Memory In this section you will find the stories of the collective and family memories of those who want to remember, thanks to the subsections that report the stories of the memoirs and contributions sent. We are convinced that the memories of those who lived in a specific era, with all the consequences of being born and raised in a given time, also have a "historical" value and are useful in clarifying the inevitable distortions or superficial beliefs about the past. Because through the lives of those who have lived, we can learn more about the consequences experienced by people in different historical moments, political choices, agricultural and technological innovations. From here, moreover, it is also possible to understand what kind of moral, religious, political and economic structuring of a given moment was for different social classes and how this could have profound repercussions in the way of behaving of those who lived in these areas in a certain moment. In the subsections the individual stories, which are never like this because they involve grandparents and ancestors but also their children and grandchildren, or, as in the case of the Second World War, a broad and persistent drama which, as Mario Tosti wrote, is it was "our ordeal" in Umbria. Learn more our memory for what concerns the first part of the twentieth century with the news from Umberto I on the terrible pandemic of the twentieth century, the " S pagnola " . For the period of the following we present " Aristide and the twenty years ", " Lamberto and the Resistance ", " The voices of memory" and the bombing of April 25, 1944. Among the unjustifiable actions of the period of the Second World War we report a long extract from the book "Tre Nuts" by Paola Avorio, on the massacre of Penetola and always on this tragic event we report the book of collection of testimonies made years ago by Giovanni Bottaccioli: " Penetola. Not all the dead die " , a book that can also be downloaded in .pdf by simply clicking here . The contextualization of the tragic events of the period of the Second World War is currently delegated to the " Atlas of Memory " which gives access to the interactive map of Alvaro Tacchini and to the " Paths of Memory " edited by Fabio Mariotti which report the events of 1944. We conclude with the figure of General Alberto Briganti, who crossed the past century, and through his life the history of Italian aviation from before the Second World War to the reconstitution of the Italian Republic's Air Force can also be traced. La Spagnola ad Umbertid e v to the page Aristide and the twenties or v to the page Lamberto and the Resistenz a v to the page Voices of the mind a v to the page Not all the dead die v to the page Penetol a v to the page THE Routes of Memory v to the page The atlas of the Memory v to the page Not all the dead die v to the page Penetol a v to the page THE Routes of Memory v to the page The atlas of the Memory v to the page The general Alberto Briganti v to the page Help us remember umbertidestoria@gmail.com Paul Ginsborg " History tells events, it does not present facts as the simple outcome of causal connections, but as the fruit of choices, ideas and human values ... "

Domenica ed il voto del 2 giugno1946 (a cura di Sergio Magrini Alunno) Domenica Floridi, nata a Umbertide il 7 gennaio 1923, ha vissuto a Faldo nel comune di Montone e dal 1973 a Umbertide, si è sposata con Pietro Anniboletti il 17 agosto 1942; è morta il 6 marzo 2022 a 99 anni. Il giorno del 70° anno del voto alle donne, riportato nel video qua sotto, aveva 93 anni compiuti. Video: Grazie al Coordinamento per la Pace Umbertide- Montone – Lisciano Niccone in collaborazione con il Comune di Umbertide, il 2 giugno 2016 Domenica potè raccontare le sue emozioni durante gli eventi collegati alla terza edizione della Marcia “La memoria cammina con noi". La sera nella Chiesa di Santa Croce, oggi musealizzata, vennero, infatti, raccontate alcune impressioni di donne che votarono al Referendum del 2 giugno del 1946. In contemporanea fu possibile visitare la mostra che ripercorreva gli 85 anni che, dal 1861 fino al 1946, condussero l’Italia al diritto di voto alle donne e alla nascita della Repubblica. In quegli anni ha scritto da sola, di suo pugno, un breve diario (riportiamo qua una prima parte del diario, come fonte diretta senza correzioni di nessun tipo) dove racconta: "Sono nata in una famiglia composta da due nuclei famigliari, da una parte degli zii erano sette persone a da parte mia eravamo in cinque. Eravamo una normale famiglia di contadini di quel periodo. Cera poco da sprecare tanto per il mangiare che per il vestire. Sono andata a scuola a Santa Maria da sette, ho fatto la quarta elementare che le altre scuole non cerano e non cerano altri divertimenti che andare a lavorare nei campi. Mi sono fidanzata con Pietro che avevo 14 anni e dopo sei mesi che eravamo fidanzati lui è partito per il servizio militare ed è stato via per 18 mesi da permanente ed è stato a Torino. Dopo un anno che era tornato a casa è scoppiata la guerra, E’ stato richiamato in ottobre del 1939 e allora ha cambiato parecchie località dalla Francia alla Sicilia. Dopo parecchio tempo che era via non trovando mai il sistema per poter prendere una licenza per tornare a casa ha deciso di sposarsi per poter prendere un mese di licenza e così abbiamo deciso. Ma i giorni sono passati veloci perchè non era un mese che abbiamo passato insieme, ma soltanto 23 giorni. E dopo siamo stati 13 mesi senza rivederci. E poi è successo di tutto, siamo stati mesi interi senza avere sue notizie. Poi dopo l’otto settembre del 1943 con lo sbandamento dell’esercito, pur che in quel momento si trovava in Sicilia il comandante della compagnia di notte tempo gli ha fatto attraversare con il traghetto lo stretto di Messina e poi il 23 settembre del 1943 è tornato a casa. Magari in condizioni pietose, vestiti da soldati non potevano viaggiare, e da borghesi andava bene tutto quello che gli hanno dato, che aveva un paio di scarpe legate e aggiustate con fili di ferro, un paio di pantaloni corti e rotti e una camicia che ci entrava due volte. In compenso di salute stava bene. Per tre o quattro mesi è stato tutto tranquillo. Il fronte stava avanzando ma nei primi mesi del 1944 che i tedeschi si sentivano traditi dagli italiani anno cominciato a fare dei rastrellamenti per portare in Germania i giovani che si trovavano a casa, questi poveri ragazzi dovettero stare nascosti tanto dai tedeschi che da occhi indiscreti ossia dai fascisti. Il mese di giugno poi nel avvicinarsi del fronte i Tedeschi erano molto cattivi e pericolosi entravano nelle case e portavano via ciò che trovavano. In quel periodo ero in stato interessante e perciò anche molto stressata. I lavori in casa erano tantissimi, perché erano venuti a vivere con noi anche mio cognato con tutta la sua famiglia e due zie con un figlio ciascuno. I lavori di casa toccavano tutti a me e all’altra cognata che le altre avevano paura e si andavano a nascondere. Così il 24 giugno mentre facevano delle perquisizioni in casa a me un tedesco mi a rinchiuso in una camera e dopo tanto spavento mi è riuscito di infilare la porta e scappare via senza aver subito violenza. Questi giorni neri si sono susseguiti per parecchi giorni. Poi l’ultima settimana del passaggio del fronte eravamo sfollati alla Valcinella per una settimana. E anche lì siamo stati molto male si dormiva per terra in un camerone eravamo una ventina di persone. E di giorno passavano in continuazione le truppe alleate, i tedeschi erano feroci arrivavano cannonate in continuazione non molto lontano da noi. Anche al ritorno abbiamo avuto problemi scendendo giù da Migianella cerano tante postazioni di soldati neri, Pietro era avanti con il carro i buoi e la cavalla e io avevo un vitellino al guinzaglio che non voleva camminare e questi soldati neri mi guardavano con occhi sbarrati. Dopo tornate a casa noi donne più giovani si doveva stare nascoste perché i neri volevano approfittare di noi. Per difenderci ci armavamo di falci e forconi che di quelli avevano paura. Dopo la metà di luglio che le cose hanno cominciato a cambiare in meglio io ero già a metà tempo di gravidanza, ancora non si vedeva dov era la pancia da quanto ero magra. E poi ero molto preoccupata che con tante paure che avevo avuto pensavo che il bambino non nascesse normale. Per fortuna che il Buon Dio ci ha aiutato che è andato tutto bene. Dopo la nascita del bambino ho avuto la vita più tranquilla che Pietro era a casa il bambino cresceva bene, avevo il latte abbastanza ." Fonti: - Archivio personale fam. Anniboletti - https://atvreport.it/attualita/umbertide-celebra-2-giugno-la-consegna-della-medaglia-alla-liberazione-allex-combattente-domenico-bruschi-la-terza-edizione-della-marcia-la-memoria-cammina/ Video: Sergio Magrini Alunno Foto: Fabio Mariotti

Arboreal archeology: the "married vine" Le viti maritate di Sagraia (video) La "vite maritata" nella storia La persistenza nel tempo Il perché della durata La "vite maritata" ad Umbertide La "vite maritata" negli archivi Approfondimento viticultura da Ottavi Ottavio - 1885 Aggiornamento presenza vite maritata nel 1920 Le viti maritate di Sagraia (video) La "vite maritata" nella storia La persistenza nel tempo Il perché della durata La "vite maritata" ad Umbertide La "vite maritata" negli archivi Approfondimento viticultura da Ottavi Ottavio - 1885 (edited by Francesco Deplanu) In the hilly area where the Etruscan tomb of Sagraia is located, between Preggio and Umbertide, there are still some examples of " Married vine" . Cultivation that for a very long time characterized the method of cultivation of the vine and determined the appearance of the landscape of our areas. Video : last married vines in Contini, San Bartolomeo dei Fossi (Umbertide). The married vine has a history of about 3000 years; the use of the vine with the field maple as a living tutor was functional to a subsistence economy, the only one possible in the pre-Roman world, but which in our areas continued to substantially dominate and merged, starting from the sixteenth century, with the system from indirect management of the land, later structured in sharecropping. The maple with the vine "married" to it was often arranged in series within the cultivated fields to constitute the "tree-lined", characterizing our rural world until after the Second World War. Agricultural system functional to an agriculture that was aimed more at self-consumption than at the market, for this reason the mixed use of fields, vines and arable land, and polyculture. Since the post-war period, the use of the hubby vine has disappeared and with it that characteristic ordered landscape of our rural landscape has vanished. The vine ( Vitis Vinifera L. ) Is a liana shrub which, to better cultivate it, was grown on a live support, has a very long history of use, therefore, which was interrupted only in the century. XX, in the face of a more profitable vision of economic exploitation of the land. In fact in Umbertide and in northern Umbria there were not even the arrival of the specific diseases of the vineyards of the '900, such as "phylloxera", or those of their supports, as for the elms of northern Italy, which managed to "eradicate" this type of cultivation. Most likely, in fact, the distance between the plants in the typical promiscuous culture also favored their protection from diseases or pests. Fig. 1: first married life identified in Contini locality, San Bartolomeo dei Fossi (Umbertide). Photo by Francesco Deplanu To lead to their removal or replacement with vineyards, or systems of other structures, were the needs, already visible at the beginning of the 1900s, for an improvement in production and use of agricultural land increasingly aimed at the market. The end of sharecropping, then, led to the definitive loss of this type of cultivation and almost of the very memory of the very long presence of the "married vine". Fig. 2: second located married life in Contini locality, San Bartolomeo dei Fossi (Umbertide). Photo by Francesco Deplanu There "married life" in history This type of cultivation concerned the territories formerly inhabited by the Etruscans or, further north, by the Celts. For this reason this method of cultivation, and culture, is also called "Etruscan vine" or "Etruscan-Celtic vine". It was found mainly in Liguria (where it seems to have started), Tuscany, Umbria, part of Campania, Emilia, Veneto; examples of similar cultivation, moreover, due to trying to give a solution to the same problem of grape ripeness and to the better resistance of the vine, are found in some parts of Europe. Over time, the association of the vine with a tree-lined support was named differently. In the Etruscan language it was called "àitason", "arbustum" in Latin, which was then distinguished in "arbustum gallicum" term to designate a connected series of married plants, later defined as "planted", and “Arbustum italicum” to indicate the isolated plant with the vine, an agricultural use subsequently defined by us as “tree-lined”. The terms "alberata" and "Piantata" came into vogue, however, in the mid-seventeenth century. with Vincenzo Tanara in the work " Economy of the citizen in the villa " of 1644. Fig. 3: third located married life in Contini locality, San Bartolomeo dei Fossi (Umbertide). Photo by Francesco Deplanu Starting from the 1st cent. Finally, also thanks to the poets Catullus and Ovid, the metaphor of love began using the image of the vine and its support, which led to the current definition of "married vine". Persistence over time Certainly in the Etruscan era the possibilities of agricultural techniques did not recommend a different method of cultivation in colder and humid climates compared to those further south, areas where the Greeks, on the other hand, had brought the method of cultivation of the vine to the ground. Emilio Sereni, in "History of the Italian agricultural landscape" (1961), was the first to explain, thanks also to the etymology, how it was the Etruscans who introduced the married vine into the Po valley and how the "roosters" learned its cultivation. Consistently with his hypothesis, the persistence of lives married to tall trees up to the Etruscan domination, that is to say in Campania, is also explained. The persistence of cultivation, however, continued for a long time over the centuries in many areas. In fact, this type of production continued both in the Roman period, although other techniques for viticulture reached a considerable evolution, and in the long medieval period, as well as in the period of sharecropping production. Marrying the vine to a living support, however, at a certain point, after tens of centuries, became not convenient. With a management of agriculture that was abandoning the sharecropping system, economically subsistence, to move to a market one, there was also the transition to methods of cultivation with fixed (or "dead") support, or to specialized crops, such as the vineyard, and no longer promiscuous. In addition to the production reason linked to the economic element, which led to the exit from subsistence agriculture, it should be pointed out that the married vine in modern times certainly had some disadvantages: you had to work much more for pruning than what could be done on the row system; the foliage of the brace made the grapes ripen later; finally, the inconvenience during harvesting was certainly greater, considering the height of the live brace. Fig. 4: fourth located married life in Contini locality, San Bartolomeo dei Fossi (Umbertide). Photo by Francesco Deplanu But why did this type of cultivation last so long? It should be remembered that although the crown of the stanchion tree slowed down ripening, at the same time it protected the fruits of the vine from bad weather. Its leaves served as fodder. On the branches of the maple, often pruned to "candlestick", to facilitate the subsequent harvest, it was also possible to preserve the material cut during pruning (see in this regard the photos of the "Museum of Wine" of the Lungarotti Foundation, cited in the sources ). In short, it was an example of a productive association. In addition to producing grapes, leaves were obtained to be used as fodder, firewood, material for tying vines and also for weaving baskets and then… bottles and demijohns. In fact, a survival crop, which characterized our areas for a very long time, preferred a mixed use of the land. Furthermore, it should be considered that once the “marriage” was built, for decades the aspect of caring for the vine and the guardian could be left in second order; this was precisely a characteristic favorable to the management of works in polyculture linked to sharecropping. With a suitable stake, such as our "field maple", this cultivation seemed the best, especially for hilly and low soil. The maple has a slow growth, and also has shallow roots and thus did not enter into competition with those of the vine. These elements allowed the success of this cultivation system. Fig. 5: Maples in Contini locality, San Bartolomeo dei Fossi (Umbertide). Photo by Francesco Deplanu In 1885 in a text on "viticulture" Ottavi Ottavi, professor of agricultural sciences, analyzed from a technical point of view how the "married vine" was still cultivated, indicating, however, at the same time the reason for its future disappearance. Ottavi was careful to specify how he, compared to the agronomists of his time who pushed for an exclusively specialized production of the vine, had "granted" a space in his "technical-practical" manual to this type of cultivation. This is because he recognized the numerous advantages of this method for certain types of areas: “ unlike other authors of viticulture, we dedicate a chapter to the cultivation of vines married to trees. We condemn the principle as they do; we admit, however, that in certain plains it can be tolerated, that in some cases the vines cannot be protected differently from freezing temperatures, and that there are some vines that do not tolerate the pruning of low-vine systems, [...] we finally admit that many for now they cannot or do not want to transform. Here are sufficient reasons why we have to deal with this theme, and to study ways of making the product of vines married to trees less intermittent, more abundant and more chosen. " Thus we learn, among the various live supports used, of the advantages of our “field maple”: “ We therefore think that those trees whose root system is very little extended and which can hardly exploit the soil seem rather advisable. In this condition we find the wild cherry and the maple which Gasparin called a living stake. The field maple (acer campestre) is much less developed in height than the others (acer pseudoplatanus and acer platanoides), has slow growth, is satisfied with arid soils and also comes up from the seed. With the exception of tuffaceous soils it thrives everywhere. The seedlings they are suitable to be planted after 4 or 5 years. The maple has short and shallow roots and easily lends itself to being pruned into different shapes. ". For those who are interested, we report an appendix at the bottom of the text which is more extensive than Ottavi's reflections and explanations relating to his chapter XXIV: “ The married lives and the pergolas ”. The " married vine " in Umbertide before his disappearance As mentioned, the last great examples of "Etruscan vine", or "married" remain visible in the hill above the tomb of Sagraia, but if you look carefully at the images that have come down to us from the 1900s of our city, you can see the Umbertide countryside with the dominant "tree-lined" structure right up to the houses. Image 4: Detail of an image from the Municipal Archive of Umbertide. Panorama of Umbertide in the 1930s from the former Convent. In the foreground there are plants arranged in an "alberata" manner, most likely field maples alternating with arable land. This cultivation is also visible in the images of the darkest period of our history, the bombing of 1944, where in the photos, which show the cloud of explosions in the center of the city, you can see both the trees and some festoons of connections between guardian trees as happened in the more structured "plantation", often present with trees but along the edges of the road so as not to hinder agricultural work in the fields. Image 5: Detail of an image taken immediately after the bombing of 25 April 1944, from “Mario Tosti:“ Our ordeal ”- Ed. Petruzzi - Città di Castello, 2005, p. 213. As you can see in the following shot, while the cloud moves carried by the wind, the dominant type of cultivation was still the vine married to the maple, but times had already changed and you can also see the coexistence of vines in linked rows to fixed and non-live supports. Image 6: Detail of an image taken immediately after the bombing of 25 April 1944, from “Mario Tosti:“ Our ordeal ”- Ed. Petruzzi - Città di Castello, 2005, p. 213. The photo was taken in the area of the current via Fratta at the intersection with via Martiri dei Lager. In the map of the Military Geographical Institute (IGM), made on the 1941 relief, Tablet of "Umbertide" (here linked to that of "Niccone", because the city was divided into two different "tablets", scale 1: 25,000) we have marked with an "X" the probable place of the shots, with the red arrow we have indicated the area of the San Giovanni district, which can still be seen in its entirety before the destruction due to the bombing; with the red circle, finally, we have highlighted the symbol of the cultivation of the vine, which when presented alternating with the symbol of the "circles" indicates the "promiscuous culture of the vine". Image 7: Extract of "Tablets" 1: 25.000 joined to present the city that was "cut" in two. 1) "Niccone", Sheet 122 I, NE 2) "Umbertide": Sheet 122 I, NE of the Italian Map (relief of 1941). The overlap was discarded, preferring to leave both representations in the margin area of the two "tablets". Also from the book by Mario Tosti, "Our ordeal" p. 260, you can see some details by enlarging the photos like this one in Coldipozzo where you can see the maple and the tied vine before the apparatus of the branches made to grow with the "candlestick" pruning. In the following photo shown in the book you can see the landscape of the trees in the background of a souvenir photo. In the same period of the photograph the promiscuous culture of the vine alternating with fields cultivated, is clearly visible in the locality of "Col di Pozzo": it is in fact reported in Tablet 1: 25.000 Sheet 122 I, NE of the Map of Italy, and is visible in the excerpt shown below (see image n. 10) in the upper right corner, even if in the excerpt shown the toponym “col di Poz…” is partially cut. Image 8: Detail in the background of a photo taken in Coldipozzo in 1944, from “Mario Tosti:“ Our ordeal ”- Ed. Petruzzi - Città di Castello, 2005, p. 260. The symbols of the mixed cultivation of the vine completely “embraced” the city, like all the plains of Umbria. Still in the 60s in the area north of Umbertide, under the current cemetery of the city, one could very well see an expanse of field maples, arranged in an "tree-lined" manner, characterizing the landscape. Image 9: Photo from the Guardabassi archive. March 1960. Even if it is not possible to see, due to the quality of the photo, the presence of the vine connected to the field maples, this can always be seen from the "tablets" of the IGM shown below, again relief 1941, which indicate the entire area below the cemetery ("Petrella above", "Petrella below", "Lame", "Fornace", "Molinello" and "CS Croce") cultivated with "mixed cultivation" of the vine. Finally, even admitting the possibility that at that moment, 20 years after the IGM survey, the cultivation of vines was no longer carried out, the field maples, arranged in a row, continued to completely characterize the agricultural landscape. In 1964 the “economic” end of sharecropping was sanctioned (here we can learn more) , the trees quickly disappeared even in the Umbertidese area, increasingly relegated to marginal, hilly and sloping areas. Image 10: Extract of "Tablets" 1: 25.000 joined to present the city that was "cut" in two. 1) "Niccone", Sheet 122 I, NE 2) "Umbertide": Sheet 122 I, NE of the Italian Map (relief of 1941). The overlap was discarded, preferring to leave both representations in the margin area of the two "tablets". Searching for news on the "married life" in the modern and contemporary age. Following the spread of the cultivation of the vine married to live supports in pre-Roman cultures, during the Roman period a specialization of the cultivation of the greater vine was added, in accordance with the mass use of the use of the drink. In the period following the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, the cultivation of the vine certainly retreated in quantity of cultivated land but remained very present, because it was the cornerstone of the Christian religious ritual. In the centuries following the fourteenth-century plague, with the increase of the population and the resumption of trade, a slow recovery of the production of the vine began which, above all for the mixed cultivation, "married" with the indirect management of the land, what became our "sharecropping". We know for the long period up to the modern age of its existence from archaeological remains of the arboreal type (seeds etc….) And above all from the literary and iconographic sources of Italian art that the “married vine” cultivation was recurrent in our peninsula. For example, already in the modern age, the vine is clearly visible in Jacopo Clementi's "Drunk Moses" made in the early 1600s. Here we can see the presence of the vine "clinging" to the living tutor in the background of the central theme. iconographic representations that can serve as historical sources, but if the information is sought more accurately, both for the quantity and for the place of use of this type of cultivation, various problems arise. Image 11: “Drunk Moses" by Jacopo Clementi. Image from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Drunkness_of_Noah_by_Jacopo_Chimenti.jpg In fact, how extensive was the cultivation of vines in promiscuous form in our areas? As for the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the written, archival sources known for our territory seem truly non-existent. Perhaps the problem, however, is only to return to the archives in search of specific indications, or to re-read the sources available for the Umbertide area in search of terms relating to the cultivation of the vine, paying attention to the 16th and 17th centuries, for example, rather than looking for the term "vinea", which indicates a vineyard, to those of "pergulae" or "pergola". These last terms certainly indicate the arable alternating with the cultivation of the vine. In fact, reading Anna Boldrini's thesis " Rural architecture in the Upper Tiber Valley: Umbertide XVI century " of 1991, it is found in an inventory of 1572 of the "Book where all the stable assets of the Abbey of San Salvatore are described and of the churches close to them "(note. 13, page 51) the reference to the mixed cultivation (" pergola ") of the vine appears in reference to two dovecote towers of particular shape, round, one of which in the locality of Colle San Savino, characterized as “a piece of land… working pergola with fruit trees serque and elms with a round diver… voc. the diving camp ". We also underline that the "vulgata" on the typology of dovecote towers in Umbria, relegated only the round-shaped dovecote towers to the Spoleto area. This reinforces our belief that studies on our territory in this vast area of the rural world are insufficient. At the end of the eighteenth century the terms to search for in search of the "married vine" are different. They can be found in what are the documents of the agricultural "companies" of the time, often of noble possessions, such as the "country brogliacci". Here it is " arativo pergola ", for example, which indicates a land with mixed cultivation of the vine alternating with arable land, which must be sought. Examples of how it is possible to find similar information on the culture of the vine can be found "looking" along the territory of one of the tributaries of the Tiber, on the left this time, just above Umbertide, or in the narrow valleys of the Carpina catchment area (Carpina and Carpinella). Precisely in the documents of the County of the Della Porta, a County that extended from the foot of Montone to Pietralunga. Here in the " Brogliardo di Campagna della Contea delle Carpine ", of 1782, it is often found, despite the increasing average altitude and the " gengato " soil ("genga" kept washed away from the ground where the underlying "marl and sandstone" emerge) the wording of the “ arativo pergola ” is not favorable to agriculture. Term that we can identify with the presence of married vine with live support. Note in the image the land (n.14 and following) near the famous "Tre ponti", under Montone, precisely in the Molinaccio area and nearby owned by Mr. Natal Migliorati: " arativo pergola " ... "a rative with pergolas "," Plowed part pergola ". Image 13: Details from “.SG, Fondo Della Porta, Title II, G 27/15. "Il Brogliardo di Campagna della Contea delle Carpine", 1782, in an unpublished degree thesis by F. Deplanu, "Evolution of a high hilly landscape of northern Umbria: the importance of the Della Porta company in the territory of the Carpini County since '700 to date ”, ay 2002/2003. At the beginning of the nineteenth century the sources began to become more structured and fortunately for us, too, more usable. In the Gregorian Cadastre of Fratta, present online, this time you can search for the term " arable land ", which differs from " arable land ", but also from the real vineyard which, most likely, is indicated with " vineyard " or " bushy vineyard "... with the addition of a characteristic of the cultivated variety:" sweet ". The Land Registry, built between 1815 and 1835, was equipped with a " Brogliardo " with indications of the owner, the place, the main characteristic and the extent and value of the land or property. Image 14: “Brogliardo di Fratta” of the “Gregorian Cadastre”: Fratta, 1915-35. Imago project: http://www.cflr.beniculturali.it/Gregoriano/mappe.php?fbclid=IwAR3SPsbhE0yDSOzPk5MrT3LVf77oKvYwwqFhUhZzDbdA4DHi4DWrz-9JHdA Here, for example, in parcels no. 700 and 701, 704, 705, 706, 708, 709, almost all owned by Domenico Bruni in “Pian di Bottine”, we have the news and, thanks to the Cadastre map, the "geometric-particle" representation of the real crops. The largest parcels were cultivated with "mixed cultivation", that is, with " arable land " and those closest to the banks of the Tiber, more productive but small and narrow, cultivated in a more specialized way with " sweet bushy vineyard ". Image 15: excerpt from the “Gregorian Cadastre”: Fratta, 1915-35. Imago project: http://www.cflr.beniculturali.it/Gregoriano/mappe.php?fbclid=IwAR3SPsbhE0yDSOzPk5MrT3LVf77oKvYwwqFhUhZzDbdA4DHi4DWrz-9JHdA Certainly the cultivation of "married vine" in the rest of our Umbria was already considerable. In various and precise studies of the agricultural world in the nearby Marche, a term often recurs to indicate a '"alberata" with the trees arranged in a checkerboard pattern in the field between the arable areas, or " alberata Folignata " to attest to the typical existence of this type of use of agricultural land in southern Umbria. We hope that this initial attempt at reconstruction that we have presented, may be useful to focus attention on the need for more in-depth research for all aspects of arboreal archeology or history of the productive structures of our territory. Aspects that have profoundly characterized ways of life and still the landscape that surrounds us. For this reason we add below, after the "Sources", a "chosen study" from the text by Ottavi Ottavio, "THEORETICAL-PRACTICAL VITICULTURE", CASALE, TIPOGRAFIA DI CARLO CASSONE, 1885 (pp. 750-760) on the specific mixed cultivation of the vine with that “living pole” which was the field maple, also typical of the Umbertidese area. Sources: Texts: - Carlo Vernelli, " The cultivation of vines in a sharecropping area" , in the magazine “Proposte e Ricerche”, nr. 60, 2008, pp. 153-174. - Unpublished degree thesis " Evolution of a high hilly landscape of northern Umbria: the importance of the Della Porta company in the territory of the Carpini County from the 1700s to today ", by Francesco Deplanu, Academic Year 2002/2003, University of Perugia. - Unpublished degree thesis " Rural architecture in the upper Tiber Valley: Umbertide in the XVI century " by Anna Maria Boldrini, Academic year 1990-91, University of Perugia. - Ottavi Ottavio, " THEORETICAL-PRACTICAL VITICULTURE ", CASALE, TYPOGRAPHY BY CARLO CASSONE, 1885. Cadastre and Brogliardi: - Gregorian Cadastre: "Fratta", in "Perugia" visible online: http://www.cflr.beniculturali.it/Gregoriano/mappe.php?fbclid=IwAR3SPsbhE0yDSOzPk5MrT3LVf77oKvYwwqFhUhZzDbdA4DHi4DWrz-9 - "Fratta", in "Perugia" visible online: http://www.cflr.beniculturali.it/Gregoriano/mappe.php?fbclid=IwAR3SPsbhE0yDSOzPk5MrT3LVf77oKvYwwqFhUhZzDbdA4DHi4DWrz-9JHdA - “ The Country Brogliardo of the County of the Carpine ”, 1782, ASG, Fondo Della Porta, Title II, G 27/15. Web Resources: - Maria Antonietta Aceto, “The representation of the married vine. Some recent identification ", in" Terra di Lavoro magazine ", year XI, n ° 1, April 2016 (also visible in: https://www.ascaserta.beniculturali.it/rivista-di-terra-di-lavoro/numeri -published / year-xi / year-xi-n1-April-2016 ) - https://www.beni-culturali.eu/opere_d_arte/scheda/-ebbrezza-di-noe-chimenti-jacopo-detto-empoli-1551-1640-09-00021770/400252 - http://www.biologiavegetale.unina.it/delpinoa_files/48_71-92.pdf - http://www.biologiavegetale.unina.it/delpinoa_files/44_53-63.pdf - https://www.guadoalmelo.it/il-vino-e-gli-etruschi-ii-la-vite-marita-tremila-e-piu-anni-di-viticoltura-ed-arte/ - http://www.rmoa.unina.it/2697/1/Gambari.pdf - https://ilvinoracconta.net/2017/01/08/la-vitivinicoltura-umbra-una-storia-appena-iniziata/ Images : - Details of images taken by Mario Tosti: “ Our ordeal ” - Ed. Petruzzi - Città di Castello, 2005 (pp. 213 and 260). - "Tablet" 1: 25.000 IGM, relief 1941, "Niccone", Sheet 122 I, NE of the Italian Charter - "Tavoletta" 1: 25.000, IGM, relief 1941, "Umbertide": Sheet 122 I, NE of the Charter of Italy - Historical photo images of Umbertide from a former convent: Historical Photographic Archive of the Municipality of Umbertide - Image "Drunk Moses": https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Drunkness_of_Noah_by_Jacopo_Chimenti.jpg - Video, photos not indicated otherwise and editing : Francesco Deplanu. Recommended insights of museum pages of the "rural" world in Umbria : - https://archeologiaarborea.com/ - https://www.muvit.it/viticoltura/ DEEPENING In-depth study taken from Ottavi Ottavio, " THEORETICAL-PRACTICAL VITICULTURE ", CASALE, TYPOGRAPHY BY CARLO CASSONE, 1885 (pp. 750-760). […] “ VINES MARITED TO TREES AND PERGOLATES There are therefore many inflexible supporters of specialization, who at any cost would like to separate the vine from every crop: on the contrary, there are others, which Marconi (2) calls opportunists, who they fight to the bitter end so that the union or consociation is maintained and extended. Among these we, although we feel that our sympathies are for specialists, we want to be conciliatory. For this purpose, unlike other authors of viticulture, we dedicate a chapter to the cultivation of the vine married to trees. We condemn the principle as they do; we admit, however, that in certain plains it can be tolerated, that in some cases the vines cannot be protected differently from freezing temperatures, and that there are some vines that do not tolerate the pruning of low-vine systems, as we have already warned on page. 616; finally, we admit that for now many cannot or do not want to transform. Here are sufficient reasons why we have to deal with this theme, and to study ways of making the product of vines married to trees less intermittent, more abundant and more chosen. CHAPTER XXIV The vines married to trees and pergolas, § 1. Choice of tree. - The trees that are used as living support for the vines are maple, walnut, cherry, ash, mulberry, poplar, olive and many others, fruit-bearing or not. Among these the least convenient are: walnut, because it casts too much shade, and in fact in the Veneto it is gradually being abandoned, whereas before it was very common; the elm which in compact, clayey lands replaces the poplar: but it has a root system that is too developed; ash and oak for the same reason. The olive tree has a wide branching, numerous and persistent leaves, and then requires care and nourishment, so while it would damage the vine it would suffer a lot on its part. In marshy soils some marry the vine to the poplar, the willow, the which plants can withstand moist soil; however, the vine cannot do this, and it soon saddens you. Fruit trees do not seem convenient to us, although recommended by the great Ridolfi in his Oral Lectures, because "they will produce little, he said, but it will be something, while the infertile supports do nothing but exhaust the earth uselessly. »Except that, with the exception of respect for the great master, we observe that our common fruit trees, pear, apple, plum and almond trees exhaust the soil too much, and being too leafy they would need strong and dangerous pruning. pp. 750-752 [...] Therefore, those trees whose root system is very little extended and which can hardly exploit the soil seem to us to be quite advisable. In this condition we find the wild cherry and the maple that was called by Gasparin a living stake. The field maple (acer campestre) is much less developed in height than the others (acer pseudoplatanus and acer platanoides), has slow growth, is satisfied with arid soils and also comes up from the seed. With the exception of tuffaceous soils it thrives everywhere. The seedlings are suitable to be planted after 4 or 5 years. The maple has short and shallow roots and easily lends itself to being pruned into different shapes. The field maple receives different names, according to the provinces in which it is grown as a live support for the vines: loppo, chioppo, fìstucchio, testucchio, stucchio and even poplar. The poplar of the Tuscan peasants is therefore not the common Populus, on the contrary it is known that in various parts of Tuscany the peasants usually give the name of poplar or chioppo to any living support of the vines. pp. 755 [...] § 4. Care in the early years. - We replace the trees and vines that the drought had already caused to succumb, we put some poles or branches around the vines themselves so that the new shoots can climb. If the planting was done with cuttings they, as soon as planted, are cut to 2 buds above the ground to have beautiful jets, and you must immediately begin to hoe the earth around them at least 2 times during the state. The trees are cleaned from the suckers that sprout on the trunk. This has been done since the 1st year. On the third the vines are pruned to two buds and the inter-row is spade and hoe, thus making the war against weeds. This inter-row, which in the Veneto region is called bina, wants to be absolutely clear so as not to bring a serious blow to the vitality of the vine from the early years. Leaving clear those two or three meters that form the inter-row you can have al fourth year the vines are already so robust that they can be propagated and pruned with a bud at least above ground, at a distance of half a meter from the tree. And so to the fifth one can come to possess branches of a decent length which are secured to the trunk of the tree (figure 280). In the meantime, the tree also needs care, as would be pruning, the peeling of the thin twigs, shortening even the gluttons, it is finally necessary to try to give all the branches the shape of a regular vase. The shape of a vase or glass, or basket as it is called in Tuscany, very open in the middle, is reached towards the sixth or seventh year. The trees must be cleaned annually from small useless jets, and since this rigorous cleaning causes the branches to acquire a lumpy shape, this is remedied "by leaving at the apex of each branch a couple of shoots, which attracting the activity of life towards them of the plant, in a certain way avoid the release of a greater number of buds on the branches, and maintain in milder proportions those lumpy forms on the branches themselves (1). " The vines are always pruned to two or three buds until they show that they have acquired a certain vigor, and give shoots at least one meter long. Don't be too quick to cut off all the side suckers that sprout on the vine over the course of the year. It is necessary that the juice of the vine does not go all to lengthen the shaft, but also reinforces it so that these suckers either respect each other or only sprout at four or five leaves. Once the vine has reached the height of the tree, it is arranged and arranged in the 1 'Emilia, 1' Umbria, the Terra di lavoro and the others that adopt this system of educating the vines. " Pp. 760 [...] § 7. Economy in the supports. - We must now mention to some economies that could be made in the various systems of educating the tall vine. It is well known that many also have willow, acacia and poplar poles as a subsidiary to living trees, to which the braids or garlands of the fruiting shoots are placed. In some systems (Mantovano, Bolognese) the rational distribution of these braids requires five, six often more than ten poles for each tree. Couldn't we now replace the very expensive poles with iron wire? Mr. YOU. freedmen in the Giornale d'Agricoltura, Industria e Commercio, declares from his own experience and following easy economic calculations that he is very much in favor of this modification. In addition to being cheaper, this gives rise to a perfect distribution of shoots, being able to tie along the wire all the isolated shoots and not wrapped in braids as is done in the case of the pole production. Finally, a more abundant vegetation would be obtained, because it is freer, more airy, more exposed to light and heat. Another modification is proposed by Prof. Viglietto, who hardly admits the vine married to trees and even in the conditions in which it is necessary to keep the vine very high he would like the number of living trees to be as small as possible. «A luxuriant fruit-bearing tree - he says - every 8 or 10 meters, and in between low-cost poles, linked by three or more iron wires longitudinally to the row, can generally replace the exorbitant number of living people with whom we afforest our vineyards. »And he concludes:« We therefore understand: exclusive vineyard and dry farming, or at least preponderance of this means of support. " Sources: Images from the original work (p. 755 and 757): https://archive.org/details/viticolturateori00unse/page/n3/mode/2up Full text, available online from the following address https://archive.org/stream/viticolturateori00unse/viticolturateori00unse_djvu.txt Aggiornamento agosto 2022 La vite maritata a Sagraia: nuove indicazioni di presenza nel tempo Come avviene nella ricerca storica, un approfondimento di diverso tipo può mettere in luce indicazioni per altri argomenti. E' il caso della presenza nel tempo della vite maritata a sostegno vivo nella zona della tomba di Sagraia. Sistemando il materiale edito per l'articolo "Amerigo Contini: l’aviazione nelle guerre mondiali e la scoperta della Tomba di Sagraia ", ci si è presentata una fonte iconografica significativa realizzata dallo stesso scopritore della tomba, un anno dopo, ovvero nel 1920, che ci indica la presenza della vite in loco (dove persiste tutt'ora anche se con esemplari abbandonati come si può vedere nel video iniziale): lo schizzo estratto da “Atti delle Reale Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei. Anno 1922, Serie V, Notizie degli scavi di antichità, Vol XIX, Roma, 1922. ". L'allora aviatore ed architetto (poi generale) Amerigo Contini disegna sopra la tomba una parte di terreno rappresentata con la coltura promiscua della vite, precisamente si vede bene l'inizio di quattro "filari" di vite maritata a supporto vivo. Immagine estratta da “Atti delle Reale Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei. Anno 1922, Serie V, Notizie degli scavi di antichità, Vol XIX, Roma, 1922. Pagina 110-116/532. La precisione e la cura di Amerigo Contini, proprietario dei terreni, mette in evidenza la presenza di questo tipo di coltivazione Fonti: “Atti delle Reale Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei. Anno 1922, Serie V, Notizie degli scavi di antichità, Vol XIX, Roma, 1922. Pagina 110-116/532 Aggiornamento presenza vite maritata nel 1920

Historical characters from the nineteenth century to antiquity In this subsection we propose the biographies of some characters who played a role in the history of the city in the period from the nineteenth century to antiquity. Pietro Burelli Domenico Bruni Zelmirina Agnolucci Filippo Alberti Ernesto Freguglia Giuseppe Savelli Antonio Guerrini Annibale Mariotti Pietro G. Petrogalli Francesco Mavarelli San Savino di Fratta Alessandro Magi Spinetti Giuliano Bovicelli Luigi Vibi I Cibo di Fratta Cesare Bartolelli - Cristoforo Petrogalli Giovanni Tommaso Pao(u)lucci Fabrizio Stella Giovan Battista Spoletini Orazio Mancini La famiglia Spunta di Fratta Filippo e Giovan Battista Fracassini Giovanni Mauri Bernardino Sermigni Giovanni Pachino - Cintio Paulucci Lavinio Magi - P. Paolo Cristiani Cherubino Martelli - Felice Remeri La famiglia Soli - Sante Pellicciari Costantino Magi - Angelo Martinelli - Francesco Spinetti Bernardino Magi - Muzio Flori Lodovico Flori Massimo Martinelli Leopoldo Grilli Pietro Burelli Pietro Burelli Military engineer in the service of the Serenissima curated by Fabio Mariotti Pietro Burelli, son of Tommaso "distinguished scholar", was born in Fratta in 1584. From a very young age he showed great talent and a marked aptitude for mathematical sciences. The historian Antonio Guerini, in his work " History of the land of Fratta, now Umbertide - 1883 " says that " civil and military architecture was preferably his main passion in order to open up a more splendid field on the streets of honor, he gave himself totally to a career in arms ". For this he went to Spain, then engaged in a bloody war with the Turks, where he reached the rank of captain. He became particularly adept at building countryside fortifications that resisted the assault of cavalry and infantry. For this reason, when he returned to Italy, he put himself at the service of the Most Serene Venetian Republic, recommended to Doge Niccolò Donatuti by the General Superintendent in Terra Ferma Benedetto Moro, with a very rich commission of 800 scudi a year. In this on activity in the Veneto region he undertook the restoration and restructuring of the bastions of Palmanova and the grandiose project of the fortress of Verona, a city in which, surprised by a serious illness, he died in 1642 at the age of 58. Article published in the December 2019 issue of " Local Information ". Il 18 dicembre 1960, 59 anni fa, l’amministrazione comunale intitolò una via a Pietro Burelli. Chi era questo personaggio ritenuto degno del titolo di una via e quanti umbertidesi oggi conoscono la sua storia? Per approfondire la storia di Pietro Burelli, di cui trattò nella sua opera il Guerini, è stata fondamentale la ricerca storica del Col. Pilota dott. Giuseppe Cozzari presso l’archivio storico della città di Venezia, con la preziosa collaborazione dello storico Renato Codovini per la trascizione dei testi. Oltre ad alcune lettere che testimoniano l’iter per l’assunzione del nostro antenato come ingegnere militare esperto in fortificazioni difensive, il Cozzari ha ritrovato anche un manoscritto originale che illustra in maniera dettagliata, anche con precise immagini, il funzionamento di una nuova arma da guerra, il “Trabucco”, ideata dal Burelli. Sources: Fabio Mariotti. The documentation was found in the historical archive of the Municipality of Venice by Dr. Giuseppe Cozzari and transcribed from the vernacular by the historian Renato Codovini. DOMENICO BRUNI Great opera singer curated by Fabio Mariotti Domenico Bruni He was born in Fratta on February 28, 1758, to Pietro, the master mason, and Francesca Brischi. Already at an early age he showed a good disposition to singing. Domenico's father belonged to the Compagnia della S. Croce. It is therefore probable that the young man learned the first rudiments of music in the school of the Company, starting from 1764. Bruni's debut at Fratta, with a soprano voice, is in 1772, at the age of 14. At the age of 15, according to a cruel custom of that time, often adopted by poor families who had children particularly gifted in singing, Domenico was emasculated. This made him one of the most important emasculated singers of the time. His first performance in a large theater, the Alibert in Rome, dates back to 1776. From 1780 to 1787 he sang in some of the most important Italian theaters and his fame began to cross national borders. In 1787 he was called to the court of Catherine II of Russia, where he arrived after a long and adventurous journey and where he remained until 1790. The most important years of his career go from 1791 to 1796. In this period he was also called to London where he performed in 1793. The debut as a professional singer in his city is dated 8 September 1795, during the Feast of the Madonna della Reggia, probably in the Collegiate Church. After his career, Bruni returned in 1797 to Fratta where, in consideration of the fame he had achieved and despite the opposition of the rich local notables who did not want to accept him among themselves, he was elected Prior of the Confraternity of San Bernardino. This important task was entrusted to him again from 1805 to 1807, while in 1804 and from 1816 to 1818 he was appointed Depositary (today we would say cashier) of the same Confraternity. Relations with the Compagnia della SS Concezione date back to 1795. In 1814 he was elected Prior, while in 1812 and from 1819 to 1821, the year of his death, he was appointed Depositary. Bruni's deep ties with the local Confraternities are also demonstrated by the will, where he asked for his body to be buried in the church of San Bernardino and left an annual legacy of 10 scudi to the Confraternity. Domenico Bruni's name is also inextricably linked to the Theater. On 4 August 1808, in fact, he was appointed president of the Accademia dei Riuniti. During that meeting the municipality was asked the possibility of using the entire building where the theater room was located in order to create a real theater, what is still called Teatro dei Riuniti, whose works were completed in 1814. . Sources: - Nicola Lucarelli: "Domenico Bruni (1758 - 1821) - Biography of an emasculated singer" - Ed. Municipality of Umbertide, 1992 - Text published in the "Calendar of Umbertide 1998" - Ed. Municipality of Umbertide, 1998 Zelmirina Agnolucci ZELMIRINA AGNOLUCCI Popular opera singer SINGING FOR THE Czar OF RUSSIA NICHOLAS II by Amedeo Massetti She bore the name of her grandmother, Zelmirina, her maternal grandmother Zelmira Savelli (1) , wife of Gabriele Santini, whose homonymous grandson would become internationally renowned conductor (2) . The mother, Maria Santini, fifth of the seven children of Gabriele and Zelmira, born in 1848 (3) , had married Francesco Agnolucci, 1851, great young violinist director, from 1871 to 1875, of the school municipal music of Umbertide, teacher of many children. He will also conduct, highly esteemed, many philharmonic and musical bands in various cities of Italy. Zelmirina was born in Umbertide in 1879. She had breathed the notes since she was a child listening to the sweet melodies played by her father in their large country house. She had studied singing, graduating as a soprano with Pietro Mascagni at the “G. Rossini ”in Pesaro (4) , where he went twice a month in a horse-drawn carriage. The first performance in the theater in Umbertide We find it for the first time on the evening of April 4, 1898 at the “Teatro dei Signori Riuniti” in a show of some importance that deserved the honors of the chronicles (5). Everything was organized "for the benefit of the sightless singer Emilia Giannuzzi", passing through Umbertide, who performed in front of a large and passionate audience. The theater, in fact, despite the rain for many days and the weather discouraging the evening outings, was crowded, "the boxes overflowed with representatives of the gentle sex". This in spite of a humid Lent evening, a Monday that began Holy Week. But Giannuzzi was a good soprano and they sang next to her the Umbertidesi Zelmirina Agnolucci, occasionally in the role of contralto, “very admired”, and Giulio Santini, known and appreciated baritone (6). A great local musician, Massimo Martinelli, director of the Municipal Concert, always present in important musical events, accompanied them on the piano. Zelmirina had performed several times at the Morlacchi theater in Perugia as a dramatic soprano, starting a demanding career that had already given her various satisfactions (7). He then began his artistic career by singing in companies of national level. His Mimì in the "Bohème" at the prestigious "Coccia" of Novara (8) during the 1899 Carnival (9) is memorable and the interpretation, in the same theater, of the "Devil's Trill" by Stanislao Falchi (10), in the splendid stage costumes. The tour in Russia But the first major tour of his life was the one he undertook at the beginning of the twentieth century: he would take her to St. Petersburg, to sing for Tsar Nicholas II. The girl, twenty-one, she left with her father Francesco Agnolucci, after signing a contract with the impresario for exhibitions in various cities on the long way to the capital of the Russian empire. We find her in this adventurous artistic journey, in March 1900, at the Grand Theater of Vilna (11) where he sings in the "Cavalleria Rusticana" together with Luisa De Sirianna, Carolina Zawner, Federico Percopo (tenor), Giuseppe Pimazzoni and Ignazio Pompa (12). The next stop was the Theater Riga National (13), in May 1900, together with Ernesto Pettinari and again with the baritone Ignazio Pompa (14). Great success at the Imperial Theater in St. Petersburg But the most important performance was at the Imperial Theater in St. Petersburg, where Tsar Nicholas II sat in the audience (15). It was a great success and the young soprano impressed with her skill and beauty Wassili Elisiewch Lithewsky, noble councilor of the Tsar (galavà), governor of Vitebsk, now a city of Belarus. During Zelmira's stay in St. Petersburg there was an intense acquaintance between the two which resulted in the Russian noble's request for marriage. The girl's father agreed, and had to pay the entrepreneur a large sum to compensate for the commitments that Zelmira would have to fulfill upon his return. Marriage with the Russian nobleman Wassili E. Lithewsky The wedding was celebrated in Vitebsk after not a few difficulties: Wassili even spent a few days locked up in a military fortress for not having asked the Tsar for permission to marry, as was prescribed for officers; but the impetus to marry the young soprano had made him forget every procedure of his role. Wassili was born in Ekaterinodar (16), on the Black Sea, in 1860 and was almost twenty years older than the girl, a charismatic and charming forty-year-old. The couple settled in the city ruled by their husband and began a happy life together. Two children were born soon: Boris in 1901 and Elena in 1904. Wassili was so in love that he built a theater in their sumptuous palace in Vitebsk where his wife put on shows in which she performed in the singing roles. A large adjoining room housed a specimen of every musical instrument existing at the time: incomparable, precious furnishings, desired by Wassili, by his love for Zelmira, by his artistic sensitivity (17). Francesco Agnolucci stayed for some time in Russia close to his daughter, then returned to Italy. He died in 1917 in his house in Rio, on the border between the towns of Montone and Umbertide, at the age of 66 (18). The return to Italy with her husband and two children In 1914 Zelmirina left with Wassili for Italy to introduce her mother Maria and the Agnolucci family to her husband and children. The Lithewskys stayed for a few months but Wassili, after the First World War broke out, being an official of the Tsar, had to return to Russia; his wife and children remained at home; Boris and Elena completed their studies in Italy. "Stay here" - Wassili had told them - "when the war ends I will come and pick you up". After the Russian Revolution, Wassili was forced into hiding But in October 1917, in the middle of the world conflict, the Bolshevik revolution broke out in Russia. All classes of the nobility were legally abolished. Wassili had to hide to escape arrest and was forced to live in hiding for a long time, aided by his own farmers. Her relatives had been killed with summary executions, without trial, including the two sisters Barbara and Alessandra, schoolmates of Elena of Montenegro, who later became the wife of Vittorio Emanuele III of Savoy. Only nine years later, in November 1926, "General Lithewsky" managed to get in touch with the Italian foreign ministry through official diplomatic channels. Through the consulate in Odessa, in present day Ukraine, he obtained a passport with relative visa; for a moment the darkness seemed to clear but the operation was not successful and the former Tsar's officer had to go back into hiding. In 1929 he managed to send his family a photo of him, addressed with affection to "dear Lolina", his daughter Elena. In Italy, in 1918, due to the great "Spanish flu" which killed 20 million people all over the world, the eldest son Boris had died when he was only seventeen years old. The loss of her son had upset Zelmirina. Wassili Lithewsky spent very hard times in Russia: for almost ten years his relatives in Italy had not been able to receive news. Amid enormous difficulties, he went clandestinely in various parts of the territory, fleeing into the deserts of Central Asia, supported only by the desire to see his owners again. In the early thirties of the twentieth century, the climate calmed a little, the family research began: the son-in-law, Dr. Carlo Alberto Angelini, husband of Elena, knew well and contacted the Italian ambassador in Moscow, Bernardo Attolico; he also asked for the intervention of the Red Cross. Even the engineer Adolfo Ghisalberti, grandson of Maria Santini (19) got involved in the research. Finally he was able to find him in the Gobi desert, in Mongolia, and to organize his return: in the summer of 1932 Wassili was able to leave for Italy. Carlo Alberto Angelini went to pick him up at the port of Genoa. His physique was very weak: several times it was necessary to support him during the transfers of the trip. After countless ups and downs, the return to the family When the Tsar's adviser arrived in Umbertide, on his way to the country house in Rio, hollow face, white lace, almond-shaped eyes, many people noticed the rich dress of a Russian nobleman which gave his tall and majestic figure an aura of charm and mystery. . Zelmirina, despite her joy, suffered a great shock upon the arrival of her husband whom she had had to leave a long time ago. The second child, Elena, who saw him again after 15 years, stopped breastfeeding her daughter Viola due to the trauma (20). Wassili finally settled in the large house of the Agnolucci family. An avid smoker, he slept with the light of a candle on the bedside table because when he woke up he had an urgent need to light a cigarette. But the elderly aristocrat will not be able to enjoy the warmth of the newly found family for long because he died of pulmonary emphysema only three months later (21). Zelmirina's death on 5 July 1944 Zelmirina, bent by the adversities of life, suffering in her youth (22) from a viral form of lethargic encephalitis (23), fell ill with Parkinson's disease and spent the last few years in suffering. She was lovingly assisted in her illness by her son-in-law, Carlo Alberto Angelini, doctor, husband of his daughter Elena. He died on 5 July 1944, the day of Umbertide's Liberation (24), invoking his beloved son Boris, at the "Palazzo della Tramontana", the current villa owned by Cozzari along the road leading to Migianella (25), then owned by Agnolucci . 30th September 2013 Sources: Historical research by Amedeo Massetti Published in March 2014 on n.52 of "Altotiberine Pages" by the Historical Association of the Upper Tiber Valley. Reduced text published in the "Calendar of Umbertide 2015" - Ed. Municipality of Umbertide 2015 Notes to the text: 1 Zelmira, born in Umbertide in 1820, belonged to the Savelli family, living in via Stella; she was the sister of Giuseppe Savelli, mayor of Umbertide several times from 1863 to 1880, and of Don Flaviano, canon and archpriest of the Collegiate Church of S. Maria della Reggia. Zelmira Savelli will die in 1875. 2 Gabriele Santini was born on January 20, 1886; the father was Pio Santini, the mother Carmela Nolaschi. He studied at the “F. Morlacchi ”cello and piano and later moved to the GB Martini Conservatory of Bologna where he completed his composition studies with G. Minguzzi and P. Micci. He began his career as a conductor as early as 1904 and devoted himself almost exclusively to the operatic genre. After a first period at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome (now the Opera Theater), he was hired by various theaters in Latin America. He stayed for eight seasons at the Colon Theater in Buenos Aires and later at the Municipal Theater in Rio de Janeiro, at the Lyric Opera in Chicago and at the Manhattan Theater in New York. From 1925 to 1929 he was called to the Alla Scala theater in Milan as assistant to maestro Arturo Toscanini. He came back then at the Rome Opera where he remained permanently until 1933 and from 1944 to 1947 he held the position of director here artistic. In 1951 he directed the company of S. Carlo di Napoli in the tour in Paris, for the celebrations of Verdi's fiftieth anniversary. He directed several seasons at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan in 1946 and from 1960 to 1964, the year of his death (From N. LUCARELLI, Gabriele Santini, illustrious from Umbertide, in "Umbertide Cronache", bimonthly periodical of the Municipality of Umbertide, n. 1- 2002, p. 42). 3 A. MASSETTI, Two centuries on the march, Umbertide and the band, Città di Castello, Petruzzi, 2008, p. 139. 4 Testimony of the granddaughter Fiore Angelini. 5 The Liberal Union, April 5, 1998, p. 2. 6 In the second half of the 19th century the baritone voice of Giulio Santini came to the attention of the lyrical mode. In 1872 he was hired as first baritone at the Fermo theater. From here he moved to Sansepolcro and in 1874 he sang at the Teatro Nuovo in Florence as the first absolute baritone, where he collected sensational successes. During his long stay in this city, he also performed in the Bellincioni Hall, in via delle Belle Donne. At the concert, performed on January 30, 1875, Santini participated incognito, perhaps for reasons imposed by his relationship with the new theater. Leaving Florence, he performed for a long time first in Siena, then in Perugia, where he performed 12 performances of Donizetti's “La Favorita”. In February 1879, Santini sang in Verdi's “Luisa Miller” at the Città di Castello theater. The news about him they end with 1880, the year in which he was hired by the Arezzo Theater. Throughout his career he received certificates of esteem and profound appreciation for his professional performances from the entrepreneurs. (R. CODOVINI - R. SCIURPA, Umbertide in the 19th century, Città di Castello, GESP, 2001, p. 307). 7 Testimony of the granddaughter Fiore Angelini. 8 The “Coccia” theater in Novara, one of the major traditional Italian theaters, was inaugurated on 21 January 1888 with the opera “Gli Ugonotti” by Giacomo Meyarbeer, directed by Arturo Tscanini. It is named after Carlo Coccia, chapel master of the Chapter of the Novara cathedral. 9 Documents now in the possession of the niece Viola Angelini. 10 Stanislao Falchi, born in Terni on January 29, 1851, was a pupil of C. Maggi and S. Meluzzi, who started him on the study of composition. In order to achieve a more in-depth preparation, he moved to Rome, where musical studies experienced a lively revival in the climate of cultural renewal in the years following the unification of Italy. In 1877 the musical high school of S. Cecilia was inaugurated, divided into numerous courses: Falchi received the post of teacher of choral singing and in 1882 of normal singing, appointments that gave him particular prestige. He will then be director of choral singing in various schools in Rome from 1883, crowning a splendid didactic career; he will have the chair of counterpoint, fugue and composition in 1890 in the conservatory of S. Cecilia (Biographical Dictionary of the Italians Treccani). 11 Today's Vilnius, then a Russian city, now the state of Lithuania. 12 The baritone Ignazio Pompa, born in Rome in 1860, studied both in Milan and in his city. Success was not long in coming come. Over thirty, he entered various theater companies, from the Castellano Company to Labruna, Granzini, Dazig and sang in important European theaters, from Paris to Le Havre, from Ostend to Liege, to Poltava. He also sang in Smyrna, Athens, Constantinople, Cairo, Alexandria in Egypt. His presence in Russian and Ukrainian theaters, from Smolensk, where he married in 1899, to Wilnius, from St. Petersburg to Minsk, Kursk, Jekaterinoslav, Theodosia, Molitopoli, Kerck, and other Russian and Ukrainian cities, was successfully noticed. He died in London in 1909 (www.museoparigino.org ). 13 Riga, then a Russian city, is now the capital of the Baltic state of Latvia. 14 Ibid. 15 The current Mariinsky Theater, in St. Petersburg. It owes its name to Princess Maria Aleksandrovna and in the past it had, in Soviet times, the name of Kirov Theater, (in honor of Sergej Kirov) and National Academy of Opera and Ballet and, in Tsarist times, Imperial Theater of San Petersburg. 16 The city, since December 1920, has been renamed Krasnodar. 17 Testimony of the niece Viola Angelini. 18 He is buried in the Savelli chapel, in the left hemicycle of the Umbertide cemetery. On his gravestone is the following critta: He dedicated his beautiful art, his illicit industrious life to his wife and his children who with infinite reverent love venerate the tearful memory. 19 Testimony of his daughter Paola Ghisalberti. 20 Testimony of the niece Viola Angelini. 21 Wassili Lithwsky is also buried in the Umbertide cemetery, in the Savelli chapel. 22 The husband had disappeared in the chaos of the Russian revolution and they had not even been able to write to each other anymore. 23 The father of ladies Fiore and Viola, Carlo Alberto Angelini, a doctor, also had contact with Queen Elena who had promoted and funded studies on this disease. 24 On 5 July 1944 Umberttde was liberated by soldiers of the British 8th Army. 25 The villa to the left of those who climb towards Migianella, which is accessed along a path bordered by maritime pines. In the 1930s it belonged to the Agnolucci family. The singer with her son Boris Tsar Nicholas II Zelmirina with her husband Wassili Singer with some of the clothes used on stage FILIPPO ALBERTI Literate and poet curated by Fabio Mariotti He was born on March 26, 1548 in Fratta, to Luca Antonio Alberti and Ippolita Petrogalli. He spent his childhood and adolescence in severe studies and in his early twenties he was elected "coadjutor" of the chancellor of the municipality of Perugia. He soon acquired a reputation as a talented poet. His rhymes had, while he was still alive, two different editions and many of them saw the light in valuable collections of other important and illustrious writers of the time, including the valuable "nine sonnets", written by Our for the "Conversion of Saint Mary Magdalene". He wrote various highly praised works: a book of poems entitled "Rime di Filippo Alberti" printed in Rome and Venice; a beautiful song over the cicada; a tragedy entitled "Cestio Macedonico" whose protagonist was a certain Cestio citizen of Perugia, who having fought with the Romans in the war of Macedonians and in that having been reported for generous actions, he deserved the nickname of Macedonico. Not all of his works were published and many went missing - although we have news and titles - following his long illness and death. Filippo Alberti was held in high regard by personalities of the time such as Alfonso d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, Cardinals Bonifacio Bevilacqua and Domenico Pinelli and the Marquis Ascanio della Cornia. It was held in honor by men of letters such as the illustrious humanist Marco Antonio Bonciari, Scipione Tolomei, Cesare Crispolti senior, Giovan Battista Lauri, Cesare Caporali, Claudio Contuli and Cesare Alessi. But the main boast for Alberti was the friendship that Torquato Tasso professed to him; friendship based on the esteem that the great poet had for the man of letters from Fratta. Alberti tells us about his acquaintance with Tasso in Ferrara, cultivated through an affectionate correspondence with our Filippo, to whom he also dedicated a sonnet, and did not disdain to ask him for advice on the "Gerusalemme Liberata" and, if he had any, to follow them. Alberti was also a good prose writer (there are praises of illustrious men, still unpublished, preserved in the Augusta library in Perugia). Some of these works were not completed, others remained unpublished both for the envy of the powerful of the time, as confirmed by Lauri and Oldoino, and for his poor health. The literary merits and the love he brought to Fratta and Perugia lead us to believe that it would have been very interesting to have a volume of his lost "Historical Memories of Perugia", written by him when the Roman Carlo Conti was governor of the city of the Grifo. , he who under Pope Clement VIII "was tempted to make the Church of Perugia archipiscopal". His studies did not remove Alberti from public offices and he, who in 1573 had been elected "Coadjutor" of the chancellor of the municipality of Perugia, was called to take over the direction of the prioral chancellery, an office to which distinguished men were always assigned for prudence and by doctrine. Friends and admirers had to mourn his death when he was not yet old. He was 64 when he retired to live in Fratta and ended his days there, on 12 September 1612. He is buried in the church of San Domenico in Perugia. The street where his house was located, in the historic center, now bears the name of "via Alberti". Some poems by Filippo Alberti It turns out more not to love I said, you were my good And my life, Orsella More than the sun wanders, and beautiful. Hor I unsubscribe, and 'the song I address the blame, a l'ire I loved you, I hate you just as much. And out of troubles, and pains Behold, I too am mine To God, perfidious, to God. Treats that the women of Perugia, past one certain age, they should wear black Ouch, foolish is he who believes What a woman in a black dress May it seem less beautiful, and less haughty. the nigga the beautiful does not take away, And Law cake is that That only others grant Color, which always announces or deaths, or pains, It thunders, and the sky flashes when it is darkest, Negra serpe has more tosco. Omen of the beauty of a girl Green apple six Vague girl, and with beautiful outward eyes Sol virginelle gratitude and still breathe; But Cupid is already sharpening the guilty darts, Already in the man the face has removed, To turn it on then in your beautiful face. Sources: Historical calendar of Umbertide 2002 - Ed. Municipality of Umbertide - 2002 Arcangelo Chelli - “The illustrious men of Umbertide” - Ed. Tipografia Tiberina - 1888 Via Alberti Ernesto Freguglia ERNESTO FREGUGLIA The story of an adopted Umbertidese painter by Amedeo Massetti Filippo Alberti Ernesto Freguglia (1875). The Foro Boario, today Piazza del Mercato The large oil painting with oxen, which stands out on the wall of the mayor's office, was painted in 1875 by Ernesto Freguglia. Known painter at that time, but unknown to Umbertide today. Yet Freguglia lived in our city for twenty-five years, moving there from Rome in 1874. He lived first in via Cibo, then in via Petrogalli which then skirted the village of San Giovanni and finally in via Cavour, at number 64, where the last aged 74 died. day of 1899. He is buried in our cemetery. The good artist was born in Sabbionello di Copparo, in the municipality of Ferrara, on December 20, 1825. A pupil of the Ferrarese painter Guseppe Tamarozzi, he had studied at the school of drawing and figure in the university of his city. He had therefore been in Florence where we find him in 1853 among the various copyists of the Uffizi (here he reproduced a “landscape by Jean Baptiste Fierce de Roven”). He then moved to Rome, in 1856, entering the studio of the painter and restorer Alessandro Mantovani, also from Ferrara (some of his valuable works are in the Quirinal Palace). In the 1860s, Freguglia was still active in Rome where he participated in the complete renovation of the decorations, between 1863 and 1867, of the church of Santa Lucia del Gonfalone in via dei Banchi Vecchi, together with Salvatore Rotani, under the direction by the well-known Roman painter Cesare Mariani. Between 1870 and 1876, he collaborated with Alessandro Mantovani in the decoration of the Nuova Loggia Pia in the Vatican, giving "proof of uncommon skill in following Raphaelesque concepts". In 1876 he donated one of his paintings to the municipality of Ferrara. He exhibited in this city in 1875, 1877 and 1899. A couple of his suggestive romantic landscapes, in harmony with the canons of the Roman landscape school, are in the Scutellari collection of the Este city. Freguglia is a painter of a good level and his works denote profound technical knowledge and a refined taste that goes far beyond the representations of the manner of authors of his period. It is affected by the contemporaneity with the Macchiaioli movement even if, while lingering in fresh play of lights and colors, he does not neglect to use precise brushstrokes, creating almost photographic representations. The painting on the wall of the mayor's office, to which we have mentioned, "The cattle market in Fratta", in addition to offering us an extraordinary document of nineteenth-century life - the animated day of the market - provides architectural details of the ancient city that have now disappeared or transformed. In fact, the views of the bridge over the Palace and the open space in front of the Rocca are different, not yet leveled with backfill (a partial restoration of the original conditions was carried out with the recent works in the Park of the Reggia and Piazza del Mercato). Likewise, the Guardabassi post hotel (to the right of the Collegiate Church) no longer exists and was demolished to widen the entrance road to the Piazza. And finally, the Mavarelli palace has a different structure, now also raised in the wing towards the center of the town. Ernesto Freguglia (1874). The Tiber in the "Mulinaccio" area The other painting we know of, belonging to the Scagnetti collection, in which Ernesto Freguglia depicts a different glimpse of Umbertide is also of great documentary value. The canvas, dated 1874, has the usual delicate line and the richness of details typical of the painter and represents the view from the west side of the castle of Fratta. In the center of the painting, on the edge of the walls, you can see the base of the defense tower which collapsed in the flood of the Tiber in 1610. On the left side you can see some architectural details that have now disappeared. At the bottom right you can see the artificial canal that carried the water of the Carpina, after passing through the Mulinello and the Fornace, to activate the "Mulinaccio" (recently swept away by the flood) under the walls. The area still has this name. Finally, washerwomen, fishermen and people bathing in crystal clear water are represented. Ernesto Freguglia, an Emilian painter who became Umbertide, loved our city and chose it to live there for a quarter of a century, until his death. From the careful glimpses in which he depicts it, from the care he takes to the most typical details, a relationship of warm familiarity transpires. Bre 2019 of The article was published in the November issue of "Local Information" Sources: Historical archive research by Amedeo Massetti Registry card of Ernesto Freguglia at the Municipality of Umbertide Giuseppe Savelli GIUSEPPE SAVELLI The Mayor of the passage from Fratta to Umbertide by Amedeo Massetti The ceramic bust of Giuseppe Savelli was placed in the town council hall in 1894, when the room was renovated with the installation of new wooden stalls made by all the carpenters of Umbertide. It was placed on a wooden base overhanging the wall at a height of two meters, to the right of the bench of the Giunta, flanked, on the left, by the bust of Antonio Guerrini. The old furniture in the council chamber, used for 90 years, was replaced by the current one in 1984, when the town hall was renovated. The bust was restored free of charge in 2011 by the Umbertidese artist Antonello Renzini and was relocated in the room adjacent to the City Council. Doctor Giuseppe Savelli was born in Umbertide on May 16, 1824. Owner, he lived in via Stella at n. 11. He also had a house in Via Diritta (now Via Cibo at no. 13), a house in Rome, and a country residence in Rio on the border between the municipalities of Umbertide and Montone where his studio is still located. its library. From 1861 he held the position of municipal councilor. From 1863 he will be appointed Mayor. He was mayor of Umbertide several times from 1863 to 1880. Doctor Savelli was a patriot; during the revolt of the Umbrian populations to the papal government in 1859, he was appointed governor of the provisional administration of Fratta, with the approval of the government of Perugia. In 1861, as a municipal councilor, he worked with extraordinary commitment for the reconstitution of the musical band, of which he was a member and later very active and authoritative president. He wrote a memorable letter in this regard. Dr. Giuseppe Savelli was elected Mayor in 1863 (he was therefore the first citizen who ferried Fratta to Umbertide) and will hold this office until May 18, 1868. Then for the whole of 1871 and 1872 he was again mayor. In 1873, for a period, he still appears as mayor. In his capacity as head of the administration, he worked with sensitivity and foresight to give the municipality, which emerged from the inadequacy of the papal administration, a modern and efficient structure. In 1872 he approved the first public hygiene regulation and the first urban police regulation, which deeply affected the socio-sanitary situation of the time and remain milestones for their relevance. Giuseppe Savelli died in Umbertide on 6 July 1886. He is buried in the last chapel of the hemicycle left of the Umbertide cemetery, where there are also the tombs of the Santini family (his wife was Rosa Santini, daughter of Giuseppe, and his sister Zemira Savelli had married Gabriele Santini, grandfather of the internationally renowned conductor of the same name). His brother, Don Flaviano Savelli, was canon and archpriest of the Collegiate. Giuseppe Savelli is the author of a manuscript history (unfortunately partially destroyed) of the Savelli family which also includes a pope, Honorius III, who approved the Rule of St. Francis. Sources: Historical research by Amedeo Massetti 1975. Establishment of the City Council. In high, on the right of the Giunta, the bust by Giuseppe Savelli Mayor Savelli's signature on the poster announcing the name change A. Massetti at the presentation of an edition of the historical calendar of Umbertide The family crest on the house in Rio ANTONIO GUERRINI Canon of the Collegiate, professor of rhetoric and local historian curated by Fabio Mariotti Antonio Guerrini had the education and upbringing of youth very much at heart, for which he dedicated his entire life. He was born in Fratta in 1779 by Giovan Battista Guerrini and Anna Maria Cassoni. From his earliest years he showed the beautiful qualities of his soul. His first teachers were two former Spanish Jesuits, Father Sebastiano Re and Father Gabriele Villalunga. Of a good and honest nature, to better benefit his fellow citizens he embraced the ecclesiastical life, in which he distinguished himself for truly evangelical knowledge and charity. At the age of fifteen he was designated canon of the Collegiate church, while completing his theological studies in the seminary of Gubbio. At the age of twenty-five he was appointed professor of rhetoric in the public schools of our country. He taught for more than forty years until the last days of his life, with tireless zeal and with great love. Twice he was called to Perugia, first to exercise the office of rector and moderator of studies in the "Piano Collegio", then to teach philosophy; but both times he refused, thus giving very clear proof of his predilection for his native land. Antonio Guerrini worked constantly to improve teaching methods in the schools entrusted to him. He compiled a geography accompanied by historical information, designing and building a large terrestrial globe to facilitate its teaching. He also made a large map of Europe, also with indications of the main historical facts. He cooperated in the formation of the town band, in the erection of a theater (what later became the "Teatro dei Riuniti") and in the establishment of a society of dramatic declamation for the benefit of the poor in need. The cover of the book on the history of Fratta and Umbertide (Anastatic copy on the original of 1883 made by the "Gruppo Local Editorial "by Digital Editor Umbertide - September 2009) He wrote a much praised work, a "Theory of Oratory Art and Versification of Tuscany" of which, a summary, was included in the Parisian Journal of the year 1810 and which earned the author a mention by the famous Degerando who, writing in about Mr. Count Giovanni Spada, Deputy Prefect, revealed to him his desire that such a teaching method be adopted by all the universities of the Empire. He also left many Latin and Italian poems. He was very involved in the research of homeland memories, of which he left a copious collection. His major work "History of the Land of Fratta now Umbertide from its origins until the year 1845" was completed by the nephew Genesio Perugini printed at the Tipografia Tiberina and published at the expense of the Municipality of Umbertide in 1883. Antonio Guerrini died on January 21, 1845, at the age of sixty-five. He was buried in the church of Santa Maria della Reggia (Collegiata) where, to perpetuate his memory, the Town Hall placed a marble plaque between the orchestra and the main west door which reads as follows: "Don Antonio Guerrini for virtue of science, the town hall highly admired - XXI Gennaro MDCCCXXXXV". The municipal administration dedicated a street to him on January 22, 1880. Sources: - "The illustrious men of Umbertide" by A. Chelli - Umbertide, Tipografia Tiberina - 1888 - "The man in toponymy" by B. Porrozzi - Ed. Pro-loco - 1992 - Biography of prof. Antonio Mezzanotte - Bartelli Typography, Perugia 1845. Interior of the Collegiate where Don Antonio Guerrini was buried. Below, on the left, the plaque commemorating him. Antonio Guerrini ANNIBALE MARIOTTI Distinguished doctor and scholar of the second half of the 18th century curated by Fabio Mariotti Annibale Mariotti was born on 13 September 1738 in Perugia, where his father Prospero, professor of medicine and botany at the local university, had recently moved from Fratta with his already pregnant wife Maddalena Eleonori. He completed his literary and scientific studies in Perugia and at just sixteen he obtained a doctorate in medicine and philosophy. Shortly afterwards he went to Rome to study physics and mathematics under the guidance of great tutors such as Iaquier and Le-Seur, without neglecting to perfect himself in medical science with the lessons of Saliceti and Gianneschi and in chemistry with Voyole. Returning to Perugia in 1757, at the age of only nineteen, he was appointed professor of medicine but the desire to enrich his cultural background led him to leave Perugia again. It was in Bologna, where he took advantage of the classical schools of Beccari, Molinelli and Monte; in Padua where he enriched his already rich knowledge by making friends with the very learned Quirini, Morgagni and other renowned professors, then also in Pisa, admired everywhere for his great erudition. He was offered professorships from Pisa, Pavia and from the same studio in Padua, which he refused for the sake of his native place. 1930s. The post office in piazza Umberto I (now piazza Matteotti) The entrance on via Mariotti Such was by now his fame as a man with great knowledge that he often asked his vote in the most profound medical disputes from the most renowned Colleges of Italy and Count Roberti, writing to Bianconi, said: "Enough to inspire Perugia to remember me that the highly literate Mariotti is its citizen! " He had relations with the most brilliant geniuses of his time and the most renowned Academies were honored to have him as a partner, such as the Etruscans of Cortona, the Arcadi Augusti, the Leopoldini of Germany and others. He was even called by the Dresden Court as his doctor, but the call of his native land was too strong for him so he returned to Perugia where, in 1760, he was given again the chair of medicine to which, in 1768, was added that of botany, which had already belonged to her deceased parent. Annibale Mariotti lived in difficult times but, among the honors and humiliations that he had to bear, he always managed to keep the goodness and kindness of his generous soul. Proclaimed, on February 5, 1798, the French republic in Perugia, Hannibal was one of the fifteen who formed the provisional government and had the honor, with Dr. Gian Angelo Cocchi, to represent the city in Rome, at the banning of the constitution of the Roman Republic . On his return to Perugia he was elected "consular prefect" of the Trasimeno Department. He used authority and knowledge for the benefit of his fellow citizens, working for the release of some nobles imprisoned by the government of the republic and taken to Ancona. After the fall of the Roman republic, eighteen months after its proclamation, it was the object of slanderous accusations by its enemies. For this he was arrested by the Austro-Arezzo soldiers and taken to Arezzo as a criminal. After some time, the accusations found to be false, he was released, but the harshness of his imprisonment soon contributed to reducing him to death. Death came on June 10, 1801, after a serious illness of six months. Perugia reserved solemn honors for him and the funeral oration was read by Dr. Luigi Santi, his loyal disciple. He was buried in the church of S. Angelo in Porta Eburnea, where an epigraph recalls his virtues and his knowledge. Annibale Mariotti wrote about 60 works, including the "History of Perugian literature" and "Perugian pictorial letters" printed in 1788. He also left a manuscript of historical memories of all the places under the ancient dominion of Perugia. Umbertide, after 1863, dedicated to him the street (formerly vicolo del Pomo) that connects today's Piazza Matteotti with Piazza XXV Aprile. The old photos are from the historical photographic archive of the Municipality of Umbertide Sources: - "History of the land of Fratta now Umbertide" by A. Guerrini (completed by G. Perugini) - Umbertide, Tipografia Tiberina - 1883 - "The illustrious men of Umbertide" by A. Chelli - Umbertide, Tipografia Tiberina - 1888 - "The man in toponymy" by B. Porrozzi - Ed. Pro-loco - 1992 Via Mariotti today from piazza XXV aprile The plaque of the illustrious personage Annibale Mariotti Alessandro Magi Spinetti PIETRO GIACOMO PETROGALLI Man of arms of the second half of the sixteenth century famous for his courage curated by Fabio Mariotti Pietro Giacomo Petrogalli was born in 1554, from one of the best families in the country. From a young age he showed great courage and firmness of character. One day, while he was having fun fishing on the Tiber, just below the castle of Montalto, he was insulted by the Perugian Sforza degli Alessandri who, not happy with this, also had him beaten with a stick by one of his agents. Peter could not bear the insult and swore to take his revenge. Alessandri often came to Fratta, bringing with him an escort of warriors. Pietro not being able to suffer so much insolence, after the insult he received, presented himself in front of him and fired a pistol shot on his chest, leaving him dead on the ground. Then, armed with a hatchet, he made his way through the men of arms and managed to get to safety. However, he did not escape the penalty of the ban to which he was condemned, and in April 1580 he was forced to leave his native land. At first he took refuge in France and took up service in the militias of that country. He immediately distinguished himself for many and beautiful actions of value, for which he received the admiration of the soldiers and had the rank of lieutenant colonel. From France he returned to Italy, placing himself at the service of the Grand Duke of Tuscany Ferdinand I and left with the Italian troops who went to Hungary to fight with the emperor, against the Turks. Also on this occasion he proved himself worthy of his name by fighting hard and, after the capture of Chiavarino in which he covered himself with glory, he was appointed captain of a large Italian company, on October 15, 1594. He was also once again in Hungary paid by the Church, in the expedition commanded by Francesco of the Marquises Del Monte, remaining there until the end of the war, in which he sustained many wounds. It was then that, ill in health and very weak from a lot of blood shed, he expressed the desire to return to breathe the native air and the pope, with a special pardon of July 26, 1596, not only allowed him to return to his country , but he called him back from the ban and condoned all punishment, although he had not obtained peace from the Alessandri family. After some time, having recovered in health, he returned to Tuscany and was by the Grand Duke Ferdinando appointed lieutenant of the Pistoia fortress, then sergeant major of the Livorno garrison and then castellan of the same city. In 1607 he participated in the capture of the city of Bona in Barberia with the rank of battle sergeant. When Ferdinand I died in 1609, he was succeeded in the government by Cosimo II who, having also learned of his expertise and loyalty, on 15 May 1612 appointed him Governor in Valdelsa and sergeant major of all the Tuscan infantry, succeeding the knight Francesco Tucci , also giving it the rich income of Poggio Imperiale. He also held many other important offices including that of Castellano and Governor of the Fortress of San Miniato. In 1622 he returned to Fratta again, staying there for a short time, however, because Princess Maddalena, regent of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, called him to assist Cardinal De 'Medici on the occasion of the Conclave for the election of the new Pope after the death of Gregory XV. Subsequently in 1628 Ferdinando II, Cosimo's son and successor, called him back to the court to occupy the high office of Councilor of State. And that year was fatal to him because one day, while he was leaving the council, he was seized by an aneurysm for which he died at the age of 74. In ancient times via Petrogalli (formerly via San Giovanni) was located in the so-called Borgo San Giovanni destroyed in the terrible bombing of 25 April 1944. For this reason the city council on 18 December 1960 approved the assignment to Petrogalli of a new road, the crossroad that gives via XX September ends up in via Andreani. Sources: - "History of the land of Fratta now Umbertide" by A. Guerrini (completed by G. Perugini) - Umbertide, Tipografia Tiberina - 1883 - "The illustrious men of Umbertide" by A. Chelli - Umbertide, Tipografia Tiberina - 1888 - "The man in toponymy" by B. Porrozzi - Ed. Pro-loco - 1992 FRANCESCO MAVARELLI Mayor of Umbertide from 1892 to 1898 and author some valuable texts on the history of Fratta curated by Fabio Mariotti Francesco Mavarelli was born in Cagli on January 3, 1870 to Vincenzo and Angela Calai. He spent his childhood in the Marche town where his parents had some properties, but the most considerable group of his assets was in Umbertide and consisted of the magnificent palace in via Stella and numerous farms scattered in the surrounding countryside. His first friendships were born along the Via Flaminia, between Cagli and Fossombrone, just twenty kilometers away from each other and divided by the Furlo massif. Here he established sincere and lasting relationships with the most prominent families of the place such as the Vernarecci, the Chiavarelli and others. He spent the years of childhood and adolescence with his brother Giuseppe born five years before him, but then, on June 14, 1891, the two separated because Giuseppe decided to marry Luigia Menghini and went to live on his own. We do not know the exact date on which Francesco left Cagli to settle in Umbertide. The personal data sheet only notes that he moved there "as a child". With certainty in Umbertide he completed the cycle of elementary and middle school, and then entered the Collegio della Quercia in Florence where he completed the course of classical studies and graduated in law. He did not practice his profession, absorbed as he was by the administration of his assets and by numerous other commitments. During the holidays he often went to his native places to visit old friends and gladly stopped in Fossombrone at the Chiavarelli family where Marina, who was born on 7 July 1875 and had seen a child, was getting a beautiful girl. A brilliant and open young man, supported by robust and thoughtful studies, he also faced the political and administrative commitment with great success. In the partial municipal elections of 26 July 1891 he was elected councilor with 110 votes out of 171 voters, while in the general elections of 27 November 1892 and 23 June 1895 he was the first of those elected, respectively with 455 out of 490 voters and 650 votes out of 695 voters. He held the office of mayor of Umbertide for six years, from 4 December 1892 to 3 December 1898. He was municipal councilor, provincial councilor of the district and president of the Congregation of Charity. A life full of work and responsibility, considering that the young Mavarelli was in his early twenties. To this must be added the intense historical and literary commitment on some aspects of city life conducted with scrupulous balance and profound competence, confirming a school education approached with seriousness and conviction. "Historical news and praise on the Company of disciplines of Santa Maria Nuova and Santa Croce in the Land of Fratta", was his first work published in 1899 and dedicated to his wife. Professor Augusto Vernarecci, Fossombrone's friend, informs us that the work was examined and praised by a competent and severe judge such as Giuseppe Mazzatinti. The second historical commitment was that of "The Art of Blacksmiths in the Land of Fratta", published posthumously in 1901. The family members entrusted its publication to Vernarecci who accompanied the work with a touching premise that we report in its entirety. On 31 August 1896 he married Marina, the girl from Fossombrone to whom he was now tied by a deep affection. The wedding was celebrated in the Marche city and on the same day the young landowner moved to the building in via Stella di Umbertide, where Francesco performed the functions of mayor. Then came the children. The first was Zenaide (23 October 1898) and the second Angiola Maria (28 November 1899). The third, Francesca, will be born on 12 December 1900 when her father had been gone for five months. Suddenly, that Friday evening of 20 July 1900, a gunshot froze the affections, aspirations and projects: Francesco had killed himself. The dramatic event preceded the regicide of Monza by nine days and this was enough to unleash the strangest assumptions about the motive for the gesture, the result of a Homeric epic fantasy. The mirrored customs and transparency of behavior of Francesco did not offer space for gossipy inferences. Thus, the whispers that circulated from alley to alley inside the town and that every day were colored more and more with lively colors and curious details, no less wanted the unfortunate young man to be linked to a Perugian anarchist group within the which his name would have been extracted to assassinate Umberto I. The task would not have been pleasing to the lottery and hence the fatal choice of suicide. Evidently, those who spread the fable of the failed regicide knew very little about anarchy, contrary to any form of institutional collaboration and any bond, including that of marriage, which represented a limitation to the sacred freedom of the individual. The religion of anarchy was identified only with revolutionary methodology. Francesco, on the other hand, was a man of the institutions, within which he had carried out important functions such as that of mayor and provincial councilor; he had also been awarded the title of knight and his whole life showed respect for the rules and the practice of civil coexistence. No, the story of an alleged anarchist membership definitely does not hold up, if only because in a few days the alternate to kill a king is not found, but it offers us some food for thought. The elegance of mind of the last Mavarelli; the profound culture that allowed him to dig into the historical past of his people by choosing the two typical strands of existence: religion (historical news and Laudi) and work (The art of blacksmiths); the high prestige gained in the exercise of political offices made him a different character from many of his peers. The hard college life based on tolerance and respect for others, passionate and assimilated study did not belong to youthful parentheses to be thrown into oblivion, but had become a way of life. In a difficult and conflictual period in which many agrarians responded to the spread of the socialist party and the peasant leagues with the expulsion of the colonists from their farms, the sensitivity and convictions of the agrarian Mavarelli were certainly oriented towards different attitudes that did not coincide with the crude and provocative authoritarianism of the law of the strongest practiced by some of his friends. On the other hand, for many men of the extreme left, the revolution was just around the corner and Gaetano Bresci's threat to the carabinieri who translated him to the prison of Santo Stefano and silenced him because he asked too many questions is symptomatic: " guys like you who should never talk! But soon the revolution will sweep you all away ”. According to the most accredited opinion in the agrarian world, these people had to be answered with the harshest methods, there was no middle ground. Mavarelli lived intensely the political unease of his time at the crossroads between reaction and revolution, which was, moreover, the unease and embarrassment of all European culture between the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century, in search of new models of expression and vigorous sources of inspiration and which in very generic terms took the name of Decadentism. This different way of being and feeling that harbored in the soul of Francis, for the popular imagination that has always loved shortcuts, extremisms and baseless analogies, was enough to make him an anarchist, while he was an enlightened liberal. who would feel at ease a few years later with the policy adopted by Giovanni Giolitti's government. But in 1900 Dronero's deputy was still the politician involved, rightly or wrongly, in the scandal of the Banca Romana and not the leader of the Italy of the "Belle Epoque" (the vile Italy of the vate D'Annunzio) in which the lira he favored gold and in which the most urgent reforms in the social field were under way, so much so that the astute Giolitti boasted "of having relegated Marx to the attic". The profound sensitivity of Francesco Mavarelli made him feel the contrast between the times and his beliefs in a nagging way, giving him the feeling of being born in a wrong period or of being a man out of time. Of course the discomfort deriving from this state of affairs was not a reason for taking one's life, even if the gesture would have been consistent for a certain fringe of Decadents, but it certainly determined the climate in which the secret anguish that had tormented Francis for some time matured. . The expression is used by Vernarecci in the preface to Dell'Arte dei Fabbri, already mentioned above, and it certainly came from the mouths of his closest family members, his wife and mother, who intended to firmly exclude any form of depression of their joint. A person's secret anguish belongs to the mystery of life and death which must be treated with the utmost respect. We will never know the triggering reason for suicide, nor are we interested in knowing it. Five months later Francesca was born who, at least in the name, revived the memory of her father. The figure and work of Francesco Mavarelli were publicly commemorated in the session of the City Council on 23 September 1900. Unanimously the councilors decided to parry in mourning for a month the presidency desk which for six years had been occupied by their unfortunate colleague, to name the town's technical school after Francesco Mavarelli, to suspend the session as a sign of sorrow for the serious loss and solidarity towards family members . Today the first grade secondary school of Umbertide, what was once the middle school, is named after F. Mavarelli, together with G. Pascoli. In 1998 the prof. Bruno Porrozzi has published a volume, edited by the Pro-Loco Umbertide, with the anastatic copy of the works of Francesco Mavarelli. Sources: “Umbertide in the 20th century 1900 - 1946” by Roberto Sciurpa - Municipality of Umbertide, 2006 SAN SAVINO DI FRATTA Monk at the Abbey of San Salvatore di Monte Acuto curated by Fabio Mariotti San Savino, born in Fratta, the current Umbertide, although a citizen of Perugia, as Umbertide has always been the land of the city of Perugia, can be counted among the Saints of the Diocese since Umbertide has always been part of our Church. This without detracting from the Perugian church which - according to Lancellotti in the manuscript Annals of Perugia - counts him among its saints. Savino was therefore a monk at the Abbey of San Salvatore di Monte Corona, once known as Monte Acuto and a hermit in this monastery, he died in 1190 after a holy life adorned with heroic virtues that made him consider him already a saint in life. The most remote written testimonies, apart from the ancient Camaldolese martyrologists, were the commemorative inscriptions of his prodigies, which could be read in a chapel erected in his honor in 1480 on the provincial road towards Perugia, in the locality of Citerna, on a farm that had belonged to the del Santo family, a farm which until today is still called San Savino. Unfortunately, there is no longer any trace of this chapel and one of its frescoes is also lost, which flanked a Madonna in Maestà, just outside the city, in a place once called Fonte Santa, on the border with the word Sant'Ubaldo. Di Savino remains famous for the miracle of the cloak, in fact, since it is impossible to ford the Tiber to return to the convent together with two other friars, due to a flood of the river, he spread his cloak - just like the prophet Elijah or the more famous St. Francesco di Paola in the Strait of Messina - and, having climbed over it like a raft with his companions, he was able to return to the monastery. His body was buried in a chapel erected on the road that leads from the monastery of San Salvatore to the place where, several centuries later, the Hermitage of Monte Corona will be built, in the same place that had seen him isolated in hermitage for long periods. However, wars and suppressions, first the Napoleonic one and then that of the new unitary state, ruined the chapel, which is currently incorporated into the walls of a villa, completely unrecognizable. Only the toponym, San Savino, still indicates the site of the saint's tomb. Nothing is known of the fate that his relics may have made, almost certainly translated before the ruin of the building. The Camaldolese celebrated the memory of Savino, with the title of Saint, on 18 May. The city of Umbertide preserves an ideal portrait of the Saint in the collection of the Illustrious Men of the city and it is also depicted in the large altarpiece of the Transfiguration attributed to Pomarancio, located in the drum of the dome of the Collegiate Church of Santa Maria della Reggia. Sources: “Hagiographic Profiles - The Saints, Blessed, Venerable and Servants of God of the Eugubine Church " by Pietro Vispi - Gubbio, 2008 ALESSANDRO MAGI SPINETTI Benefactor, friend of the poor curated by Fabio Mariotti Alessandro Magi Spinetti, son of Francesco and Vincenza Mazzaforti, was born in Fratta in 1811. He was the descendant of one of the most important families in our city and dedicated his entire life to doing good works. He was one of the most assiduous supporters of the Congregation of Charity, "friend of all, men, animals and plants". He lived in via Spoletini until 1887, when he moved his residence to Città di Castello. He was one of the greatest supporters of the construction of the new hospital in Umbertide for which he donated 1,982 lire in 1883 and 12,848 lire and 55 cents in 1889 for the total sum of 14,830 lire and 55 cents, an enormous sum for those times. Suffice it to say that the Cassa di Risparmio donated 14,200 lire and the Municipality of Umbertide only 431 lire and 82 cents in three payments. These figures are reported, together with the names of all the benefactors, on the marble plaque placed in the entrance of the old hospital. Alessandro died on April 20, 1890 and at his funeral there was a choral participation of the city in gratitude for the numerous charitable activities carried out. The mayor Francesco Andreani also arranged for the presence at the funeral of the newly reconstituted town band directed by Maestro Massimo Martinelli . His remains rest in the city cemetery just past the main gate, a left, in a travertine sarcophagus that reports this epitaph: “Here lies Alessandro Magi Spinetti friend of the poor born on the 24th April 1811. The Congregation of Charity grateful. Died on 20th April 1890 " The municipal administration he dedicated a street to him on March 27, 1951. Sources: - “The man in toponymy” by Bruno Porrozzi - Pro-Loco Association Umbertide, 1992 - "Two centuries on the march - Umbertide and the band" by Amedeo Massetti - Petruzzi publisher - Città di Castello, 2008 Pietro G. Petrogalli Francesco Mavarelli San Savino di Fratta GIULIANO BOVICELLI A close collaborator of Pope Benedict XIII, he wrote the original "Istoria delle Perucche" and contributed to the birth of the "Monte Frumentario" to help the poor of Fratta curated by Fabio Mariotti Giuliano Bovicelli was born in Fratta around the mid-1600s. He embraced an ecclesiastical career with commitment and conviction and linked his name to the establishment and financing of Monte Frumentario , which went into full operation in 1724, when Don Giuliano died. He embellished the church of San Bernardino with rich furnishings and a beautiful statue of the saint. In his will, with deed of July 27, 1724 by Gabrielli Notaro Romano, he left all his patrimony to the Confraternity of San Bernardino, of which he was a brother, to offer concrete help to the poor of the town, precisely through that Monte Frumentario that he tenaciously wanted. His ingenuity drew him to the attention of Cardinal Pier Francesco Orsini of Rome, who chose him as his secretary and took him to Benevento, when he was appointed Archbishop of that city "and that he was there in the tearful catastrophe of June 5 1688. A horrible earthquake among so many devastations overturned a large part of the Archbishop's Palace. The Cardinal was thrown from the second floor to the ground. Where, falling, some woods crossing each other saved him from death. A gentleman, who was following him, was horribly crushed; and our Giuliano, it is not known how life escaped! (Antonio Guerrini). Having become Pope, with the name of Benedict XIII , Orsini retained Don Giuliano at the Roman Curia with important positions, such as that of Prior of the Basilica of San Bartolomeo and Apostolic Protonotary. It was during his stay in Benevento that Bovicelli wrote his " Istoria delle Perucche ", and the first publication took place in 1722 in that city. It is a work carried out with the utmost commitment and with a rigorous scruple of research that ranges from the ancient testimonies on this ornament, found among the oriental peoples, up to the early years of the 18th century. The author's aim, however, is not that of a technical, aesthetic or social examination of the wig in general, but more simply a full-bodied reflection on the awkwardness of the wigs that ecclesiastics wore. From the very first lines of his work, Bovicelli explains its aims: “History of the perucche in which their origin, form, abuse and irregularity of those of the Ecclesiastics are shown”. Vanity must have taken the hand of many monsignors, if in the preface the author immediately enters the subject with these expressions: “Today there are so many Ecclesiastics who wear the perucca; that I have great reason to believe that they are persuaded, at least for the most part, that this foreign ornament is forbidden to them, and that it has nothing in itself that suits the decency of their profession. In order to portray them, therefore, from their error, I have undertaken this work by the stimulus of some people who are firmly pious and truly zealous in the discipline of the Church; ... it is bad to see that those of the Ecclesiastics are damned by the rules of the Church; and having shown how irregular and monstrous are those of the monks, I answer the objections which the clergymen and monks who adorn themselves may attach. I end up proposing the ways that can be employed to stop the course of this disorder and absolutely remove it from the Church ”. The preface summarizes the content of the work which had a remarkable success, so much so that two years later, in 1724, an edition was printed also in Milan (1) . The exquisite sensitivity of the author realizes that the arguments against the use of wigs by the clergy were also valid for those with which the laity adorned themselves and seems almost to apologize by appealing to the tranquility and serenity of mind of the readers: "Since Most of the proofs of which I am sifting through to combat the proofs of the Ecclesiastics can quite rightly be applied to those of the Laity, and they will easily judge that it is scarcely more permissible for lay people than for ecclesiastics to wear the perucca. However that may be, I pray to God with the language of Tertullian that the peace and grace of Jesus our Lord will fall in abundance on the people who will read this Story with tranquility of mind and who will prefer truth to custom: Haec cum bona pace legentibus, veritatem. consuetudini praeponentibus, pax et gratia a Domino nostra Iesu redundet ”(May the peace and grace of God fall on those who read these lines with serenity and put truth before custom). In the specific theme, Don Giuliano was aware of the sense of modernity which he helped to anticipate, even if the landing on this shore was not offered to him by a progressive vision, typical of the Enlightenment, but by the ridicule of the anachronistic and continuous carnival that masks exalted. After 1863 a street was dedicated to him in the historic center of Umbertide, the one that is still called “Il Bocaiolo” today. Note: 1) Two copies of the book are available at the Vatican Library. One, the one published in Benevento, in the General History Collection - Vol. 6360; the other, the one published in Milan, in CICOGNARA III - pos. 1602. Sources: - "Umbertide in the XVIII century" by Renato Codovini and Roberto Sciurpa - Municipality of Umbertide, 2003 - "History of the Land of Fratta now Umbertide" by Antonio Guerrini, completed by Genesio Perugini - Tipografia Tiberina, Umbertide 1883 (Anastatic copy by the "Local Publishing Group" of Digital Editor srl - Umbertide - 2009). Giuliano Bovicelli Cesare Bartolelli - Cristoforo Petrogalli I Cibo di Fratta Luigi Vibi LUIGI VIBI Liberal of Fratta who died in 1849 in defense of the "Roman Republic" edited by Fabio Mariotti Luigi Vibi (1) , son of the notary Lorenzo, was born in Fratta in 1807. He attended high school in Perugia where he met Luigi Bonazzi and the actor Gustavo Modena with whom he maintained a good friendship. After high school he enrolled in the faculty of law and graduated in law. He was ill in health, but gifted with a brilliant intelligence which attracted the attention of an old noble from Fratta, Costantino Magi Spinetti, of liberal faith and enrolled in Freemasonry. The old Freemason and the young graduate spent many hours together discussing liberalism and the French Revolution of which, at that time, partisan versions were given both from books and from ecclesiastical tutors. The riots of 1831 found immediate response in Perugia, which arose on February 14 of that year. The city, through its Provisional Government Committee (2) , declared the Papal Government lapsed to the great amazement of the Apostolic Delegate Mons. Ferri (3). The riots found the twenty-four year old Luigi Vibi already politically deployed and the Provisional Committee that had formed in Perugia had to know him well if just two days after taking office, on February 16, it entrusted him and Petronio Reggiani (4) with the task of going in Città di Castello (5) to establish a Provisional Government Committee in that city as well. Fratta's two sons immediately set to work by bringing together the Municipal Council of that city on February 17 to proceed with the establishment of the Provisional Committee. The trust that the Perugian liberals had in the young Vibi testifies to his political trust and the validity of the school of the old master and Freemason. The generous impulses of our patriots did not last long because they were cut short by the unfavorable trend of political events. The tricolor flags hoisted everywhere, including one on the roof of Vibi's house (6) , were soon withdrawn in anticipation of better times. The ensuing repression forced many to seek safe shelter. Lorenzo Vibi, for example, Luigi's nephew took refuge in Mercatale, in Tuscany in the land of the Grand Duchy. They were actively looking for him to arrest him because, in those days, he had pushed a priest down the stairs and broke his leg. The connection with the fugitives was maintained by a certain Fiordo Bettoni who walked the approximately 25 kilometers away almost every day to bring them food, news and everything they needed. In the first months of 1849 Luigi Vibi carried out all the activities he was capable of in favor of the Roman Republic and was one of those who reorganized the Civic Guard at Fratta. He managed to raise voluntary funds among the citizens to improve the conditions of the company of which he had become captain commander. His letter of reminder of the economic commitment signed in favor of the Civic or Citizen Guard is dated 20 April 1849. "... I therefore find it necessary to invite you, citizen, to the payment already overdue of what you have signed, to which you are obliged in the aforementioned program, which you will pay within eight days from this date in the hands of this municipal debt collector in charge of this requirement ; anticipating that in case of non-compliance I will see myself, in spite of myself, bound to prevail over legal remedies ". Below is the list of people to whom this circular letter was addressed and the list sees Sebastiano Vibi with 10 shields in the front row, followed by Gaetano Migliorati with 6 shields and by the old friend Costantino Spinetti. The letter testifies that on April 20 Vibi was at Fratta, but still for a little while. On 30 April the Roman volunteers sustained the first victorious fight against the French of General Oudinot at the Janiculum and the news of the siege of Rome by the French led him to go and fight for his defense alongside Garibaldi (7) . He left on May 5 under the command of other volunteers grouped in the "Legion of Umbria". The information we have available tells us that he was employed in the extreme southern sector of the Garibaldi array, at Porta Portese (8) , where he was seriously injured on 18 June. On 21 June, the day of St. Louis, his name day, he stopped living for his injuries, at the Pellegrini hospital. He was 42 years old. His remains rest in the Ossario Garibaldino erected on the Janiculum and the plaque commemorating him is clearly visible because it is located immediately above that of Goffredo Mameli. The funeral to Luigi Vibi (9) took place in Rome, in the church of S. Andrea delle Fratte which for the occasion was paved with many inscriptions praising his virtues and value. One of these, placed right at the entrance to the temple, said: “Magnanimous contempt for domestic wealth and of the honors which he was awarded in the city legion very rare careless in times when many foolishly yearn for it mocking his vile age and bodily sickness captain Luigi Vibi da Fratta of Perugia forty-two he fearlessly raised the arms of the last soldier on May 5, 1849 and within the sacred city on the breach and the barricades amidst the lightning of the bullets with ardent valor fighting ouch homeland love! the night of June 21 ended so precious life pierced by igneous lead than to the homeland, to relatives, to friends, to the beneficiaries more vivid ray of sunshine forever darkened but which he added unknowingly to the bliss of the heavens a new child which the name-day saint protector from afar the affectionate paternal right hand stretched out ". The events of Luigi Vibi had a sequel in 1871. Filippo Natali, an Umbertidese employed in the Municipality of Magione, wrote to the Mayor asking that the ashes of the young republican be brought back to the cemetery of Umbertide, from that of S. Spirito, also known as the " One hundred and five ”, where they were. An interminable discussion began within the Municipal Council which recalled other Umbertidesi who died in similar circumstances, such as Giuseppe Mastriforti in Condino in 1866 and Giovan Battista Igi in Mentana in 1867. The discussion continued for a few months. Meanwhile, a kind letter was sent to Filippo Natali expressing "feelings of gratitude for the patriotic inspiration" and the ashes remained where they were. The fruit of the long discussion was a stone, placed in our cemetery, with the following inscription: "Memory to Luigi Vibi of Umbertide honored citizen of proven political faith than fighting for the independence of Italy it fell in Rome on the 21st of June MDCCCXLIX Il Patrio Municipio ". The tombstone does everything possible to make the figure of Luigi Vibi anonymous, dull and neutral. It would have been better to keep quiet. In the fifties, in memory of our heroic fellow citizen, the municipal administration entitled "Largo L. Vibi" the space where his house existed before it was destroyed by the bombing of 25 April 1944. Note: 1. The news was kindly provided by Mr. Giancarlo Vibi di Umbertide, now resident in Perugia. 2. It was formed by Antonio Monadi, Antonio Canci, Giuseppe Rosa, Luigi Batoli, Luigi Menicucci, Tiberio Borgia. 3. This version of the "amazement" does not agree with that supported by the historian Luigi Bonazzi according to which there was a tacit consent on the part of Mons. Ferri. 4. Petronio Reggiani was also from Fratta. On this occasion he also had the task of establishing the Provisional Government in San Giustino, which Reggiani did by appointing the Tifernate Dr. Pietro Dini as Commissioner of that place (Giuseppe Amizie, Storia di Città di Castello in the 19th century - Edit. S . Lapi - year 1902). The Reggiani family gave valid patriots to the Italian Risorgimento, including Petronius, mentioned above. There was also Aristide who participated in the Risorgimento wars and Francesco di Gaetano who took part in the Perugian insurrection of 1859 and was then persecuted until September 1860, that is, until the arrival of the Italian troops (National Register of Noble Families of the Italian State listed below the historical profile - Ass. Historiae Fides, Milan - Edit. Graphics by S. Angelo, by Cesano Boscone - Year 1974, in the library of Dr. Angelo Zeno Reggiani). 5. G. Friendship, Op. Cit. 6. The house near the bridge over the Tiber (now Largo Vibi) was destroyed by the bombing of 25 April 1944. 7. Garibaldi spent the night in Umbertide with the Vibi family. A large walnut bed with columns was placed at his disposal. He said he felt calm because he was in the house of trusted friends and left, leaving as thanks a telescope covered in mahogany and brass, now in the possession of Mr. Giancarlo Vibi (Luigi's great-grandson) who gave us this testimony, without being able to specify the date. Reconstructing the series of events and carefully rereading the book of his Memoirs, it appears that on November 15, 1848, after the unfortunate events of Custoza and Novara, Garibaldi was in Ravenna with a handful of volunteers, waiting to embark to run to the aid of Venice. . But on that very day the assassination of Pellegrino Rossi and the revolt in the Papal State took place. Plans changed. Garibaldi went to Cesena, where he left his volunteers, and went to Rome "to make contact with the Minister of War so that he would put an end, once and for all, to our wandering existence" (from the Memoirs of Garibaldi). Probably on the occasion of this trip to Rome, between the end of November and the beginning of December 1848, Garibaldi passed through the upper Tiber valley and stopped at the Vibi house. In fact, other presences of the hero in Foligno and Cascia also date back to the same period. 8. Porta Portese, or Portuense, as it is next to the river port of old Rome (Ripa Grande). It is located on the right bank of the Tiber. 9. On the terrace of the Pincio, a few tens of meters from the balustrade, a marble bust of Luigi Vibi can still be seen today. Sources: "Umbertide nel Secolo XIX" by Renato Codovini and Roberto Sciurpa - Municipality of Umbertide, 2001 I FOOD OF FRATTA Several "characters" of the noble Cibo family were born in Fratta: Andrea, doctor and professor at the University of Perugia; the lawyer Alessandro, son of Andrea and the jurist Girolamo, a profound and distinguished man of letters. Andrea Cibo Andrea Cibo was born in 1493. He studied medicine and, still very young, taught with great praise at the University of Perugia. Pope, Clement VII, who had achieved the fame of Andrea's great knowledge, called him to Rome and appointed him his doctor, with a large salary and annual income for himself and for his heirs. He was also highly esteemed by the Supreme Pontiff Paul III Farnese, who in the trip he made to Nice, wanted him with him, and in the Pope's meeting with the Emperor Charles V and with Francis I, King of France where the truce of ten years, he was the only one invited to attend the banquet given to those great potentates. He was also a companion of the same Pope on the other solemn journey of Busseto, as shown in a letter written by Carlo Gualterozzi to Bembo on June 18, 1543. letter present in a Code of the Barberini Library. In another letter of October 1553 Aretino calls Andrea Cibo "Safe health of the sick". However, Andrea had so much love for his Fratta that in 1537 he had a hotel built at his expense for the convenience of all those who passed through to go to Perugia and Tuscany. After having served as a doctor for two other Popes, Julius III and Marcellus II, in 1557 he returned to Perugia where he stayed for five years. In 1562 he was recalled to Rome by Pope Pius IV who appointed the general proto-doctor of the health college in Rome. After the death of Pius IV he settled in Perugia where he lived very honorably until his death, which took place on May 17, 1576, at the serious age of eighty-three. The funeral honors dedicated to him by every city order were grandiose and Orazio Cardaneti da Montone, illustrious rhetorician of the 16th century, read a very forbitious and learned prayer. From Guerrini we also know that "He was buried in the Cathedral Church of S. Lorenzo (N, dr of Perugia), where three years before he had placed this modest memory by himself: 1574 ANDREA CIBO AAE 80 POSUIT He left a certain Lucrezia a widow, with whom he had several children, including Lavinia, who in the year 1579 she married Alessandro Degli Oddi. Another son of his was Alexander , who was a great success esteem in legal disciplines. He often lived in Fratta, and in 1610 he stayed there for a long time he retained with Adriana Amerigi the gentlewoman of Perugina his wife for health reasons. Poor Adriana on 21 September of the same year unfortunately had to go there succumb; and was buried in the Church of San Francesco, where still to the right of the entrance main reading is the funerary inscription, which the sad husband placed there ". After 1863, one of the most important streets of the historic center was dedicated to Andrea, formerly via Diritta or Reaale, and today considered somewhat the Corso of our city. * * * * * * Mauro Cibo Mauro Cibo, whose date of birth is unknown, as Guerrini recalls in his History of the land of Fratta, “was another scion of the noble and illustrious Cibo family. From his earliest age he showed a sweetness of character, an unabashedness of morals, an indefatigable love for divine things that finally, after having completed his career with immense profit, decided to retire from the lure of the world. In 1570 he was received as a novice among the Camaldolese hermits in the Sacred Hermitage of Monte Corona. A man of very exemplary, austere life and profound doctrine, he soon acquired the esteem and veneration of all his confreres, so that four times, by the General Chapter, he deserved to be raised to the supreme degree of Major of the whole Order. He always worked for the growth of the Congregation and obtained many privileges and advantages from various popes, Paul V - Clement VIII - Leo XI. He died in Monte Corona in the year 1604. Cesare Crispolti in his "Perugia Augusta", Lancellotti, Jacobilli, all record the praises of the venerable Hermit! " * * * * * * Pompey Food The date of birth of Pompeo Cibo, another illustrious character of this family from Fratta, is unknown. According to Antonio Guerrini “he was a man endowed with nobility of heart, of supreme wisdom and doctrine, teacher and example of all citizen virtues. He was decorated for non-liar merits of the St. Stephen's Cross (1) ; then honorably aggregated to the Perugian nobility. He lived a long life esteemed and loved by all and in February 26, 1641 he passed to eternal peace sincerely mourned by all ”. 1. The Order of Santo Stefano was established on March 15, 1562 by Cosimo I of Tuscany, who was its first grand master. It was named after Santo Stefano I pope and martyr, because on its anniversary (2 August) the Medici troops had achieved two important victories: that of Scannagallo (1554) and that of Montemurlo (1559). The emblem of the Order was the red cross on a white background. It was suppressed by the French in 1809, reconstituted in 1817 and definitively abolished by the provisional government of 1859. (The photo of the symbol of the Order is taken from the site “Santo Stefano Pope and Martyr and his Knights). The photos are from the photographic archive of the Municipality of Umbertide and Fabio Mariotti Sources: - "History of the land of Fratta now Umbertide" by Antonio Guerrini (completed by Genesio Perugini) - Typography Tiberina Umbertide - 1883 - "Umbertide - Man in toponymy" by Bruno Porrozzi - Pro Loco Umbertide Association - 1992 CESARE BARTOLELLI - CRISTOFORO PETROGALLI Two characters from illustrious families of ancient Fratta from the first half of the 1600s. Both played important roles, in different sectors, in the employ of some of the protagonists of the political and ecclesiastical life of the time Cesare Bartolelli Originally from Fratta from a distinguished family, as a young man he waited with great love for the study of civil and canonical laws at the University of Perugia, and in both he obtained a doctoral degree. He was first in Città di Castello as judge where he exercised this office with such prudence and rectitude, as to receive the applause and admiration of the best citizens. Leaving Città di Castello, he went to Rome where for his knowledge and singular merits he was appointed Auditor to Cardinal Pietro Aldobrandini, then General Superintendent of all the possessions of this house, soon managing to achieve the highest honors, up to to that of governor of Rome. Pope Clement VIII, who had the highest esteem for him, sent him twice as extraordinary ambassador to Prague to negotiate important negotiations with the Austrian emperor. In 1602, as a reward for his dedication, he was appointed bishop of Forlì. He held that church for thirty-two years, all spent for the good of the population entrusted to his pastoral care. He spent a life of irreproachable customs, all aimed at charity, as a truly apostolic man. He founded the Chapel of the Crucifix in San Salvatore in Perugia and in Fratta he had the Chapel of San Rocco built in an elegant architectural form in our church of San Francesco, with one of the statue of the Saint. Also enriching it with staves and valuable paintings. On the arch of the chapel, surmounted by the noble coat of arms, you can still read his name, a clear demonstration of the affection he always had towards this homeland of his. He died in Forlì on 7 January 1634. * * * * * * CRISTOFORO PETROGALLI Cristoforo Petrogalli was educated to the hard labors of the field by his illustrious uncle Pietro Giacomo Petrogalli, with whom he found himself participating in many feats of arms and in the capture of the fortress of Bona in Barberia where he proved his valor and his courage by saving the insignia of the company of the Perugian captain Carlo della Penna who, due to the death of the standard bearer, would have fallen into the hands of the enemy. For his many merits, Cristoforo was very well received at the court of Tuscany. Francesco de 'Medici, before dying, honored him with his sword and his jacket or chain mail in the shape of a bodice, which warriors wore in battles. He also assigned him a salary of 19 piastres a month and a noble apartment. On 6 October 1637 he was appointed by Cardinal Carlo de 'Medici captain of the broken spears (Ed. In the 16th and 17th centuries , the chosen soldiers, both infantry and cavalry, were called broken spears, who assisted the corporals and sometimes the sergeants in their various Duties. Broken spear was also the name of various militias in the service of sovereigns or high-ranking personalities). Grand Duke Cosimo II, who knew very well the military prowess of this captain of ours, on 21 September 1642 entrusted him with the command of a company of 200 infantry and in the following year, on 23 November, promoted him to the rank of sergeant major in the third of Field Master Count Angelo Maria Stufa. Finally, for his singular merits, from the kind Florence he had the great honor of being enrolled, on January 10, 1644, in the register of his fellow citizens. He died in Florence in 1648. - The photos of Fratta's characters are part of the Gallery of paintings of historical characters of the Municipality of Umbertide - The photos of the church of San Francesco are by Fabio Mariotti - The other photos are taken from "Wikimedia Commons - Wikipedia" Sources: - "History of the land of Fratta now Umbertide" by Antonio Guerrini (completed by Genesio Perugini) - Typography Tiberina Umbertide - 1883 Giovanni Mauri Filippo e Giovan Battista Fracassini Orazio Mancini Giovan Battista Spoletini Fabrizio Stella Giovanni Tommaso Pao(u)lucci GIOVANNI TOMMASO PAO (U) LUCCI Great man of letters from Fratta in the service of the Papacy curated by Fabio Mariotti Antonio Guerrini, in his work "History of the land of Fratta now Umbertide", tells us that "In 1542 Gio. Tommaso Paolucci was born in Fratta. He advanced so much in the study of the Fine Letters, that he was subsequently Secretary of the Cardinals Fulvio della Corgna, Ottavio Acquaviva and Gio. Vincenti Gonzaga. He was also very versed (also) in Mathematics, in Histories, in Greek and Latin Letters. Finally giving himself to the study of Canonical and Civil Laws, he made an admirable profit in them; and in Rome in 1585 he was redeemed (crowned ) of Doctoral Degree in both law. He was tutor of Greek letters to Monsignor Matteo Barberini, who later became pope with the name of Urban VIII. He always continued in the esteem and love of the aforementioned cardinals so that Gonzaga beyond he wanted to raise him to dignity with a large pension, appointing him with a license sent on February 6, 1580 canon of the Church of San Gregorio in Velabro. Later he was conferred the Archpriesthood of Santa Maria in Cosmedin , otherwise known as of the Greek School, with a license sent by the same Cardinal on June 8, 1585 under the pontificate of Sixtus V, that bruised and shy old man, who as soon as he was proclaimed Pope threw down his stick and boldly curled his head! Gio. Thomas wrote to give to the print various works, "Five Volumes of Selected Letters" directed to various rulers, cardinals, Distinguished Prelates, Prelates and Knights; a “Treatise on public things and policies "; a “Summary of political warnings "; various comments on the “Annals and Histories of the Prince of the political writers, Cornelio Tacito ", which remained unpublished in the hands of the heirs. His merit went so much beyond that Clement VIII made him his secretary of the Latin letters, to which honorable officio unfortunately did not come because overwhelmed prematurely by death on 1st December 1599, fifty-seventh year of his age. It was public rumor that out of courtesan envy he was poisoned in S. Maria Maggiore in celebrating the S. Sacrifice. His body was buried in Rome in the Church of S. Maria in Cosmedin, as shown in the Book of the Dead of the said Parish p. 25, aforementioned year ". The municipal administration dedicated the central street of the Fontanelle district to him on 18 December 1960. Sources: - "History of the land of Fratta now Umbertide" by Antonio Guerrini (completed by Genesio Perugini) - Typography Tiberina Umbertide, 1883 FABRIZIO STELLA Distinguished jurist from Fratta between the second half of the 1500s and the first half of the 1600s He was born in Fratta in 1565 distinguishing himself in the legal disciplines. Due to his undoubted abilities he was called to hold administrative positions in various important cities, often disengaging himself in "foreign embassies". Guerrini, in his "History of the land of Fratta", tells that the lawyer Fabrizio Stella was particularly dear to many eminent personalities, including Cardinal Bevilacqua of Ferrara (he was apostolic legate of Umbria and Perugia, who elected him protector of the city and honorary citizen, from 1600 to 1606 - Ed), as shown by many family letters written to him kept by his heirs. The King of Portugal John IV, founder of the Braganza dynasty, decorated it with the Cross of St. James of Lusitania giving it many privileges, as emerges from the relative diploma. Returning to his homeland at the age of 79, he paid the supreme debt to nature on January 15, 1644 and was buried in the Church of the Conventual Fathers of this land, leaving his descendants legacies of honors and riches, but his family was soon extinct with the death of the three married women Paolucci, Mazzaforti and Savelli. In 1880 the municipal administration dedicated what was once via dell'ologio to Fabrizio Stella. Sources: - "History of the land of Fratta now Umbertide" by Antonio Guerrini (completed by Genesio Perugini) - Typography Tiberina Umbertide - 1883 - "Umbertide - Man in toponymy" by Bruno Porrozzi - Pro Loco Umbertide Association - 1992 GIOVAN BATTISTA SPOLETINI Distinguished jurist, governor of many cities of the Papal State, celebrated in Fratta for his many merits as Father of the Fatherland Giovan Battista Spoletini, a man of great ingenuity and supreme integrity, was born in Fratta in 1557. He graduated in the legal disciplines for which he was profoundly versed; for this he undertook a government career and was appointed by the S. Consulta Governor of the ancient city of Sutri in the year 1592, of Piperno in 1593, of Napi in 1595; then of Acquapendente, Veroli and others. Returning to his homeland, from the height of his wisdom and doctrine, he constantly worked for his good, especially in the circumstance of the ruin of the two arches of the bridge over the Tiber which occurred in the year 1610. They poured the inhabitants of Fratta into the most fierce consternation as their trade languished due to the difficulty of transit to Città di Castello and Tuscany and because with their limited economic resources they saw no hope of being able to reactivate it. It was Spoletini who, inflamed with homeland love, went to Rome several times, with the protection of the distinguished prelates, his ancient acquaintances, eloquently exposing the difficult situation in which his homeland was, obtaining from Paul V Borghese, a shrewd and enterprising Pope , that the Congregation of the Good Government provided for the rebuilding of our bridge, since, by good luck, this Pope knew well the land of Fratta, Perugia, Città di Castello, Montone, Citerna. And since in the allotment made by Monsignor Marini apostolic commissioner in Perugia, Fratta was heavily taxed by a quarter of the total expenditure, our Spoletini went again to Rome and from the Congregation of the Good Government he obtained a different allotment, that is, that divided the total expenditure in twelve ounces, nine were borne by Perugia and its countryside, two by Città di Castello, and the other part for two thirds to Fratta and one third to Montone. One cannot imagine how many oppositions were made by the aforementioned municipalities, and especially by that of Città di Castello, to the point of planning the construction of a wooden bridge; but by the industriousness, wisdom and influence of Spoletini everything was overcome and in 1614 the construction of the bridge with only two arches was contracted out for a cost of seven thousand scudi. The work was quite advanced that a terrible flood occurred which unfortunately devastated what had been carried out! Then new and fiercer oppositions arose and many appeals were made against the contractors, as well as the Spoletini himself who had been appointed Superintendent of the work. Envy and wickedness barbarously joined in slandering Spoletini as a participant in the fraud of bad workmanship so that, in June 1615, an arrest order was issued for him and for the contractors. Spoletini was treated with all due regard to his condition and was confined to a room in the Palazzo Priorale in Perugia with the exhibition of a security of one thousand scudi. In the end, his innocence and honesty were recognized and he was then honorably reinstated not only in his primitive qualification of Over-standing the factory, but for the damage suffered he was decreed an indemnity of 100 scudi to be paid half by the Municipality of Fratta, half from the other Municipalities subject to the Consortium, an indemnity that Spoletini generously did not accept. The contract for the three-arch bridge was therefore renewed for the sum of 6,500 scudi, and in 1619, perfectly completed, it was made passable. Despite the persecution unjustly suffered, Spoletini continued to always be the protector and benefactor of this land, to the point that he was assigned the glorious name of Pater Patriae. His home was in via del Piano. In 1634 Giovan Battista Spoletini ceased to live at the age of 77. All generally mourned for him, because when enmities and envy were cooled above the grave, men are judged without lies there as they really were. With great solemnity he was buried in our Church of San Francesco, where to the right of the Presbytery there is a sepulchral plaque dedicated to him where you can still read the following inscription which recalls the merits and important activities carried out during his life: DOM "Jo Baptista de Spoletinis LVD. Ac Civi Perusino de Fracta, here sub Clemente VIII Pont. Max Civitates Sutrína, Nepesina, Anxuris, et Monti Falisci, Terram Priverni, et Aquepend. Gubernavit et demum in Patriam neglessus, Pontem collapsum summo animi, corporisque labore, summaque vigilantia, oppugnatis contrariis in pristinum restit. curavit Deoq. Jovi obtinuit. Jo Maria filius ad memoriam laborum sui Patris iam septugenarii posuit Ann. Dm. 1637. " After 1863 the street where he lived was dedicated to him, the ancient via del piano which at the time was the main road to go to Perugia. Sources: - "History of the land of Fratta now Umbertide" by Antonio Guerrini (completed by Genesio Perugini) - Typography Tiberina Umbertide - 1883 - "Umbertide - Man in toponymy" by Bruno Porrozzi - Pro Loco Umbertide Association - 1992 - “The talking stones” by Pietro Vispi - Local publishing group - Digital Editor Srl, Umbertide 2021 ORAZIO MANCINI Fratta prelate and diplomat of the second half of the sixteenth century Abbot Mancini was born in Fratta as honest and wealthy parents in the year 1546. As a young boy he completed a full course of studies at the University of Bologna and then went to Rome where, having proved his uncommon talent, he remained for fifty years he was employed as Secretary to the Most Eminent Caraffa, S. Severino and Doria, and with this important office he had the opportunity to attend as many as seven Conclaves. He had very important shops entrusted to him by Philip III, King of Spain, from whom he was remunerated with an annual pension of one thousand scudi a thousand on the rich Archbishopric of Taranto and that of Seville, in addition to six thousand Castilian scudi that the Duke of Lerma, supreme minister, he donated in the name of the King. At the same time he was offered the Bishopric of Cefalù and Girgenti and other large cities of Sicily, which our Mancini modestly gave up. It was also very well accepted by various Supreme Pontiffs and Princes of Italy, especially Ferdinand II, Grand Duke of Tuscany and Duke Charles of Savoy, of whom he was requested as a gentleman and diner of Cardinal Maurizio, his son. At an advanced age and tired from the many hardships sustained, he retired to Perugia where, together with Father Sozio Sozi, he founded the Congregation of the Oratory of San Filippo Neri (1) , starting the construction of the house and the magnificent temple called Chiesa Nuova or Church of San Filippo Neri, the greatest example of the Baroque in Perugia, built between 1627 and 1665 under the direction of the Roman architect Paolo Maruscelli, for the construction of which he employed large revenues from abbeys, pensions and all his patrimonial assets. He died in Perugia in the year 1629, at the age of 86. In a painting that was in the Church of San Giovanni di questo Terra, representing the name of Jesus, one could read at the bottom this writing: "Oratius Mancinus fieri fecit, et donavit Anno 1598." Its name replaced the old denomination of via Porta Nuova after 1863. Note: 1. The Congregation of the oratory originated from community of secular priests gathered in Rome around San Filippo Neri, first at the church of San Girolamo della Carità (1551) and then near that of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini (1564); was erected canonically in 1575 by Pope Gregory XIII, who donated to the oratorians the church of Santa Maria in Vallicella, and its constitutions were approved by Pope Paul V in 1612. Sources: - "History of the land of Fratta now Umbertide" by Antonio Guerrini (completed by Genesio Perugini) - Typography Tiberina Umbertide - 1883 - "Umbertide - Man in toponymy" by Bruno Porrozzi - Pro Loco Umbertide Association - 1992 La famiglia Spunta di Fratta THE SPUNTA DI FRATTA FAMILY The conspicuous family of the Spunta had many characters who, between the 1500s and the mid 1600s, gave prestige and ornament to our city both for skill in arms and in legal and literary matters. The most remote news that has come down to us reminds us of Marino, notary; Paolo, Marino's nephew, official of the Papal State; Francesco, son of Paul, also an official of the Papal State; Alfonso, son of Paolo, man of letters. Marino Check Son of Domenico Spunta, he was born in Fratta in 1480. He was highly indoctrinated especially in the legal disciplines. He worked as a notary public and his deeds are kept in the historic municipal archive of our city in twenty-nine voluminous protocols ranging from 1507 to 1545. "There are few Offices - says an important Jurisconsult - that require such a great set of honesty, knowledge and conciliatory spirit as that of the Notariat". Thirty-eight years of honorable practice in such a delicate and important career, the handling of great and jealous interests concerning the most important village and foreign families are the indubitable testimony of Marino Spunta's mirrored honesty and profound wisdom. The ancient statutes of our community dating back to 1362 were extremely disfigured and damaged by time and long use, for which the General Council recognized the need for them to be reformed and partly renewed "also because the new age from antiquity in many different things , he continually wishes to promote a new rite ». Among the many distinguished men who presided over public shops at that time, Angelo di Antonio Cibo, Antonio di Ser Orsino, Simone de Speranza and Bentivenga di Antonio Dell'Uomo, defenders of the Castle, Ser Paolo di Cristofero Martinelli, public notary and extremely person circumspect, "not that many other virtuous men of the Castle, of good, honest and political amateurs", entrusted our Spunta with the direction of this important work that he successfully completed on February 22, 1521 and which was extensively approved. The date of death of Marino Spunta is not known while it seems that he had a son named Antonio , also a public notary, who exercised from 1538 to 1558 as we can find in the public archives of this Municipality in the twenty-three protocols he left. Paolo Spunta Grandson of Marino, he was born in Fratta on the decline of the 16th century. He was the husband of Madama Orsolina and had many children, including Francesco and Alfonso of whom we will speak later. Paolo by natural inclination dedicated himself to military art and in 1627 he had already risen to the rank of Loco-Lieutenant, conferred on him by Carlo Barberini, General of the Pontifical Troops. Then for the skills demonstrated he passed to the rank of Captain with the appointment of Cardinal Camillo Panfili, General Superintendent of the State Militias. At the same time he occupied many prestigious positions and, among others, by Ottaviano Carafa, general commissioner, was appointed under commissioner for army commissions in the province of Umbria. All this can be found in authentic documents existing in the Mazzaforti family and in their other heirs. Francesco Spunta Even Francesco, son of Paolo, following in his father's footsteps, was very capable in politics and an intrepid and valiant soldier. At a young age he was already appointed standard bearer of his company by Cardinal Camillo Panfili. In the war between Urban VIII and the Florentines he distinguished himself by strenuously defending the Castles of Montalto, Polgeto and Montacuto, repelling the assailants several times and making a good number of prisoners, as can be seen from very extensive documents issued by his Excellency Gio. Battista Bono Governor General of the Weapons in this land. He had frequent times to carry out with his soldiers various expeditions under the command of Mr. Duca Savelli, Lieutenant General of S. Chiesa. Then militating under the Austrian flags, by the Commander Mr. Tommaso Mengrahell he was raised to the distinguished post of Regimental Standard Bearer. Alfonso Check Alfonso, another son of Paul, eclipsed any other for his high merits, especially in Latin literature. He was employed in various Courts and his Majesty Queen Christina Alexandra of Sweden appointed him tutor and secretary of Latin Literature. Cristina, daughter of Gustavo Adolfo and Eleonora Princess of Brandenburg, after the death of her father in Lutzen in 1632, fighting against the Austrians, was proclaimed Queen at the tender age of six. However, it remained for a long time under the tutelage of severe Regents, who, in order to educate it worthily and according to the paternal dispositions, surrounded it with the most renowned tutors of Europe. It is believed that the study of languages was the predominant passion of that young queen. Pierre Bayle, the great philosopher of Carlat, asserts that every day she read some original pages of Tacitus. Therefore our Alfonso being called as tutor and secretary in that magnificent court is the sure proof of his profound doctrine. There he was a companion and friend of the famous S almasio di Semur, of Vossio, Boschart, René Deschartes (Descartes) and of other great ones. The delightful and erudite Cristina devoted entirely to literature and sciences, annoyed by what she called the "splendid servitude of the throne", on June 16, 1654 and at the flourishing age of 28, decided to abdicate the heroic Crown of the Vasa. Our Alfonso spent another five years revered and honored in that splendid Palace, disengaging important embassies; but finally due to his poor health and the turbulence of the Kingdom, with a Diploma of King Charles X of 10 April 1659 he was returned to his homeland, where a year later he ceased to live and where he had extraordinary funeral honors and the lamented general. To Marino Spunta, and ideally to all the other members of the family, what once was dedicated it was via delle Petresche, in the historic center. The photos of the ancient characters are taken from Wikipedia. Sources: - "History of the land of Fratta now Umbertide" by Antonio Guerrini (completed Genesio Perugini) - Typography Tiberina Umbertide - 1883 - “Umbertide - Man in toponymy” by Bruno Porrozzi - Pro Loco Umbertide Association - 1992 FILIPPO AND GIOVAN BATTISTA FRACASSINI The Fracassini family, originally from Monte Acuto, had two important personalities in 1600 who honored the land of Fratta. Filippo, master mason, who made his great skills available for architectural works that we can still admire today. Giovan Battista, distinguished lawyer, judge and governor of important cities of that time. Filippo Fracassini The exact dates of the birth and death of this important descendant of the Fracassini family are not known. In the first half of the seventeenth century Filippo Fracassini was a famous operator in the art of architecture, not so much comforted by science but by his natural talent and passionate exercise. There was no great undertaking in Fratta in those times that was not entrusted to Fracassini. He, together with the master builders Ercolano da Civitella and Francesco Valentini, rebuilt the two arches of the bridge over the Tiber which was demolished by the extraordinary flood of 1610. He was director of the factory of the new Church of Santa Croce, which was erected between the years 1610 and 1647. He reformed the grandiose Temple of the Reggia on the design and direction of another worthy Frattegiano, Bernardino Sermigni, and executed many other works of no less importance, all with a happy outcome. The very learned D. Silvio Fidanza wrote the following epigraph in praise of Fracassini: "DEO CRUCI VIRGINI PHILIPPHUS DE FRACASSINIS SINE LITERIS NUMERIS DISERTISSIMUS PONTEM INFECTUM ARTE REFECIT POST DILUVIUM TRIA MILIA NONGENTA DECEM PRIDIE NONAS SEPTEMBRIS SACRAS AEDES SANCTAE CRUCIS A CRISTI AREE MORTE MARY 1649 JUBILEE 1645 ". On 18 December 1960 the road leading to Preggio was named after him. Giovan Battista Fracassini This distinguished citizen of Fratta, after having obtained a degree in philosophical and legal studies at the University of Perugia, moved to Rome to exercise the office of defender in that Supreme Curia for a long time and with excellent profit. With licenses from the S. Consulta he ruled the government of many important towns and cities, in particular Norcia and Camerino, until in 1680 by Monsignor Ghisleri he was recalled to Norcia as Lieutenant General of the Prefecture. Despite the exercise of these important offices, he never ceased to occupy himself in the functions of lawyer, as can be seen from many cases entrusted to him by Franchetti and brilliantly resolved, by the multiplicity of his writings, reports and votes that were published for the prints. He was Judge in Foligno, Vicar General in S. Sepolcro and Città di Castello. But finding himself at a very advanced age and unable to bear so many hard labors, he returned to his native land where, in the arms of his relatives who loved him so much and friends who greatly esteemed him, he gave his soul back to God in the year 1689. . Sources: - "History of the land of Fratta now Umbertide" by Antonio Guerrini (completed by Genesio Perugini) - Typography Tiberina Umbertide - 1883 - "Umbertide - Man in toponymy" by Bruno Porrozzi - Pro Loco Umbertide Association - 1992 GIOVANNI MAURI In the first half of the 1600s he was, among other things, master of the Order of Minor Conventual Fathers and bishop of Nusco The biography is taken from Guerrini's book, fully preserving the Italian of the time, from the late nineteenth century. Giovanni Mauri was born in this land in 1566. As a young man he professed among the Frs. MM . (Minor Fathers) Conventuals of St. Francis and for the tireless study and continued exercise of the most splendid virtues he became Master of that Holy Order and occupied the most luminous offices there. In the year 1626 he was already Procurator General in Rome; in 1629 Apostolic Commissioner and Visitor in Sardinia; in 1634 Inquisitor in Siena and Florence; in 1638 Consultor of the Holy Office in Rome; then Patriarchal Vicar in Constantinople. Famous in preaching, he trod the most distinguished Pergams (Ed. In architecture sacred, a kind of balcony (also called pulpit) which is usually found in churches inside, now leaning against the walls or with columns or pillars, now isolated and supported by small but richly decorated architectural elements, from which the preacher addresses the faithful) of Italy, and was marvelous for his immense erudition and for his robust facondia. Gentle verse, profound mathematician, Master of sweet melodies, and sublime Organist, he often rapt in ecstasy Amuirath IV called the Valiant, who wished to sing and play in his presence above the proud Minarets, gracefully towering on the enchanted shores of the Bosphorus. And he received precious gifts, which on his return to Rome were surprised by Pontiff Barberini himself, to whom Mauri was present with a rich fur coat and an exquisite inestimable work coat. After the highly praised exercise of such delicate and important offices, Urban VIII in 1641 consecrated Mauri as Bishop of Nusco, Principality-Further in the Neapolitan area, where after just four years with the peace of the just, with the sanctity of example, with the blessing of all the His people, who loved him as their Father, fell asleep in the Lord on November 1, 1644. Sources: - "History of the land of Fratta now Umbertide" by Antonio Guerrini (completed by Genesio Perugini) - Typography Tiberina Umbertide - 1883 Giovanni Pachino - Cintio Paulucci Bernardino Sermigni BERNARDINO SERMIGNI Great honor had Fratta from having given birth in 1600 to the architect Bernardino Sermigni, descendant of an ancient and titled family In the year 1640, seeing the dome of the Church of the Reggia at risk of collapse, he immediately set to work, together with Flori , to avert this tragic event. After consulting the architect of the Grand Duke and other corresponding artists, it was finally decided to completely renew the internal order giving it a more noble form, also following the advice of Pietro Burelli , another talented engineer from Fratta. This Temple has an octagonal plan on the outside, circular inside with a diameter of twenty meters; and its height twice the diameter. When you enter the church you are immediately struck by the boldness of the great dome, as if thrown into the air, by the elegant, majestic harmony of the whole. The buttresses of the primitive construction did not oppose vigorous resistance to the considerable thrust of the structure, so it was necessary to strengthen them. And here is the genius of our artist not to stop among the only remedies of arid solidity but also trying to combine this with aesthetics to draw the most pleasant benefit from it. Around the internal walls there is a complete order of sixteen columns, somewhat detached from the wall, on which the exhibits of the corresponding pillars are shown. The intercolumns (Ed. Space between two columns) are odd. In the largest, which is an aerospace (Ed. Temple in which the intercolumniation had a width greater than three diameters) , eight large round arches well decorated with cornices and stuccoes, and with their large recess they make magnificence and convenient to the altars , the orchestra and the two main entrances. The other intercolumniation is somewhat narrower, all divided up by niches, divided between them by the continuing frame of the side shutters. These various intercolumns make up admirably separate groups of coupled columns, which present at the same time speed and the most graceful movement. The order of the colonnade is Doric and has a remarkable height of 9.60 meters. How much philosophy of art in the choice of this order! Our columns, which here support such a laborious office, had to be characterized by the constant character of the most severe robustness. The slight streaks in the large stems have also been suppressed and short grooves indicated only in the collar of the Capitals. The primeval robust height of the architrave has been preserved and the most sensible parsimony in the limbs (Ed. Horizontal Membrature placed in conjunction with columns) . And for this artistic criterion and also to avoid the inconveniences in the cornice mostly resulting from the coupling of the columns, triglyphs are suppressed (Ed. The triglyph is an architectural element of the Doric order frieze of Greek and Roman architecture. stone tile, decorated with vertical grooves) and modiglioni (Ed. The modiglione, also called modione, is a sculpted shelf that supports the upper protruding part of the frame) , following the example of the Farnesina del Peruzzi (Ed. Villa Farnesina in Rome built around the 1505 on a project by the architect Baldassarre Peruzzi) and of the Palazzo Stoppani by Raffaele (Ed. Palazzo Stoppani in Bergamo in 1500). Above the described entablature (Ed. Architectural structure, including the horizontal element of the trilithic system, of the Greek-Roman architectural orders and consists of architrave, frieze and cornice ), which with the right alignment circumscribes the whole Temple, stands the large drum della Cupola shaped as a sumptuous attic. Above each column we see repeated as many pillars, to which the proportional projection of an elegant frame with all purity of art composes the ornament of the relative capitals. In the intermediate spaces there are stupid arches for grandiose windows; various collections for bas-reliefs and paintings. Then, a little higher, another frame, so that the adorned nut, which is created between these frames, constitutes a graceful base for the great dome, which boldly develops elliptically at the top. Here four large windows send streams of light inside. Here ribs that arise from the subordinate orders adorn the grandiose curve of the structure and converging at the top rejoin to raise a lantern, which the magnificent building elegantly crowns. On the outside, the internal architecture is repeated with all simplicity. It was thought for greater beauty to leave the dome naked outside, encrusted with lead, but the seriousness of the expense did not allow it. The construction of the walls is brick, the bands and stucco decorations, the architectural orders are all in pietra serena and executed with the most exquisite stereotomic ( Ed Stereotomìa is the set of geometric knowledge and traditional techniques relating to the tracing and cutting of the blocks and of freestone segments and their assembly and use in complex structures related to architectural constructions) cleanliness. Shortly after 1647 this great Temple was completed again, which are classics artists consider among the most beautiful of the Umbrian districts and that it certifies brightly the valentia of our architect. Sermigni died in 1670, at the age of 70. Sources: - “History of the land of Fratta now Umbertide” by Antonio Guerrini (completed Genesio Perugini) - Typography Tiberina Umbertide - 1883 GIOVANNI PACHINO and CINTIO PAULUCCI Two characters of ancient Fratta who distinguished themselves, the first in the legal disciplines, the second in military art Giovanni Pachino Distinguished jurist, in the first half of the 1400s he was Grand Master of the income of the Duke of Milan Filippo Maria Visconti Giovanni Pachino (or Paghino) was born in Fratta towards the end of the 14th century. I started very young to study and then deepen the legal disciplines, so much so that I earned the nickname of "Splendor of Italian Jurisprudence". He traveled extensively in even distant regions for the desire to know, study and deepen the different customs and customs of other peoples and their laws. Pachino, for his experiences and for his doctrine, was called to the service of authoritative princes and personalities of his time, who repaid him with honors and riches. Shortly before the middle of the 15th century he was called to Milan, to the important court of Filippo Maria Visconti who, for the trust and esteem he had in our fellow citizen, also entrusted him with the prestigious position of Grand Master of all the ducal income. He had a large family. It is probable that, in consideration of a possible dynastic change in Milan, Pachino asked and obtained permission from the Visconti to be able to return to Umbria. This is how he settled in Perugia in 1443, where he became an honorary citizen. In the Perugian Annals of the year 1443 he was defined as “De Castro Fractae Filiorum Umberti egregius et famosissimus legum doctor”. He died in Perugia in 1444. A street was named after Giovanni Pachino, a crossroads of Via Roma. Cintio Paulucci Valent man of arms, he knew how to honor himself by fighting for the Venetian Republic Towards the end of the 16th century, shortly after the formidable battles in Cyprus where Pietro Giacomo Petrogalli worked wonders of great value, another brave warrior of our land was fighting in the employ of the invincible Venice. Cintio Paulucci, a man of perspicacious talent and particularly expert in military art, inspired by the genius of the times, fearlessly threw himself where battles both against Muslims and the most indomitable piracy often raged. Not surprisingly, with a license dated July 27, 1628, he was promoted by the Venetian Republic (1) to the rank of Captain of the Halberdiers (2) . In the year 1632 he was sent to Dalmatia, in Sibenik, as commander of the Italian Company to be then assigned, with another license of 6 June 1636, as Major and Commander General, to Zakynthos (3) , one of the most important islands of the Ionian sea where shortly after he ceased to live full of merits and glory. Tall stature, pleasant appearance, severe eye, spacious forehead, ringed hair, steel armor, halberd in hand, coat of arms with eagle on a red background: this is how Cintio Paulucci was represented in a portrait of his time that unfortunately has not reached us. . Note: 1. The Venetian Republic, starting from the seventeenth century Most Serene Republic of Venice, was a maritime republic with Venice as its capital. Founded according to tradition in 697 by Paoluccio Anafesto, in the course of its one thousand hundred years of history it established itself as one of the major European commercial and naval powers. Initially extended in the area of the Do g ado (a territory currently comparable to the metropolitan city of Venice) in the course of its history it annexed much of north-eastern Italy, Istria, Dalmatia, the coasts of present-day Montenegro and Albania as well as numerous islands in the Adriatic and eastern Ionian seas. At the height of its expansion, between the 13th and 16th centuries, it also ruled the Peloponnese, Crete and most of the Greek islands, as well as several cities and ports in the eastern Mediterranean . 2. Towards the end of the Middle Ages, the European armies increasingly equipped themselves with units of halberdiers, a body of heavy infantry armed with halberds. This was a long shaft that ended in a two-edged blade and, just below, an ax blade was engaged on one side and a large hook on the other. The halberdiers also wore particular helmets called morions, similar to helmets with a rigid and upward-curved brim, pointed at the front and at the back. The most popular models had a crest or ended with a sharp cusp. 3. Zakynthos is a Greek island (405 km²) with a population of approximately 40,000 inhabitants. The island is located in the Ionian Sea, near the coasts of the Peloponnese and is part of the archipelago of the Ionian islands. Zakynthos was at the center of the Spartan-Athenian battles; it was then one of the Ionian islands under Venetian rule, during which the poet Ugo Foscolo was born, who dedicated the sonnet “A Zacinto” to it; in 1953 it was devastated by a disastrous earthquake. Sources: - "History of the land of Fratta now Umbertide" by Antonio Guerrini (completed by Genesio Perugini) - Typography Tiberina Umbertide - 1883 Filippo Maria Visconti, Duke of Milan The coat of arms of the Duchy The Sforzesco Castle Costantino Magi - Angelo Martinelli - Francesco Spinetti La famiglia Soli - Sante Pellicciari Cherubino Martelli - Felice Remeri Lavinio Magi - P. Paolo Cristiani LAVINIO MAGI and PIETRO PAOLO CRISTIANI They both chose ecclesiastical careers and were at the helm at different times of the church of Sant'Agata in via dei Priori, one of the oldest churches in Perugia Lavinio Magi Priest of exemplary and pious customs; rich in doctrine, especially in the theological sciences, in the sacred canons and in the liturgy. He was born in Fratta in 1579 from an honorable family. He studied in the Seminary of Città di Castello under the famous Marcantonio Bonciario, distinguished orator called "The Homer of Italy" by Giusto Lipsio, the most profound critic and the most learned polygraph of those times. Lancellotti in the "Perugian History" tells us that the Magi enjoyed the affection of the very learned bishop Napoleone Comitoli (1) , of Cardinals Torres and Baldeschi, who used his work and his wise men in the most delicate matters of their Sacred Ministry advice. He was elected parish priest of the Church of S. Agata in Perugia by Camitoli, a benefit to which the most deserving subjects of the clergy were nominated. He was Master of Ecclesiastical Liturgy of which he wrote a highly appreciated volume. Several times he had the office of Diocesan Visitor (2) , Synodal Examiner (3) and President of the Congregation of Christian Doctrine, whose constitutions he wisely reformed in 1626. He was ecclesiastical superior of the Hospital of Perugia elected with full suffrages, a position he held for six years with much advantage of the Pious Place, especially in the arrangement of all the important ancient and modern writings contained in that voluminous Archive. He was also a very accurate reorganizer of the other no less important Archive of the Noble Collegio della Mercanzia, where ancient and precious memories were found. After many hardships in favor of civil and religious society, at the age of 61, he died of a heart attack on May 31, 1640. Note: 1. He was compared to S. Carlo Borromeo for having been able to bring the renewals of the Council of Trent into the physical and moral structures of the diocese of Perugia with strength and dedication. A man of high principles and of considerable depth, the great artistic and urban development achieved under his episcopate is proof of the energy lavished on the city, such as the complete restoration desired for the church of Sant'Ercolano. He studied canon law and civil law at the University of Bologna , made numerous pastoral visits, was heard in various synods and did his utmost to improve the dioceses of the region. Jurist of the Sacra Rota, he died in Perugia in 1624. 2. In the Catholic Church , an apostolic or diocesan visitor is an ecclesiastical representative with the transitory mission of making a canonical visit of a relatively short duration. The visitor is instructed to investigate a particular circumstance in a diocese or country and to submit a report to the Holy See at the conclusion of the investigation. 3. Within the Catholic curia there is also the so-called "synodal examiner", a theologian appointed by the diocesan prelate to evaluate those who have been selected for sacred orders and to work with parish ministries and preachers. Pietro Paolo Cristiani He was born in Fratta from a wealthy and distinguished family. From an early age he devoted himself to studies with great profit. He graduated in Sacred Sciences having chosen to pursue an ecclesiastical career. For his integrity and doctrine he was appointed Rector of the parish church of S. Agata (1) in Perugia (where Lavinio Magi, another illustrious fellow citizen of ours, had resided about a century earlier) and for 30 years he supported this ministry with great praise. At the same time he was one of the most renowned professors of the University of Perugia, occupying the Chair of Dogmatic Theology. For many years he held the position of Librarian in the city library, arranging it in a more orderly and elegant form. He was synodal examiner of the eminent Ansidei and of Monsignor Fornari and finally Consultor of the Tribunal of the Holy Office. He was the author of many learned literary works, of a famous dialogue entitled "The Grammatico" (taken from an unknown author of 1557) printed in Perugia in 1717 and of some homeland memories existing in the Mariotti Library. Giacinto Visconti, a talented writer of the eighteenth century, sent a letter to P. Calogerà on the works and life of our fellow citizen, a letter that can be found in the library of San Michele in Murano. Pietro Paolo Cristiani died in the year 1737. Note: 1. The church of Sant'Agata, built seven centuries ago around 1317, is located at the beginning of the very central Via dei Priori, arriving there from Corso Vannucci, known by many faithful and lovers of art history as one of the "caskets" more precious than the Franciscan Gothic style present in Umbria. Inside the church, restored and reopened for worship in February 2015, on the walls and vault there are fresco decorations of considerable historical and artistic interest, from the Umbrian-Sienese school. The restoration work made it possible to find significant pictorial parts on the walls such as the image of St. Francis receiving the stigmata, above the well-known and original face of the "Triform Christ", in front of the right side entrance, and of two saints fathers of the Church painted on the lunettes of the vault above the altar. Sources: - "History of the land of Fratta now Umbertide" by Antonio Guerrini (completed by Genesio Perugini) - Typography Tiberina Umbertide - 1883 CHERUBINO MARTELLI and FELICE REMERI Two Franciscan fathers of Fratta who held prestigious positions, the first as Bishop of Spiga, an ancient city of the Hellespont, the second as Guardian in the Sacred Convent of Jerusalem and Guardian of the Sepulcher of Jesus Christ. Cherubino Martelli News of this illustrious fellow citizen of ours, whose date of birth is unknown, was provided by the Perugian father Ottavio Lancellotti in his memoirs entitled "Scorta Sagra" (1) . He was a Father among the Minor Observants of St. Francis and due to the integrity and breadth of his doctrine he occupied the most important offices of that Congregation until the moment when the eminent Cardinal Andrea della Valle, bishop of Malta, wanted him as his theologian. The fame of his profound science and his mirrored virtues quickly reached the Vatican and Pope Leo X, the great "Patron of the Scholars", awarded him the title of Episcopal of Spiga, an ancient city of Hellespont (2) . He died in Cetona (3), land of Tuscany, in 1520 in the odor of holiness. His body was buried in a modest tomb (4) in that church of S. Francesco but (as a chronicle of that place tells us) due to the many prodigies worked towards him the devotion of the faithful increased immensely so that, after exhuming his body and found intact, it was solemnly placed under the main altar in an elegant urn. Note: 1. 2-volume paper manuscript left with will at the Augusta Library in 1654. 2. The Hellespont, today Dardanelli, is the strait that divides the Aegean Sea from the Black Sea. 3. Pretty village in the province of Siena between the Val d'Orcia and the Val di Chiana. In 1418 Cetona was conquered by Braccio Fortebraccio da Montone. 4. Sarcophagus for the dead. Felice Remeri His date of birth is unknown, it is known that he was the son of Bernardino Remeri dalla Fratta and brother of a Luca Remeri, notary of the venerable Apostolic Chamber. Felice from his youth devoted himself to the study of the sacred sciences and became a religious of the Observance of San Francesco. Here he distinguished himself as a supreme theologian and as an exemplary Father, to the point of holding the most important offices of his Congregation. Clement VII (Giulio de 'Medici) with a special Brief (1) appointed him to the prestigious office of Guardian in the Sacred Convent of Jerusalem (2) , where the Sepulcher is kept of Jesus Christ. The notary Benedetto De Sanctis, an 87-year old man of integrity, said and our fellow citizen, who when Father Felice threw himself at the feet of Clement VII for to have the blessing of farewell, so exclaimed the inspired Pontiff "Please God, Friar Felice, may we together with you receive the palm tree in that blessed land of Martyrdom! " Full of sacred fervor he left Italy and after having sailed for a long time in the stormy sea between Candia and Cyprus, he landed in Acre and went to Jerusalem. Crispolti and Jacobilli narrate that “as soon as he arrived there, he stayed four continuous days at the Holy Sepulcher absorbed in the most profound contemplation, and which diluted so in hot tears, little was missing there would not remain lifeless ". Having then fulfilled with the most fervent zeal all the needs relating to his expedition and to his ministry always giving a shining example of illicitness, of moderation, of piety and all other brighter virtues, in the year 1595, many months after his arrival in Jerusalem passed away in the odor of Holiness (3) . His body is still preserved in that Church with great veneration and many are told about it wonders received from God through his intercession. The name of Felice Remeri is therefore found deservedly counted among the other saints of Umbria. Note: 1. Pontifical document with normative value, lower than the papal bull. 2. The Custody of the Holy Land is a priory of Jerusalem , founded as a Province of the Holy Land in 1217 by Saint Francis of Assisi, who had also founded the Franciscan Order in 1209. In 1342 the Franciscans were declared with two papal bulls as custodians officers of the Holy Places on behalf of the Catholic Church. The headquarters of the Custody are located in the Monastery of San Salvatore, a 16th-century Franciscan convent near the New Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem. The heart of the old city of Jerusalem for Christians is the basilica of the Holy Sepulcher, known by the locals as the "church of the resurrection": inside it is found the Calvary, place of the crucifixion and death of Jesus, and the Tomb of Christ, from which the Son of God resurrected on the third day. The two Holy Places are interrelated and inseparable, as is the paschal mystery of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ which was fulfilled there and is continually fulfilled. For eight hundred years the Franciscan friars of the Order of Friars Minor have been the custodians of the Holy Sepulcher, on behalf of the Catholic Church, and have shared ownership of the basilica with the Greek Orthodox Church and the Armenian Apostolic Church. 3. Felice Ranieri (Remeri) from Fratta was the 73rd Guardian of the Sacred Sepulcher from 1593 to 1595 (from Wikipedia). Sources: - "History of the land of Fratta now Umbertide" by Antonio Guerrini (completed by Genesio Perugini) - Typography Tiberina Umbertide - 1883 THE SOLI DI FRATTA FAMILY and SANTE PELLICCIARI Illustrious families of the Fratta of the sixteenth century Giovanni Paolo and Francesco Maria Soli The Soli family was one of the most illustrious and wealthy families in our area. Their building was in via Cibo. They had another more sumptuous one on the Piaggia di Metula (Romeggio area) which was set on fire, with those of other lords of the time, by order of Captain Pallavicino when in 1643 the army of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, during the war against Urban VIII, tried to take over our territory by putting the Castle of Fratta under siege. Giovanni Paolo and Francesco Maria, for their honesty and the virtuous actions were both ascribed by the Reale House of Savoy in the Knightly Order of St. Maurice and Lazarus (1) . With various assets they owned at this land, just east of the Temple of the Royal Palace, they had a Commenda built which on the death of Francesco Maria, without successors, fell back to Religion of those Knights and which was therefore conferred to the noble Bourbon family of Sorbello. John Paul instituted one in his last will Chapel to be officiated in the Collegiate Church and in that of Ponte, now joined to the Prepositure (2) , for which there was a capital of 400 scudi amidst the bishopric of Gubbio, who paid the respective interest. Francesco Maria ceased to live on December 27, 1599 a few years after the death of his brother and thus this noble and generous lineage remained extinct. A street has been named after the Soli brothers in what was once the Borgo Inferiore, the area of today's Piazza San Francesco. Note: 1. The Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus (also known as the Mauritian Order) is a chivalric order born from the merger of the Chivalric and Religious Order of St. Maurice and the Order for Assistance to the Lepers of St. Lazarus in 1572. With the XIV Transitional and Final Provision of the Italian Constitution, the Mauritian Order ceases to be a dynastic order but is kept as a hospital institution, with the functions and order established by the constitutional law of November 1962. 2. It is a term that designates the office of a parish priest, or provost (provost or provost) with special privileges in a parish. Sante Pellicciari He held important administrative positions in the second half of the sixteenth century at the orders of the General Council of Decemvirs (Priors) of the city of Perugia This compatriot of ours was a man of great ingenuity and proven probity. He was celebrated by Pellini in his "Storia Perugina", where he calls him "Writer of great gravity". He was Secretary of the Decemvirs (1) of the City of Perugia. After many years of honorable service, after having procured many advantages to that illustrious community, after having skillfully disengaged the most difficult tasks in very difficult circumstances, he obtained a rich pension and in addition he was spontaneously decreed by the General Council the privilege of adding the Half Griffin (2) to his noble armies. The same privilege on June 25, 1607 was assigned, in continuity with the father, to his sons Pietro Paolo, Lodovico and Silvestro, faithful imitators of the paternal virtues. The office of Secretary of the Community of Perugia was conferred on the proposal of Pellicciari to another of our no less famous compatriot, Filippo Alberti, his nephew. Full of honors, our saint retired to Fratta, settling in a delightful estate on the eastern slope of the Colle di Romeggio, or Piaggia di Metula, with a garden and a palace of noble architecture, where Francesco de 'Medici stayed on his return from Loreto to Florence. This Prince was treated sumptuously by Sante Pellicciari Junior, grandson of our Sante, who was given a very rich gold necklace as a sign of gratitude for the welcome received. In 1607 Sante Senior ceased to live in Perugia between the late general and his descendants lasted until 1814, becoming extinct with Dr. Luca Pellicciari, professor emeritus of experimental physics at the Perugino University. Note: 1. Also called Priors. Ten magistrates who held the city government in the Middle Ages until the early eighteenth century. 2. Tradition tells that it was the Etruscans, an ancient people also present in Umbria, who brought the griffin to Italy: its myth is in fact represented on urns, sarcophagi and bas-reliefs found in the finds. This symbol was then assumed by the Municipality of Perugia since the Middle Ages, through the members of the Corporations of Arts and Crafts who had the consent to use it in their coats of arms. Sources: - "History of the land of Fratta now Umbertide" by Antonio Guerrini (completed by Genesio Perugini) - Typography Tiberina Umbertide - 1883 COSTANTINO MAGI - ANGELO MARTINELLI - FRANCESCO SPINETTI Three characters who lived in Fratta between the 1600s and the early 1700s and who have proven themselves in various disciplines Constantine Magi Man of distinguished reputation in Fine Arts and in Philosophy. Accredited doctor and rare example of love for one's neighbor. The Magi, provided with sufficient wealth, never left Fratta to practice his art, which indeed for many years in a row and whenever necessary he served his fellow citizens for free, leaving the salary written in the Municipal Table always available. of the poorest and putting at their disposal what else they needed of his patrimony. After the loss of his wife, whom he had loved so much, he decided to embrace an ecclesiastical career. Having become a priest, he always led an exemplary and holy life. He wrote precious memories of his homeland, which for the most part were unfortunately lost due to the neglect of the descendants. In the year 1710, amid the blessings of the people, he died peacefully in the Lord. Angelo Martinelli Angelo Martinelli was born in Fratta on 29 September 1630. His father was Maurizio Martinelli and Fiora Corinti the mother. He became a priest and was parish priest in the Church of S. Luca (1) and Confessor of the Capuchins in Perugia and then of Monastery of S. Maria Nuova i n Fratta, where finally he fixed his abode. He was charitable in the name of the poor of Jesus Christ, so much so that he himself often remained deprived of clothing and food to help them. The exemplarity of his life, the sublimity of his virtues made him so grateful to the Lord who granted him the priceless gift of foreshadowing the future, as he did precisely for his death, as reported in a chronicle of that time. On March 19 of the year 1721, as predicted by him, passed placidly to eternal life. The funeral was solemn and all classes of people. His body was secretly buried enters double chest in the Parish Church of S. Erasmo in Cornu Evangelii (2) . Note: 1. The church of San Luca was built in 1586, on the site of one medieval church, commissioned by Bino Sozi of the Order of the Knights of Malta. It has a sober facade embellished with a beautiful entrance door embellished by materials stone and in particular from a truncated tympanum below which there are beautiful friezes of a religious nature. The interior, articulated in a nave with three spans separated by pillars of Doric style, it preserves a canvas by Giovanni Antonio Scaramuccia and the Madonna delle Grazie, a 15th century fresco. 2. The side of the gospel (in cornu Evangelii in Latin ) is an area of the Western Christian churches. It takes its name from the place where the reading of the gospel takes place in the liturgy. Compared to the high altar, it is located on the left side. Francesco Spinetti Francesco Spinetti, a man of great doctrine in the legal faculties, was born in our land in 1660. After having completed his studies in Rome, where he graduated in law, he also obtained the distinguished degree of Rotal Lawyer. By the Government, connoisseur of his merits, he was appointed Governor of the City of Foligno and then to other important positions. In old age he returned to his homeland with a good pension and stopped living there in the year 1724. Not having a direct succession, he left his consort Lucrezia Beni alone, a woman of singular piety, who had the Oratory of S. Filippo Neri called the New Church built near her house and at her own expense, then suppressed and reduced to home. The lawyer Francesco Spinetti, in addition to a magnificent library, left various manuscripts and especially an elaborate repertory of legal texts, divided into several volumes, which the surviving grandchildren recklessly dispersed. Sources: - "History of the land of Fratta now Umbertide" by Antonio Guerrini (completed by Genesio Perugini) - Typography Tiberina Umbertide - 1883 On the left, the house built on the remains of the church of Sant'Erasmo in the 40s and today Bernardino Magi The works are the mirror of the author's soul. A wise observer investigates the character, the custom, the passions, the character of the writer, and rarely deceives himself. The inert harmony of our elders, which not even a line has left on our famous painter Bernardino Magi, requires an exact observation of his paintings, in order to detect the character of the author, the school to which he belonged, the time in which he painted and the merit of the artist. Bernardino was born in Fratta over the middle of the 16th century from the ancient, conspicuous and wealthy Magi family, as evidenced by the grandiose mansion in the Piazza del Comune, where his descendants lived for a long time. From an early age he showed himself to be inclined to the art of painting. Objects of his meditation were always delightful things, inspiring sweet emotions, sweetness, graces, naturalness and above all beauty, towards which he was enraptured by an irrepressible transport. Either he admired it in the starry sky or in the rising dawn, or in the trembling groves struck by the sun, or in the gray hills where herds and shepherds swarm, or in the laughing prairies, wherever they appeared to him as an object of enchantment. He abhorred only melancholy, fatal, frightening objects. In this he conformed to an affable, sweet, mannered custom, led to love everyone and with equal affection to be paid for it. The parents, having known the inclination of their son and his genius, sent him to Urbino where the name of Federico Barocci (1) resounded high, as the most famous painter of that century. It was Barocci of a frank, kind and courteous character; such the disciple, so that great was the affection, unspeakable the commitment, and tireless study in order to satisfy the desires of the tutor. Hence that exact correction in the drawing, those pleasant attitudes, those figures so well posed, those heads of virgins, those nudes of children of a sweetness that enchant, those compositions of a simplicity and naturalness that fall in love. With what favor he waited to imitate the magical color of the tutor his paintings testify. Frederick did everything to emulate Correggio (2) , making him the most gracious, most agreeable, most lovable painter of the Roman School. Barocci was able to give harmony, a brightness, a truth to his paintings, which arouse wonder. Magi imitated the master so clearly that he was sometimes mistaken for him. For this there is an anecdote concerning the Magi. In the aftermath of the imperial government, the famous artist Agostino Tofanelli, Director of the Academy of Fine Arts, was sent to make a choice of Painting Heads to be transported to the capital. In the Church of S. Maria di Fratta ( Ed. It is probably the small church of S. Maria dei Rimedi which was located in the Mercatale Superiore area, the current end of Piaggiola and Piazza Marconi) observing the painting of Magi placed in his altar noble, considered it original by Barocci and as such had it transported to Rome. This results from the documents of that government and from the testimony of Mr. Giambattista Burelli who was then the Town Hall Secretary. It is true, however, that this painting, when examined better, was judged to belong to the school, not to the hand of Barocci. The painting was recovered by the Magi family and rearranged in the altar to the left of the main entrance. It is a rectangular canvas, 2.20 meters high, 1.60 meters wide. At the top there is the Holy Virgin above an arch of clouds slightly refracted by an area of light, which spreads from the divine head and which flows admirably to give life to the underlying countryside. The Madonna is dressed in a silky pink robe, cloaked in a blue cloth whose edges seem to be jokingly waved by the zephyrs of Heaven. Posing the face with dignified modesty, with the right hand in the act of dispensing a glorious palm, it seems to disengage a great decree of the Eternal. And he supports the Child Jesus with his left arm, who, covering his very delicate naked limbs with a white veil, tightens himself tenderly to the Divine Mother's neck in the eyes, in the horsehair, in the graceful lips. Three Seraphim masterfully arranged around, absorbed in blessed veneration, compose a glory in the style of the great Correggio. At the bottom of the picture there is a varied field of degrading hills well adorned with landscapes, woods, streams, rivers, the most delightful scenes of nature. To the right of the beholder is the profile of the Magdalene, a very charming young man, richly dressed, with her long hair on her shoulders dissolved, with her right knee bent in reverence and offering to Mary that jar of mysterious ointments which deserved the miracle of her conversion. On the left is St. Lawrence, kneeling, with his arms crossed at his breast, dressed in a diaconal tunic, who in the act of receiving the longed-for palm from the Queen of Martyrs, expresses in his animated face all the sacred joy that invades him. In front of the Saint, like a victory trophy, the iron painful grill stands on the ground; and alongside an old prelate (subject of the Magi family!) is about to crown him with the glorious diadem. Distances of admirably true positions, characteristic variety of complexions where the blood flows; a choice of very vague forms; a very pure correction of drawing; a freshness of color that enchants, an overall harmony that captivates. Under the figure of S. Lorenzo there is written by the same brush 1597. In a folder on the frame of the same Altar there is sculpted MDLXXXXII. On the sides of the side columns "RD Luduvicus de Magis". And in the dice of the pedestals on both sides of the Altar the noble weapon of the Magi family, consisting of two hands clasped in faith with a Comet above. In the lateral parts of the High Altar of the same Church there were two tables of the Magi, one copied by the Master, representing Christ on the Cross, St. John and the Virgin; the other a beautiful nativity scene. In the Sacristy there is also a S. Lorenzo and a S. Francesco. In the Church of the Good Death he painted the canvas of S. Antonio Abate. This canvas 2.48 m high, 4.40 wide is located in the altar to the left of the entrance. It is made up of four main figures. On one side we see the Holy Abbot Antonio in pontifical robes, all adorned with graceful golden embroidery. His right knee is bent with dignity to the ground, and all intent on a sacred legend, he opens his lips in the thick of a very soft beard to a smile of holy complacency. On the other side, St. Paul, a venerable old man, kneeling under a poor habit and on a curved stick, praying devoutly in the rosary of Mary. The gaunt tanned face, the absorbed furrowed eyelashes, the bald wrinkled forehead, all express the penitent effects of his religious solitude. Next to it you can see St. John the Baptist in the appearance of a dear young man, who with the gracefulness of the forms, with the floridity of the complexion harmonizes the effect of the most beautiful pictorial antithesis. Then, as seated among very limpid clouds, Mary rises up, who with folded hands holds the Baby Jesus to her breast between a white linen. She has a pink and white robe, a purplish mantle gracefully ruffled by the hand of the Angels. In the lips, in the eyes, in the compassionate attitude, how the divine tenderness transpires, which he feels for his delight! The latter, all joyful, with very vague pupils, almost fixed in an ecstasy of harmless abstraction, carries all the celestial maternal features on his face, charmingly repeated. Twelve Seraphim in splendid various rounds finally crown the glory of the Queen of Heaven. In the rear frame we can read Bernardino Magi painted the year 1596. From this we can deduce the age of his works. In the noble Oratory attached to his home he had repeated the Madonna in the picture of S. Maria in large scale and his apartments were full of his paintings. Bernardino did not want to abandon his beloved Preceptor even in death. He was missing from the living in perhaps not senile age in 1612, in the same year in which the master Federico was kidnapped to the Fine Arts. Note: 1. Federico Barocci, known as Fiori, was born in Urbino between 1528 and 1535. His elegant style makes him considered an important exponent of Italian Mannerism and the art of the Counter-Reformation between Correggio and Caravaggio and is also considered one of the precursors of the Baroque. 2. Antonio Allegri, known as Corréggio, was one of the most important Renaissance painters of the Parma school. He was the son of a merchant who lived in Correggio, the small town where Antonio was born in 1489 and died in 1534, and from which he took his name. Sources: - "History of the land of Fratta now Umbertide" by Antonio Guerrini (completed by Genesio Perugini) - Typography Tiberina Umbertide - 1883 Bernardino Magi - Muzio Flori Leopoldo Grilli Lodovico Flori LODOVICO FLORI Il gesuita ragioniere di Fratta che proseguì con successo gli studi di contabilità sulla partita doppia intrapresi cento anni prima dal frate toscano Luca Pacioli Lodovico Flori nacque a Fratta il 26 dicembre 1579 da famiglia benestante sebbene di rango modesto. Da giovinetto si dedicò allo studio delle leggi conseguendo il dottorato. All’età di 31 anni, il 25 marzo 1610, entrò nel noviziato della Compagnia di Gesù a Roma dopo i suoi studi di filosofia, teologia e diritto. Concluso il biennio da novizio, nel 1612 si trasferì a Messina dove, nel 1614, fu ordinato sacerdote. Il 1° gennaio 1625 emise i voti solenni e diventò così “coadiutore spirituale” (1) . Non emettendo il quarto voto solenne dei gesuiti, non sarà un “professo” (2) . Fu nominato procuratore della Provincia sicula della Compagnia dal 1617 al 1632, quando lasciò la carica per occuparsi dell’amministrazione della Casa Professa di Palermo dove morì il 24 settembre 1647. Nonostante gli importanti e impegnativi incarichi amministrativi che rivestiva all’interno della Compagnia, Flori continuò a dedicarsi allo studio degli antichi codici e dei 60mila volumi del Collegio Massimo dove abitava. Frutto di tutto ciò furono 18 opere che ci ha lasciato, in parte da lui composte, in parte da lui tradotte, opere che si ritrovano nell’elenco pubblicato dal prof. Vermiglioli nella sua “Biografia degli scrittori perugini”. Tuttavia l’opera più importante del nostro illustre concittadino è senza dubbio il “Trattato del modo di tenere il libro doppio domestico col suo esemplare composto” , trattato per uso delle case e dei collegi della medesima compagnia nel Regno di Sicilia (stampato a Palermo nel 1636 da Decio Cirillo), opera ancora oggi citata, analizzata e studiata. “Fu ai primi del ’600, col sopravvenire della grande crisi, che i dirigenti gesuitici dovettero preoccuparsi seriamente della situazione economica dell’ordine divenuta drammatica e allarmante. Furono perciò promosse inchieste, studi e ricerche nell’intento di stabilire quali mezzi fossero i più idonei per fronteggiare i paurosi disavanzi della gestione patrimoniale” (F. Renda, Bernardo Tanucci e i beni dei gesuiti in Sicilia, 1974, p. 65). Fu in questo clima che i superiori nel 1631, poco prima che lasciasse la carica di procuratore della Provincia, incaricarono Flori di “voler fare una breve instruttione da tenere i libri de i Conti per uso delle nostre Case, e Collegij in questo Regno di Sicilia”. Non sappiamo dove egli abbia appreso la materia contabile, “si può ipotizzare che acquisisca le sue conoscenze all’Università di Perugia, in quello stesso ateneo che più di un secolo prima ha insignito Luca Pacioli del ruolo di docente” (C. Cavazzoni e F. Santini, L’attualità del percorso scientifico di Lodovico Flori […], 2011, p. 605). L’autore avverte che “la buona cura de’ beni temporali è tanto necessaria a chiunque giustamente le possiede, e massime alle Religioni, che dependendo da essa il necessario sostentamento de’ Religiosi, se l’amministratione della robba non va bene, oltre la perdita, e deteroratione di beni, ne seguono infiniti altri inconvenienti». Flori è consapevole che il suo libro descrive una materia non facilmente assimilabile da tutti. “Chi leggerà questo libro, vedrà che in esso si procede a modo di scienza pratica, e che i termini, i principi, le conclusioni e le cose che in esso si deducono sono talmente tra di loro congiunte, che non si possono bene intendere né capire le ultime senza la cognizione delle prime. Chiunque vuole intendere bene questo modo, habbia patienza di leggere da principio tutto il libro”. Il quale si compone di tre parti: la prima ha per titolo “Del modo di formare le partite in Giornale, e riferirle al Libro”; la seconda “Come si debba disporre e ordinare il Libro per ottenerne l’intento che si pretende” e la terza “Dell’uso e Comodità del Libro disposto e ordinato al modo suddetto”. Per la sua opera il Flori rivolge particolare attenzione sia al lavoro del monaco benedettino Angelo Monaco, di cui “si pone ad erede e prosecutore”, che ha adeguato la partita doppia alla realtà operativa dei Collegi del Suo Ordine, sia al “Tractatus de computis et scripturis” della “Summa de Arithmetica, Geometria, Proportioni et Proportionalita” di Luca Pacioli, nel quale il padre francescano “fa uscire il metodo della partita doppia dalla bottega del mercante, lo rielabora in modo astratto e sintetico secondo le sue concezioni di matematico e lo fa assurgere a modello scientifico, rendendolo così “immortale” nel tempo e nello spazio”. Il Pacioli, infatti, considera le aziende centri del progresso economico e sociale che per le loro finalità, devono tenere una ordinata contabilità utilizzando il lavoro di un competente ragioniere e di un computista per tenere correttamente i libri ed i registri contabili per poter misurare la consistenza patrimoniale e le sue variazioni. Utilizzando la codificazione dei suoi principi contabili per risolvere le necessità pratiche richieste dalle aziende e per impostare con corretti ragionamenti la loro conduzione, il Flori ne estende il campo di applicazione alle corporazioni religiose, le cui attività sono ispirate da un comune interesse umano e spinte da uno stesso modo di intendere la realtà operativa. Il 25 giugno 2016 si è svolto a Santa Croce un convegno di studi dedicato a Lodovico Flori, il gesuita ragioniere di Fratta, organizzato dal Centro Studi Mario Pancrazi e da Digital Editor Srl in collaborazione con il Comune e l’Università di Perugia. Nel corso dell’evento è stata presentata la copia anastatica dell’opera del Flori stampata dalla Digital Editor Srl di Umbertide. Note: 1. I “coadiutori spirituali” erano i preti che prendevano i voti semplici, non solenni, e che non pronunciavano il quarto voto al papa. 2. I “professi” erano i preti che avevano pronunciato i tre voti solenni di povertà, castità, e obbedienza e avevano fatto uno speciale voto di ubbidienza al papa. Fonti: - “Storia della terra di Fratta, ora Umbertide” di Antonio Guerrini, completata da Genesio Perugini -Tipografia Tiberina 1883, Umbertide – copia anastatica a cura della Digital Editor Srl 2009 - Umbertide - “Studi su Lodovico Flori” a cura di Gianfranco Cavazzoni – Biblioteca del Centro Studi “Mario Pancrazi” – University Book – Stampa “Digital Editor Srl”, 2016 - Umbertide Massimo Martinelli Massimo Martinelli Fu il maestro della banda musicale di Umbertide, denominata allora “Società Giuseppe Verdi”, dal 1872 al 1898 di Amedeo Massetti Nonostante sia passato ben più di un secolo da quando Massimo Martinelli si dedicò anima e corpo alla banda e all'insegnamento della musica ai ragazzi di Umbertide, non si può non provare ammirazione e vivo affetto nello scoprire e rivivere le sue vicende umane e professionali. Come sempre accade a chi si dedica con entusiasmo ad una missione da cui si sente pervaso, anche al maestro Martinelli toccò subire inevitabili sacrifici e delusioni. La sua dedizione lo portò ad agire talvolta anche con ingenuità e imprudenza, fino a rasentare la sprovvedutezza, esponendolo allo sgomento di coinvolgere anche la famiglia, sprofondata nella povertà dopo un solido benessere. Per la sua candida generosità si è ben meritato il posto d'onore fra i maestri della banda. Ci piace regalargli questo riconoscimento simbolico nella convinzione di restituirgli un granello di quello che egli ci ha dato. Ventiseienne, già preparato musicista, non esitò nel 1872 ad assumere la responsabilità del nuovo Concerto dei giovani, dirigendo poi il gruppo bandistico umbertidese, tra alterne vicende, per 26 anni, fino al 1898. Qualche anziano ricorda che la sua memoria era ancora viva nella banda dei successivi anni Trenta (testimonianza di Eraldo Arcelli), e di aver suonato, negli anni Quaranta, brani musicali da lui composti (testimonianza di Luigi Gambucci). Massimo era nato il 12 marzo del 1846 da Antonio e Margherita Reggiani, in via di Castelnuovo (l'odierna via Cavour) al n. 33 dove aveva anche sede la rinomata attività del padre e dello zio Francesco, "fabricatori d'organi alla Fratta di Perugia". Probabilmente i Martinelli conobbero una notevole sicurezza economica, anche per la proprietà di alcuni terreni appartenenti a Margherita, moglie di Antonio, proveniente da una famiglia di possidenti. L'alta opera artigianale di Antonio e Francesco Martinelli aveva dotato molte chiese delle Marche, dell'Umbria, del Lazio e della Toscana di eccellenti strumenti, una quarantina in tutto, e la loro fabbrica organaria era diventata una delle più importanti e prestigiose dell'Italia centrale. Costruirono, tra gli altri, l'organo a due tastiere per la Cattedrale di San Rufino ad Assisi, quello della Cattedrale di Terni e il grande organo di Santa Maria in Aracoeli a Roma. Massimo frequentò da ragazzino la fabbrica del padre, acquistando abilità con il mestiere e familiarità con le tastiere degli strumenti che lì nascevano; imparò le prime nozioni di musica in famiglia dal genitore e dallo zio Francesco che, oltre ad essere bravi artigiani organari, conoscevano anche la musica e sapevano suonare gli strumenti che costruivano. Il giovane li seguì nei loro frequenti spostamenti e nei lunghi soggiorni di lavoro nelle Marche, potendo così studiare organo e composizione alla cappella musicale di Loreto, diretta da Roberto Amadei. Ebbe forse rapporti di studio anche con Agostino Mercuri, direttore del Civico Istituto Musicale di Perugia, pur se solo di sette anni più grande di lui". E probabile però che le prime nozioni sugli strumenti a fiato, in particolare quelle sul trombone, gli siano venute da Antonio Bernabei, maestro di cappella e direttore del Concerto municipale di Umbertide. È possibile anche che questi gli abbia insegnato i primi elementi di armonia, composizione e contrappunto. Nel 1867, a 21 anni, Massimo fu con Garibaldi a Mentana, dove si ritrovarono 31 giovani di Umbertide. Cinque di questi ragazzi, che divisero con lui l'esaltante esperienza, entreranno nel 1872 a far parte della sua banda appena costituita. Martinelli sposò Maria Censi, dalla quale, il 3 giugno 1874, ebbe una figlia, Chiara Gislena. L' 11 aprile 1876, trentenne, mentre era direttore della "Società Giuseppe Verdi" di Umbertide, inoltrò la domanda per essere ammesso all'Accademia Filarmonica di Bologna ed ottenere un diploma di quel prestigioso istituto. Presentò per questo due composizioni musicali che, nonostante intensamente impegnato alla direzione del Concerto e "al suono del pianoforte e del trombone", era riuscito a scrivere "nelle ore libere da quelle occupazioni". I due brani erano un Notturno concertato dal Flauto, Clarino, Tromba e Trombone con accompagnamento d'orchestra, e una Sinfonia per Flauto, Clarino, Viola e Pianoforte. Nonostante fossero stati da lui definiti "meschini", forse per quel gusto di schermirsi e per quell'eccesso di modestia tipici di certi stili epistolari dell'Ottocento, non erano poi tanto male se la commissione di tre musicisti che li esaminò (tra i quali Antonio Fabbri, direttore dell'Accademia Filarmonica) espresse un giudizio positivo sia sulla "perfetta" conoscenza degli strumenti per i quali erano stati composti, sia sulla struttura armonica delle composizioni. Le opere di Martinelli furono poi presentate all'intero corpo accademico insieme a quelle di altri musicisti che ugualmente avevano fatto richiesta di ammissione, e dopo due votazioni quasi unanimi Massimo, il 28 aprile 1876, venne "aggregato" all'Accademia come “Maestro Compositore Onorario”. Il giovane musicista, per questo esame, aveva esibito a sostegno delle sue capacità di compositore gli attestati di due musicisti famosi (bene cogniti): il professor Agostino Mercuri ed il maestro Roberto Amadei. Mercuri, il 17 dicembre 1872, in una dichiarazione ufficiale redatta su carta intestata del Civico Istituto Musicale di Perugia, scriveva: Il Signor Massimo Martinelli di Umbertide mi ha presentato ad esame alcune sue composizioni, e riduzioni per banda, allo scopo di avere da me un certificato per uso di Concorso. Posso pertanto documentare che dall'esame fatto di quelle partiture, si rileva come il Sig. Martinelli sia fornito di intelligenza, e di cognizioni sufficienti per potere con lode scrivere per Banda, e contemporaneamente dirigerla. Tanto depongo per la verità potendo il Signor Martinelli usare di questa mia dichiarazione in qualunque modo migliore possa giovargli. In fede Prof. Agostino Mercuri E Amadei, il 17 marzo 1873: Richiesto dal giovane Massimo Martinelli di Umbertide, certifico che questi è dotato delle qualità necessarie per dirigere una Banda, comporre e ridurre pezzi di musica per la medesima. Spero che questo mio documento possa essergli utile presso chi da ragione. Roberto Amadei Maestro Compositore e Direttore della Cappella di Loreto Massimo era la giovane guida e l'anima della Società "Verdi", ma all'impegno con cui si dedicava all'insegnamento e alla direzione della banda non corrispondeva un adeguato compenso da parte del Comune. Fu costretto così a lasciare il posto: ai primi di gennaio 1876 dovette lavorare fuori Umbertide, dove rimase probabilmente fino a quando non gli fu affidato il compito di direttore del Concerto municipale, con uno stipendio adeguato al ruolo. Dal 1878 al 1879, oltre che quella di Umbertide, diresse la banda di Montone curandone la scuola di musica, nominato come maestro da quella Società Filarmonica, la cui decisione sarà ratificata dal Consiglio comunale il 28 maggio successivo. Lavorò con professionalità e disinteresse: la Filarmonica montonese gli espresse la propria riconoscenza "e pel molto avanzamento in sì breve tempo della istruzione degli allievi e per la nessuna spesa incontrata dalla Società, essendosi il sig. Martinelli prestato gentilmente". Massimo, nonostante le non floride condizioni economiche, aveva svolto la sua opera gratuitamente. La Filarmonica Artigiana Braccio Fortebracci (o Fortebraccio) lo rielesse anche per l'anno successivo a maggioranza dei voti come maestro di musica, nonostante il montonese Celso Pasqui avesse presentato l'unica domanda per avere questo incarico e risultasse apparentemente il candidato favorito. Durante la direzione di Martinelli, (probabilmente su sua richiesta) il comune di Montone acquistò per la banda alcuni strumenti a percussione, "una Gran cassa con Piatti della più piccola dimensione". Agli inizi del 1883, dopo la crisi della banda di Umbertide, Massimo lavorò come maestro di musica a Foiano della Chiana. Partecipò anche ai concorsi per maestro delle bande di Città di Castello e di Marsciano. Nel 1884 riprese l'insegnamento della musica ad Umbertide per incarico del Comune e nel 1889, ricostituitasi la banda, fu riassunto come direttore. Oltre che alla direzione del gruppo bandistico, lo troviamo spesso anche come organista in importanti manifestazioni religiose in paese e fuori. Martinelli compose opere per banda, per pianoforte ed organo, molte delle quali pubblicate ed eseguite in varie parti d'Italia. E’ nota, tra le altre, “La caccia”, marcia caratteristica (manoscritta, Umbertide 1877). L'Editore De Giorgi, di Milano, pubblicò le sue composizioni “La povera”, polka per banda, e “Sulle rive del Tevere”, valzer per pianoforte a quattro mani che Massimo dedicò alle sorelle "Marietta e Franceschina" Zucchini di Umbertide; un pezzo di virtuosismo che probabilmente le ragazze erano in grado di suonare. Il 3 dicembre 1899 alle 17.30, a soli cinquantatre anni, Massimo Martinelloi si spense nella sua casa al n.33 di via Cavour, plausibilmente stroncato da una grave malattia polmonare. Lasciava la moglie Maria, la figlia Chiara Gislena e la mamma Margherita che cesserà di vivere tre anni dopo. Il giorno successivo si recarono in Comune per la dichiarazione di morte allo Stato Civile il cognato Americo Censi, muratore, e il clarinettista della banda Luigi Bartoccini, sarto. Dal libro di Amedeo Massetti “Due secoli in marcia – Umbertide e la banda” – Maggio 2008 GALLERIA FOTOGRAFICA LEOPOLDO GRILLI La storia di Leopoldo Grilli, figura di spicco dei mazziniani repubblicani umbertidesi, è stata raccontata da Federico Ciarabelli nel suo libro dedicato ai garibaldini locali. Anche se non è citato in alcuna lista come volontario umbertidese, è doveroso riportare alcune note sulla figura di Leopoldo Grilli. Personalità politicamente influente, godeva di grande stima e prestigio. Ebbe un ruolo importante nella costituzione dei primi nuclei delle organizzazioni operaie e democratiche e nel corso della sua vita, oltre a lavorare nella sua caffetteria, svolse un'intensa attività politica, ricoprendo incarichi pubblici tra i quali quello di consigliere comunale e assessore comunale, segretario della Società dei Reduci delle Patrie Battaglie, segretario della Società operaia di mutuo soccorso e consigliere dell'Unione Operaia di Umbertide. Dalle note che seguono, tratte da varie pubblicazioni, emerge chiaramente il suo ruolo sulla scena del movimento repubblicano. Nel Dizionario del Risorgimento Nazionale la voce (1) dedicata a Grilli ci dice che nacque nel 1848 (erroneamente indicando Umbertide come luogo di nascita) e che combatté nelle file garibaldine sui monti del Tirolo nel 1866 e nel 1867 a Mentana. Mazziniano convinto e ardente, soffrì lunghe persecuzioni, l'esilio e il carcere. Fu assessore comunale a Umbertide, membro della Congregazione di Carità e segretario-cassiere della società operaia di mutuo soccorso. Leopoldo Grilli nacque a Sigillo il 24 aprile 1848 da Antonio e Maria Polidori. Il suo trasferimento a Umbertide ebbe luogo nel 1870 dove, il 21 giugno 1874, sposò Francesca Natali (nata il 1° giugno 1853). Alcune informazioni sulle vicende di Grilli sono state pubblicate da Bistoni (2): oltre alle campagne italiane del 1866 e 1867 partecipò anche alla campagna di Garibaldi in Francia nel 1870. Dalla medesima fonte è possibile avere informazioni sul processo e il mandato di arresto che obbligò Grilli all'esilio a Lugano. La mattina dell'8 febbraio 1878 vennero trovati affissi sui muri di Umbertide dei manifesti che, come è scritto nel rapporto dei carabinieri, erano istiganti alla rivolta, alla guerra civile, all'odio contro la monarchia e il governo. Le indagini furono rivolte subito in direzione del Circolo Pensiero e Azione, di cui era presidente Leopoldo Grilli. Vennero spiccati mandati di cattura per varie persone e il 20 febbraio, con un grande dispiegamento di forze dell'ordine, furono avviate le attività per l'arresto simultaneo dei ricercati. Quasi tutti furono catturati facilmente, ma i guai per i carabinieri si verificarono nel tentativo di arrestare Grilli. Un carabiniere e una guardia, poco dopo le sei del mattino, si presentano alla caffetteria appena aperta. La moglie e la suocera di Grilli iniziarono a gridare e a chiedere aiuto. Si unirono allora altri carabinieri, ma un gruppo di operai che si recavano al lavoro, armati dei loro strumenti (pale, badili), risposero alle grida e gli scontri che ne seguirono consentirono a Grilli di sfuggire all'arresto e a dileguarsi. Dalle indagini successive si venne a sapere che Grilli, grazie all'aiuto di Ernesto Nathan (3), riuscì a riparare in Svizzera dove lavorò presso la farmacia Fontana di Lugano. Dell'esilio svizzero abbiamo informazioni attraverso un testo dedicato a Carlo Cafiero curato da Gian Carlo Maffei (4). Il nostro concittadino entrò a far parte del “gruppo di Lugano”, originariamente composto dal Cafiero (5) stesso, Egisto Marzoli. Filippo Boschiero, Florido Matteucci (6) e Gaetano Grassi (del gruppo facevano parte altri componenti di varie nazionalità). Grilli era giunto a Lugano il 20 febbraio 1880 e si era messo, come lui stesso afferma, in relazione amichevole con Cafiero. Nel mese di maggio 1881 le autorità ticinesi registrarono come ancora presenti a Lugano tre o quattro internazionalisti-anarchici e cioè Cafiero, Grilli e Apostolo Paolides. Il gruppo di Lugano aveva suscitato nelle autorità svizzere molte preoccupazioni, anche perché la prefettura di Milano comunicò di temere un'azione di quel gruppo volta a turbare l'ordine pubblico in occasione della esposizione nazionale nella città lombarda. Così nel maggio 1881 Cafiero, Paolides e Grilli vengono interrogati una prima volta. Le indagini e i controlli sul gruppo e sui movimenti di persone a loro legati si svolsero costantemente per tutti i mesi successivi, ma la situazione mutò a settembre 1881. A seguito dei ulteriori controlli le autorità, temendo che il gruppo, rinforzato da nuovi arrivi, fosse in procinto di compiere un attentato, alle 2:30 del mattino del 5 settembre procedettero all'arresto di Cafiero e di tutti coloro che si trovavano con lui. Ad alimentare la tensione si aggiunsero voci circa la preparazione di un attentato contro Umberto I, che allarmarono ancora di più le autorità svizzere. La loro preoccupazione salì quando a Lugano l'8 settembre, giunsero altre persone accolte alla stazione da Grilli e altri. I controlli e le indagini non ebbero conseguenze e tutti furono scagionati. La situazione a Lugano si era fatta però troppo pesante per questi personaggi e quindi Cafiero si spostò a Locarno e gli altri rientrarono in Italia. Per Grilli la situazione giudiziaria italiana si era conclusa il 3 maggio 1880 quando la camera di consiglio presso il tribunale di Perugia decise (in relazione ai fatti umbertidesi del 1878) di non procedere per insufficienza di indizi, revocando tutti gli ordini di cattura. Rientrato a Umbertide Grilli continuò le sue attività politiche, amministrative e sociali fino alla sua morte, avvenuta il 22 settembre 1912, che fu annunciata da alcuni organi di stampa. Da “Il Popolo” organo dei repubblicani umbro-sabini: Leopoldo Grilli Muoio nella fede di Giuseppe Mazzini: così, nelle sue ultime lettere, il vecchio e ardente Mazziniano. Il lutto degli amici di Umbertide è lutto dell'intero partito repubblicano dell'Umbria. Le nostre bandiere sia abbrunano ancora: dopo Domenico Benedetti Roncalli: Luigi Soleri; dopo Luigi Soleri: Leopoldo Grilli. Sono i validi soldati del vecchio partito d'azione che ci abbandonano. Leopoldo Grilli - tenace è immutato assertore della fede mazziniana - fu, nelle cospirazioni repubblicane e sui campi della patria, con Garibaldi, uomo di azione; e anima aperta: fiero, ribelle. Non conobbe i comodi opportunismi. Conobbe sacrifici, disillusioni, dolori. Fu contro il parlamentarismo; e tale rimase, senza piegure [sic] a blandizie di avversari o di amici: anche tutto solo, chiaro nella sua fede e nelle sue speranze. Educazione ed armi! In questo binomio riassunse gl'ideali della sua fede profonda. Alla memoria purissima del vecchio mazziniano, che mai ripiegò un lembo della bandiera adorata, va il nostro pensiero di dolore... ricordando ed augurando. E, soprattutto, promettendo (7). Da “La Democrazia”, quotidiano della provincia dell'Umbria: Nelle ore pomeridiane di ieri, si è spento, dopo breve malattia, in Umbertide nella ancor vegeta età di 64 anni LEOPOLDO GRILLI una delle più belle e caratteristiche figure della democrazia umbra. Repubblicano ardente e convinto, mantenne fede costante al suo ideale fino alla morte. Combatté giovanissimo nelle file garibaldine sui monti del Tirolo e a Mentana; partecipò poi a tutte le cospirazioni repubblicane che furono provocate ed alimentate dall'inconsulto spirito reazionario dei bigotti della monarchia, destri e sinistri, che, dal 1870 al 1898, più volte riuscirono a mettere in pericolo il trono. Fu anch'Esso ferocemente perseguitato, ed affrontò con indomita fermezza l'esilio e il carcere. Convinto che il parlamentarismo fosse un semplice strumento di corruzione, che le alleanze con gli altri partiti costituissero un pericolo di deviazione. Egli si mantenne fedele alla tattica intransigente, rimanendo completamente appartato da tutte le lotte politiche e amministrative combattutesi in questi 25 anni. La sua opera, che avrebbe potuto essere preziosa per il paese, andò quindi perduta in uno sterile isolamento; ma per la fermezza del suo carattere, per la sua proverbiale onestà, per l'integrità indiscussa e indiscutibile di tutta la sua vita laboriosa e semplice, Egli fu stimato e rispettato anche dagli avversari. Fu anzi col voto di questi eletto più volte a membro della Congregazione di Carità, unico uffizio che accettò, non senza riluttanza, e nel quale egli dette prova constante di premuroso zelo e di intelligente operosità. La sua morte apre un grande vuoto nelle file della democrazia umbertidese; poiché sparisce con Leopoldo Grilli un luminoso esempio di virtù e di carattere (8). Note: 1. Giustiniano degli Azzi Vitelleschi. “Grilli Leopoldo”. In Dizionario del Risorgimento Nazionale. Vol. 3, Le persone, E-Q Milano: Vallardi, 1933, pag.260. 2. Bistoni, Origini del movimento operaio nel Perugino, pp. 325-329. 3. Ernesto Nathan (Londra 1845 – Roma 1921), discepolo di Giuseppe Mazzini, fu Gran Maestro della Massoneria Italiana e nei primi anni del ‘900 sindaco di Roma. Altre informazioni su http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/ernesto-nathan (Dizionario-Biografico). 4. Carlo Cafiero. Dossier Cafiero. A cura di Gian Carlo Maffei. Con introd. Di Pier Carlo Masini. Bergamo: Biblioteca M. Nettlau, 1972. 5. Carlo Cafiero (Barletta 1846 – Nocera Inferiore 1892) di ricca famiglia pulgliese era diplomatico di carriera. E’ stato uomo politico socialista. Conobbe Marx ed Engels e si votò alla diffusione del socialismo rinunciando ai suoi beni. Tradusse e pubblicò un Compendio del Capitale di Marx divenendone così il primo divulgatore in Italia. Prese parte ai moti di Benevento del 1877 per cui scontò 18 mesi di carcere. Fu una figura preminente del socialismo anarchico. Per maggiori informazioni http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/ carlo-cafiero_ (Dizionario-Biografico)/ . 6. Florido Matteucci (Città di Castello 1858 – dopo il 1924) Anarchico, partecipò alla rivolta nel Matese. Fu presente a vari congressi degli anarchici e internazionalisti, sostenendo le tesi insurrezionaliste. Varie volte processato e condannato, fu attivo in Italia, Francia, Svizzera e in Egitto. Scrisse per molti giornali e riviste. Nel 1885 partì per l’Argentina dove fondò un giornale. Divenne massone e successivamente si ritirò dalla vita politica senza rinnegare le sue idee. Sono sconosciuti la data e il luogo di morte. 7. “Leopoldo Grilli”. In Il Popolo 597 (29 set. 1912). 8. “Necrologico Leopoldo Grilli”. In: La Democrazioa 218 (23 set. 1912). Dal libro di Federico Ciarabelli “Umbertidesi nel Risorgimento – Note su cento patrioti” Digital Editor Srl – Umbertide, Settembre 2021. Una lapide marmorea, posta sul muro esterno della sua casa in piazza Matteotti, dice: “In questa casa visse cospirò educò Leopoldo Grilli morto nella fede di Mazzini il 22 settembre 1912”. Il 18 dicembre 1960 l’Amministrazione comunale dedicò a Leopoldo Grilli l’attuale via, posta vicino alla sua casa natale. Dal libro di Bruno Porrozzi “L’uomo nella toponomastica” – Ass. Pro-Loco Umbertide, 1992.

INTERESTING INSIGHTS HISTORY OF MARIO TOSTI L'Enigma della Collegiata La grande diga sul Tevere La Meridiana della Piazza Grande della Fratta The great dam on the Tiber In 1983 a large number of poles came to light in the Tiber and were photographed by Renato Codovini. From the investigations of Mario, Marco and Matteo Tosti, it has been hypothesized that they formed the basis of the dam, born in the 12th century, up to 6 meters high, which enclosed the Fratta fortress in a basin. From a document of 1527, in fact, we have news of an artificial basin upstream of the bridge over the Tiber whose waters could form a "very clear lake", as it was described in 1565 by Piccolpasso. We leave the floor to the study of the engineers Mario, Marco and Matteo Tosti who have kindly allowed to report on this page. Study published in “L'Ingegnere Umbro” n. 43, December 2002 and reported to us by Alvaro Gragnoli. Photos added by Fabio Mariotti. (edited by Di Mario, Marco and Matteo Tosti) The discovery of a foundation piling. Dredging works on the Tiber bed in 1983 brought to light a large number of piles about 80 meters downstream of the bridge. It was Renato Codovini, unrivaled researcher of local history who noticed them, photographed them and understood their importance as the remains of the foundation of an ancient lock. A few years later, in their valuable thesis ("Discovery of the dam on the Tiber river, Umbertide in the province of Perugia", University of Florence, academic year 1987/1988), Alberto Crocioni and Roberto Codovini extensively documented the structure and the construction technique of the work, characterized by an original checkerboard foundation in oak planks and river stones. Thesis We wanted to deepen the subject, trying to bring engineering to the aid of history, intrigued by the imposing foundation piling in the direction of the river current, for an estimated length of at least 15 m: this clue suggested a huge investment, both financial and technical-organizational and, therefore, a purpose of great strategic importance. We tried to imagine what the clients intended, which could not only be to operate the blades of the nearby mill, which could have been built elsewhere with a much more modest barrier, perhaps on a small tributary of the Tiber. The most plausible and fascinating hypothesis was that the dam served to create a reservoir so large that it permanently flooded the moat all around the city walls; perhaps Cipriano Piccolpasso had not exaggerated in 1565 in using a superlative - “very clear lake” - at the sight of the Fratta river, which he described and represented in the oldest panorama of the place. And this is precisely the thesis we intend to demonstrate, reconstructing the history of the "great dam" and its structural and functional configuration. Archive news There is no direct and detailed information on this work, about which all the writers of local history have been silent. Only the military engineer Piccolpasso, in the aforementioned drawing, traced the structure of the dam, albeit with barely hinted lines, perhaps because at that time it had already lost its importance from a military point of view, which represented the topic of main interest for the author: commendable example of a good engineer who does not waste even an unnecessary pencil stroke. Or a sign of low satisfaction for the reimbursement of expenses requested in the parcel: "30 bajocchi for the horse from Castello alla Fratta, 30 bajocchi for dinner and dinner at Fratta, 10 bajocchi for those who will help me to measure, 30 bajocchi for the horse for Perugia ; and more 50 bajocchi made to give to the femeglia de messer Paulo, called messer Gherardo soldier of fortress for the fatigas of said messer Paolo ”. The surrounding tour of these last 50 bajocchi - delivered to a soldier to give to the family of Mr. Paolo who had struggled - arouses some suspicion, dear engineer Cipriano! Instead, there is indirect information on the existence of the barrier, the oldest of which dates back to a registration dated February 6, 1527, where the expression versus clusam molendini is used, in describing the activities carried out in the buildings adjacent to the barrier, at edge of the river, at the end of Piazza S. Francesco. In fact, in that area the dam made it possible to supply the necessary energy to various factories: the water, conveyed along a derivation canal, through the opening of the respective doors according to agreed shifts, operated the millstone of the Molino di Sant ' Erasmus; he made the wheels of the blacksmiths turn for the grinding of sickles and other irons (swords, spears…); he operated the wooden mallets in the fulling machine, to compress and firm the woolen cloth; it flowed into the public wash basin; finally it returned to the riverbed of the Tiber downstream of the dam. The lack of other more detailed information has prompted us to seek objective elements to find out more. Photo by Fabio Mariotti. La grande diga sul Tevere The simulation of the reservoir First of all, an attempt was made to estimate the extent of the reservoir. In a first phase, the configuration that would have today, in the event of restoration of the dam, was identified after evaluating the height of the dam: for this reason, the level of the floor of the ancient public washhouse of Caminella was taken as a fundamental reference, where in the 1960s the original tank was still visible, even if its use had been converted into a breeding leech for the pharmacy, using the stagnant surface water that was collected there. This reference is certain, as the share has remained unchanged with respect to the period of use; on the other hand, the presence - in the immediate vicinity and at the same level, of the other users of the dam just described, much more relevant - excludes the hypothesis that the wash house, with the abundance of the reservoir, used vein water. The height of the floor of the public wash house, which was equal to 238.25 m asl, can therefore be reasonably assumed as the overflow level of the reservoir, the contours of which have been defined on the basis of the corresponding level curve in the current configuration of the land. The boundaries as determined above were subsequently corrected on the basis of changes made by man and the river over the centuries, of which traces have remained. These elements reasonably lead to the conclusion that, in the period of maximum military efficiency of Fratta Perugina (15th century), the reservoir surrounded the entire islet of the historic center, which could only be accessed through the rampant bridge of the Piaggiala, the drawbridge. della Rocca and the bridge over the Tiber. The height of the barrage The difference between the overflow level at 238 m asl deduced above and the altitude (232 m asl) of the river bed area from which the foundation piles emerge today, allows us to estimate the height of the dam at about six meters: for those times the great Fratta dam was truly a gigantic work. Site plan in a drawing by the authors (1) Public wash house; (2) Molino di Sant'Erasmo; (3) Churches of Santa Croce, San Francesco and San Bernardino; (4) Great dam; (5) Tiber; (6) Bridge over the Tiber; (7) Regghia stream; (8) Rocca, with drawbridge and “calzo de fuora”; (9) The rampant bridge of the Piaggiola, the round tower and the Porta della Campana. The functions of the barrage The significant complexity of the project, the grandeur of the structure and the economic burden of its construction confirm the thesis of a military use of the large dam: its primary utility was to keep the moat around the walls constantly flooded, for safety. of the inhabitants of the castle, and to reduce the stresses on the foundation pillars of the bridge just upstream. The other benefits of an economic nature (supply of energy for production activities and taking fish from the weir), although more important for the well-being of the population, were collateral and irrelevant to the decision to build the work. The birth The non-existence of records relating to these works does not allow us to establish with certainty the period to which they date back. However, the hypothesis is likely that only after the passage to the dominion of Perugina (1189) did the conditions exist to build such an imposing work. Only a city like Perugia could have had the necessary economic capacity, technical-military knowledge and political motivations: this is precisely the period in which it pursued a strengthening as a Municipality, to consolidate its vital space among the great powers of the moment in the Center- Italy, capitalizing on the advantage of equidistance from Florence and Rome. On the contrary, in previous times there were no conditions to justify such a huge effort: at first - until the death of Matilde di Canossa - it was marginality, as a remote border place of the Marquisate of Tuscany, to discourage the investment. Then after the dismemberment of this in many territories dominated by small lords, it was the scarcity of economic resources that made the enterprise impracticable. The same lack of news relating to the construction of the dam, attributable to the disappearance of the Annals of Perugia - from 1190 to 1230 - relating precisely to the presumable period of construction, constitutes a confirmation clue of the thesis that is being supported, as it is not likely that such an impressive work no formal acts have been performed. It can be concluded by affirming that the construction of the great dam can be placed between 1189 (beginning of the dominion of Perugia over Fratta) and 1230 (availability of the Perugian Annals). The overall design system Let us now try to define other details of the dam and its functional organization. The reservoir was divided by a "central guardian", slightly inclined with respect to the flow direction of the river. Between this and the left bank - the western basin - the main current had to flow, which flowed downstream from the top of the dam perpendicular to the bank. The other segment, arranged obliquely so as to extend the length of the front of the jump, was perhaps of a higher height so as to contain the damage on the left bank, of great value for the presence of production activities: the mill, the blacksmiths, the fulling machine; in short, a kind of industrial area of the lower village. The capacity of the reservoir, considering the height of the dam equal to 6 m, the width 70 m and the length of the lake upstream of 1,200 m, was estimated at 250,000 m³. The maximum power obtainable, with a useful flow of the river assumed equal to 10 m ³ / s, has been estimated at 600 Kw, based on the following relationship: P = p Q g Δ H P = power; p = water density; Q = volumetric flow rate; Δ H = geodetic difference in height Assuming a width of the adduction channel to the mill equal to 1 m², a current speed of 2 m / s, a head of 3 m and a reasonable efficiency for those times, the order of magnitude of the useful power can be placed around 100 Kw. For a correct functionality of the military security system, precautions were also taken to prevent the ditch being buried due to the debris deposited by the floods of the Regghia, at the point where it flowed into the reservoir under the Rocca, slowing down its fury. We think that this was precisely the function of the “ … lock of the river of the Regghia alter dicta el Battifosso which is contiguous to the horto della Roccha and to the walls of the said castle… ”. The death Let us now try to clarify how and when the barrier ceased its function. In this regard it is known that on 20 October 1610 two arches of the bridge and the Mulinaccio tower collapsed at the corner of the walls along the river; the contemporaneity of the collapses, just upstream of the great dam, made us suspect that the disaster had originated - with a "domino effect" - from the deterioration of the dam. Archival records confirmed the hypothesis: as early as 1606, in fact, the barrage had shown the urgency of repairs. The question became the subject of a legal dispute on the occasion of another flood, in 1611; the tenant complained that the mill was " spotless and unsuccessful " and the dam had been " badly kept and badly restored ". The subjects called into question - the Bishopric of Gubbio and the Community of Fratta - tried to discharge each other the responsibility and the burden of reparation; the first claimed that the dam had been damaged by the collapse of the bridge; the second claimed the opposite thesis, attributing the expenses to the Bishop, as in fact " it had always been ". It seems to us that - Monsignor forgive us! - the Community was right, as it is really strange that the very heavy debris of the bridge, instead of lying on the bottom of the river, overwhelmed the barrier a hundred meters downstream. However, for our deductions, it is only interesting that the mill did not grind since that time, demonstrating that the dam had just collapsed. But there are many other confirmations: even the blacksmiths were forced to go to other mills in the vicinity that had suitable wheels; but the loss of those of Sant'Erasmo was incurable if, a few decades later (1647), four blacksmiths from Fratta brought 14,000 raw sickles to Rome (hammers were not yet produced in the red Umbria), entrusting the finishing to grinders of the capital . Therefore, even the wheels had finally stopped. Similarly, the activity of the fulling mill was moved to a similar factory, in Pian d'Assino, whose structure is still visible on the left bank of this stream, just upstream of the bridge that crosses it just before flowing into the Tiber. All these facts concur to confirm the dependence of the factories in Piazza San Francesco on the large barrage and the superimposition of their respective periods of operation (from about 1200 to 1611). In short, the dam was born when it was necessary to protect the safety of the castle with a lake and no one wanted to take care of its maintenance since these needs were overcome by the evolution of warfare. For all the time in which it was of military interest - and only for that - it was also a source of work and well-being, respecting a sad priority to which man has always had to submit. The death sentence of the Great Dam was issued for the opposite reason that led to its conception. Here below some photos with Mario Tosti and the Tiber river south of the bridge in the place of the "great dam"; photo compared with the 1565 drawing by Piccolpasso showing the position of the dam. Picture of by Fabio Mariotti. Sources: - " The Great Dam of Fratta Perugia ", by Mario Tosti, Marco Tosti and Matteo Tosti, in “ The Umbrian Engineer ” n. 43, December 2002 - Photos and original article drawings: Renato and Roberto Codovini, Mario, Marco and Matteo Tosti. - Photos added: Fabio Mariotti THE ENIGMA OF THE COLLEGIATE by Mario Tosti (taken from "Pagine Altotiberine" *, n. 45, 2011) * "Pagine Altotiberine" is a series of books published by the historical association Alta Valle del Tevere, which gathers members from our valley. The main objective of the Association is to provide citizens with the possibility of publishing texts on local history, without any charge for the author, who receives five copies of the book that contains his work free of charge. The association is financed by the members' fees, who receive the three books that are published every year for free. The history of the construction The history of the Collegiate Church has been the subject of research that has made it possible to know the events in an exhaustive way. In the first place, they were deepened in the monographic book by Monsignor Pietro Vispi (1) , from which we extracted a summary of the information regarding the origins and construction details of the church. We also submitted to Monsignor Pietro, who kindly made himself available, the thesis supported in these notes, to exclude that any additional information to his knowledge would dismantle some links in the logic of the deductions. The chronicles of the time tell that, on 14 September 1556, "A girl of 7 years old ... who was struppia [crippled] in a cossa [thigh], so that she could not walk without support, while she was praying in front of this image [Editor's note: the Majesty painted in a small chapel near the Collegiate building ], it is said that this spoke to him and incontinent found herself free and healthy, and walked frankly ". A few days later the bishop of Gubbio sent his vicar Cesare Sperelli, who "... visitevit ecclesiolam beate et gloriosa virginis marie vulgo called the madonna della regghia prope et juxta muros castri fratte ..." Therefore: the small church in which a miracle took place stood near the walls of Fratta, in the word "Madonna d ella Regghia". Out of thanks, it was decided to build a temple in the immediate vicinity. From the deed of sale of the land of 15 April 1559 we learn that the owners, Graziani of Perugia, "Give and concede for the Madona and the chapel in writing to the Comonità della Fratta all the reasons that they have above the Capella or true Oratory of the Madona de la regghia in front of the walls of said Castle and also above the houses in the said adjacent Chapel and such a quantity of land contiguous to the said chapel that it will be necessary for the construction of a church to be built in that place in Honore de Dio and Della Glorioss. Virgine Maria provided it does not exceed the containment of the garden contiguous to said Capella ... ". So: the church was surrounded by a group of houses and a vegetable garden. Shortly after, thanks to the copious alms of the people, the construction works of the temple began, with the contribution of various architects: Galeazzo Alessi, Giulio Danti, Bino Sizi, Mariotto da Cortona. A drawing by Piccolpasso shows that in 1565 the construction of La Madona had reached its first register and leads us to believe that the houses adjoining the chapel with the miraculous image, designed to the west of the church, towards the Regghia, were in the area of the current Reggiani palace. The Collegiate was completed in 1597-1599. After about twenty years, in 1619, the original dome showed a lesion: consequently it fell or, more likely, was demolished. Today you can get an idea of the primitive dome from the painting by Bernardino Magi kept in the church of San Bernardino. The reconstruction of the current dome, no longer with a lowered sixth but with a round sixth, with a smaller base diameter, was entrusted to Filippo Fracassini (until 1650) with the architects Rutilio, first, and Beniamino Sermigni, later. In order to consolidate the base of the vault, without compromising “The ornamentation of the interior ... the order of the beautiful columns, to whose transport is to be attributed one hundred and forty-one pairs of oxen were needed in 1623 ”. The lantern on top of the dome was finished in 1664, along with the wooden doors. The clues to the solution of the riddle The above information tells us everything about the reason for the location of the Collegiate Church, about the artists who built it, about its main events; but they do not reveal the reason why the church of the Patrona has been set up in the configuration from which, for over four centuries, it has scrutinized the life of the mortals who alternate around its bulk from the top of the lantern. By asking ourselves this question during a walk with friends around the octagonal church, the intuition emerged that the orientation had been chosen with the intention of offering the best scenery to the faithful who proceeded to the temple. The research that followed led to the emergence of several elements that seem to support this hypothesis, as we will try to demonstrate in the following pages. Starting from the assumption that the orientation of the church could not have been accidental, let us analyze the objective elements of knowledge currently available, from which a reasonable answer to the enigma can be deduced. For this we make constant reference to figure 1, where the essential elements of the church plan and the nearby buildings indicated by historical sources are shown. 1. "In the Italy of the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries ... the formation of sanctuaries on places of miraculous events attributed to the Madonna ... There was also the trend, made known by the solution of the Sanctuary of Loreto (started in 1469 ), to incorporate the pre-existing chapel inside. " (2) 2. The small church outside the walls of Fratta with the miraculous image was adjacent to some buildings, as evidenced in the historical summary reported above. Therefore there were not even the practical conditions to incorporate it, unless the adjacent buildings were demolished. 3. "The attention to the astronomical orientation of places of worship, carefully researched in the Middle Ages, disappears in Renaissance buildings when the introduction of the compass and modern philosophical and scientific theories loosened the bonds of a mythical, magical, mysticism that united the men of the Middle Ages with the observation of the sky, favoring instead the positioning of the building in relation to the urban context. In the case of the Collegiate Church, some measurements were nevertheless carried out to verify the actual orientation of the building with respect to the astronomical cardinal points and to identify any related explanations. The results of the surveys, shown in figure 2, allow us to deduce some considerations. The eight-pointed decoration visible on the floor in the center of the church, similar in shape to the wind rose, is not related to the cardinal points, but is only a decorative element subordinated to the shape of the building, which in some way reflects. The particular historical methods of foundation of the octagonal buildings were also verified: " Generally the orientation of the octagon required that the cardinal directions pass through the vertices of the polygon, a rule that was not always respected during the construction of the baptisteries while it was respected, in the period around 1000, when several octagonal churches were built. " (3) In our case, the orientation of the octagon does not respect the criterion of cardinal points passing through two opposite edges. It would seem to be possible to say that the altar is oriented at the dawn of the winter solstice, with the sun rising behind the celebrant, but there are no openings in the wall that capture and highlight this phenomenon which, consequently, does not seem to have been priority in the plant of the building. In conclusion, it seems unlikely to attribute an astronomical explanation to the orientation of the church. " (4) 4. The sandstone portal to the north, consisting of two columns surmounted by a tympanum, projects perpendicularly to the wall face. Above the tympanum there is a round arch of unloading (platband), made of bricks in a radial arrangement, which is used above the architraves in order to reduce or eliminate the bending stress. 5. The west portal, apparently the twin of the north one, has several peculiarities: it protrudes from the wall facing in an oblique direction, with an angle of about 24 ° with respect to the perpendicular to the wall; the brick arch above the tympanum is not visible on the outside. 6. A panoramic drawing of Fratta (figure 3 shows the detail of the area in question), made in 1565 by the military engineer Cipriano Piccolpasso, does not seem to show the opening to the west of the Collegiate, although the church appears to have been erected until the first register: the signs on the left of the wall are not in the center of the side of the polygon and do not have a regular geometric shape, but seem similar to trees, such as those shown also on the right of the building. It should be noted that the design is to be considered very reliable, as evidenced by the accuracy of the details represented in the other more important buildings. The drawing highlights another important detail: the original path of the Regghia is moved, compared to today, towards the Rocca, confirming the subsequent movement of the river bed and, therefore, the need to build a new bridge, as documented in point 9 following. 7. The differences between the two portals exposed in the three previous points reasonably suggest that the one to the west was opened at a later time, after the construction of the first register. In any case, the anomaly highlighted in the west portal suggests that this had been considered in the alternative to the north one: therefore the importance of the latter must have been truly extraordinary if it had prevailed, for the purposes of choosing the orientation, with respect to to the alternative of enhancing the chapel which had even motivated the work. 8. At the time of the design of the church, the oldest and most important access inside the walls was undoubtedly that of the Porta della Campana, which showed the emblem of the castle (the ancient lily in bas-relief, an ancient weapon of Florentines (5 ) ) and allowed the people to enter the main road network of the valley: the "Strada del Piano", which connected Città di Castello to Perugia, along the left bank of the Tiber, across the bridge over the Carpina, the church of Santa Maria, the Collegiata (in fact), the Madonna del Moro and Ponte Felcino. Therefore, for the inhabitants of the castle of Fratta, the most important way to go to the Collegiata was the one leaving the Porta della Campana, which entered the “Strada del Piano” through the Piaggiola and Boccajolo. It was also the shortest way, because the possible alternative was to go down the Via Retta (the Corso), leave the walls towards Piazza San Francesco and go up to the Collegiate Church on Via Soli. So: for the people of the castle of Fratta it was natural to access the large church outside the walls from the "Strada del Piano". 9. There is news (6) of an old bridge over the Regghia starting from July 1632, from which it is deduced that it was probably composed of masonry heads where wooden beams rested for crossing. The continuous adjustments and renovations in the seventeenth century indicate how much it was subjected to wear. In particular, he had had to work overtime in absorbing the transit of heavy loads of materials coming from the furnaces of the Borgo Superiore, necessary precisely for the "factory" of the church of the Madonna della Regghia. Other consolidation works were carried out in 1726. Furthermore, the state of the bridge was a source of dangers, so the situation became increasingly unsustainable. Finally, in the meeting of April 4, 1770, the City Council took the question head-on: "Being that since some years ... several times thought by the Defenders and by the representatives of this Earth to obviate the dangers that have occurred and that can happen in the future in passing with horses slaughters and some over the bridge that passes over the river Palace under the church of the Most Holy Virgin, which being so narrow and without sides or parapet, it happened several times that horses and oxen were in danger of rushing with loads and wagons, and other hauls. " By cutting off the bull's head, it was decided to redo the now unsafe bridge from scratch, making it wider, with sturdy sides and suitable for bearing greater loads. In confirmation of this intention, the Chapter of the Collegiate gave the Municipality "land for the construction of the new bridge over the Royal Palace in the direction of Montone" (7) . The project was promptly carried out, if in the rough color plan of 1780 by Giuseppe Fabretti (8) (figure 4) the bridge is located in the new position and is connected through a twisted junction to the old route of the “Strada del piano”, which in the meantime had become less and less important, compared to the more recent road on the right bank of the Tiber. The road will only subsequently be rectified and enlarged, forming the current Via Veneto. The construction of the new bridge in a location other than the original one was also determined by the need to expand the square under the Rocca (9) , whose first modest works began in 1803, in order to solve a very old problem. At the end of 1846 the Judiciary of Fratta bought, for this purpose, another piece of land with these reasons: "... the need for this expansion [Editor's note: of the area for the livestock market] is making itself felt every more and openly demonstrated by the last Cattle Fair in which not only the current square was filled with oxen, but even though the adjoining road that leads to the house of Signor Mavarelli and a large part of the Collegiate field that would be occupied by the proposed extension ... ". It is reasonable to think that on that occasion it was decided to move the riverbed of the Regghia away from the tower. The refurbishment of the area was completed in 1880, with the construction of the retaining walls and the raising of the level of the market square. Ernesto Freguglia had just had time to paint the area (1875) in its original configuration, with the clearing still at the level of the bed along the river bank. In this year 2011, a suggestive realization has turned back the hands of time, restoring a condition similar to that of the seventeenth century, demonstrating how man does not disdain to emulate Penelope in adapting the environment to his variable needs. A hypothesis for solving the riddle On the basis of the objective information detailed above, it can be deduced that the configuration of the area of the Collegiate and the surrounding area in the year 1600 (immediately following the completion of the church) was that shown in figure 5, which can be compared with that of figure 6 , relating to the year 2000. For a more immediate perception of the changes undergone over the last four centuries, the situations indicated in the plans are replicated in the drawings of figure 7 - taking advantage of the prodigious pencil of Adriano Bottaccioli, used to photographing scenarios that have now disappeared from our castle - and in figure 8 , in which the changes that led to the current scenario are superimposed. At this point we can deduce a likely explanation for the enigma posed to us, which we set out below. Already in the positioning phase of the new church, it was decided not to incorporate the small chapel with the image of the Virgin, as was customary in that period (point 1), because it was too close to other valuable buildings existing nearby ( point 2). The church was originally conceived with the main entrance - and, initially, probably the only one - corresponding to the current north portal, aligned with the main access road from the castle, as shown in the drawing in figure 7. In this way the scenography that was presented to the faithful on their way to the church (point 8) was of the utmost spectacular. On this portal, at the same time as the construction of the wall, the discharge arch was created above the opening (point 4). It is probable that only later, during the construction of the church, did someone come up with the idea of "uniting" the old chapel and the large church in some way. The goal was achieved with the opening of a second access (not drawn in the overview of the Piccolpasso referred to in point 6) on the side facing the original aedicule, which was obtained by tearing apart the masonry. On the occasion, the platband was not built on the external face, for various possible reasons: either because the engineers were less scrupulous; or because it was more complicated to obtain an aesthetically acceptable result, having to inscribe the arch on an opening obtained by tearing. However, it cannot be excluded that the platband was built at a lower level, so as to be hidden by the sandstone tympanum. Jutting out from the wall, a twin portal to the existing one was built, but with an anomalous angle, in order to orient it towards the original chapel (point 5); in fact the land donated for the construction of the church was in fact "contiguous" to the chapel, as reported in the deed of sale of the land of 1559. The anomalous angle can have two different explanations, depending on whether the construction of the portal was started after or before having decided to demolish the chapel - perhaps due to the precarious state, such as not to justify its restoration - and to move the image of the Virgin inside the church. In the first case, in anticipation of the maintenance of the chapel, the new portal should perhaps have constituted one of the two ends of a portico connecting the new and old structure; faced with the decision to move the effigy and demolish the aedicule, the portico was no longer built, leaving the work unfinished, due to the unexpected disappearance of the final destination. In the hypothesis that the architects of the work were less fickle in their decisions, it seems more likely that the idea of building the anomalous portal was triggered after having decided to demolish the chapel, with the consequent necessary compensation by evoking it forever. in the imagination of the faithful. In any case, in all probability this architectural strangeness remains today to indicate the direction along which the ancient chapel with the Majesty must have been. The opening of the second portal will have involved the need to move the altar, placing it on the side of the octagon opposite the one between the two doors, in order to give a new symmetry to the temple. Conclusion If the one described was really the sequence of decisions and works, the enigma we tried to unravel was born, many decades after the completion of the Collegiate, following the decision to move the route of the "Strada del piano" and to replace the old bridge over the Regghia on the road to the upper Borgo with a new one, in a different position. There were two reasons: the state of decay and danger of the bridge; the need to expand the space around the fortress to be used for the livestock market, after having moved the riverbed of the Regghia and demolished the access ramp to the now obsolete drawbridge. Basically: the orientation of the temple and the presumed location of the original main access road to the church explain each other; with the modification introduced since, during the 18th century, the pre-existing bridge and road were moved to the north-east, the original scenography was canceled, creating the enigma for which this hypothesis of solution was proposed. PS In the recent restructuring of the area surrounding the Rocca, the opportunity was lost to restore the original scenography to the Collegiata, with the simple positioning of the new sidewalk along the route of the ancient Strada del Piano. * * * Thanks to Alvaro Gragnoli who, thanks to his intuition, started the research and to those who made their knowledge available: Giovanni Cangi, humanist engineer, as regards the engineering aspect; Francesco Rosi, architect, expert and passionate about archaeoastronomy; Monsignor Pietro Vispi, parish priest of the Collegiate, precious source of historical information, Adriano Bottaccioli, art director of communication and painter. Note: 1. PIETRO VISPI, The Collegiate Church of Santa Maria della Reggia, Radio Elettra & M SpA School, Città di Castello, 2001 2. LUCA SPORTELLINI, “The Sanctuary of Maria Santissima Assunta in Rasina”, Fabrizio Fabbri Editore, 2011, p. 24 3. A. GASPANI, Astronomy and geometry in the ancient Alpine churches, Priuli and Verlucca editori, 2000, Turin 4. Contribution by FRANCESCO ROSI 5. BELFORTI - MARIOTTI, History of Fratta, year 1780 6. CODOVINI - SCIURPA, Umbertide in the XVIII century, GESP, Città di Castello, 2003, p. 42 7. PIETRO VISPI, The Collegiate Church of Santa Maria della Reggia, Umbertide, 2001, note on p. 60 8. GIUSEPPE FABRETTI, News of the Land of Fratta, (ms BAP 2011) 9. RENATO CODOVINI - ROBERTO SCIURPA, Umbertide in the 19th century, 2001, GESP, Città di Castello, pp. 51, 122, 377. L'Enigma della Collegiata THE SUNDAY OF THE GRANDE PIAZZA DELLA FRATTA by Mario Tosti In the memory of Renato Codovini and Amedeo Massetti With the following notes I propose to shed light on the events of a sundial found in our historic center. I try to demonstrate the hypothesis that it represented the local reference for solar time: the time of Fratta, our local Greenwich mean time. For this mission, she lived in symbiosis with the clock of the Torre della Campana, which stood on top of the Piaggiola. His odyssey began on a window sill in front of the Rocca, on the first floor of the building that housed the headquarters of the Podestà and the hall of the municipal council, in Via Alberti. After a couple of centuries of honorable work, she was evicted and imprisoned under the plaster of the Garibaldi's room in Piazza Fortebraccio. Today he is enjoying his well-deserved retirement in the bucolic Umbrian countryside. For the sake of completeness, I have also tried to reconstruct the evolution of time measurement tools available to the community up to the present day. Let us hope that they continue to measure a time of peace and serenity. THE FINDING Around the middle of the twentieth century, in the course of renovations, a sundial was found under the plaster of the wall in front of the entrance to the room on the ground floor of the building at no. 9 of the current Fortebraccio square, in front of the Rocca (Figure 1). It was Rinaldo Giannelli, owner of the restaurant, who reported it to me, proposing to look for clues about the story. THE SEARCH FOR INFORMATION At first, I had come to a hypothesis that turned out to be incorrect after meeting Mauro Bifani who, together with Manlio Suvieri, was carrying out a research on the sundials of Umbria. I pointed out to him the existence of our find, which has become the subject of his expert analysis. In the book they subsequently published - The ancient hours, Sundials and Roman-style clocks in the municipalities of Umbria, Futura edizioni, 2017 - an entire chapter was dedicated to The sundial of Piazza Grande alla Fratta, in which I was able to integrate with my historical reconstruction of the results of their technical and functional research. STRUCTURAL AND FUNCTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS The small sundial (36 cm x 36 cm) of Fratta, in octagonal terracotta, at Italic hours, was designed to be used in a horizontal position. Several engravings are visible on its surface. At the top, the date of construction (1658) is engraved. A little below, a motto in Greek and another in Latin are engraved: “ΧΡΟΝΟΧ ΑΝΤΑΧΟ Υ ΑΝΕΜΕΙ” (Time resists winds). “AMBIGUIS ALIX LABILIS HORA VOLAT” (The fleeting hour flies on mysterious wings). In agreement with the authors of the book, I add a different translation reported by Mons. Pietro Vispi, also based on the identification of a Greek "p" partially canceled by a crack in the tile: "ΧΡΟΝΟΣ (Π) ΑΝΤΑΚΟΥ ΔΙΕΠΕΙ" (Time always arranges everything) “ΑΜΒΙGUIS ALIS LABILIS HORA VOLAT” (Time that passes flies with elusive wings). I gladly report the two translations, both fascinating, also to demonstrate the complexity in the interpretation of the thoughts handed down to us from the past. The inscription “AD ALTITUD GRAD 43” confirms that it was built for our latitude. The symbols of the four main zodiac signs are represented: Cancer, Capricorn, Aries and Libra. The names of the winds are engraved on the external frame: Mezzodì, Garbino (term used on the Adriatic coast to indicate the Libeccio wind), Ponente, Maestro, Tramontana, Greco, Levante, Scirocco. THE CLUES Hypotheses on the events of the sundial can be deduced starting from the information concerning the measurement of time in the castle of Fratta and the function of the existing buildings in the area of the discovery (Piazza Fortebraccio, Via Alberti, Piaggiola). A recording dated 1477 refers to a Porta della Campana (figure 2), open towards Montone in the north corner of the castle walls, at the top of the Piaggiola. Originally, a tower 22 meters high rose above the gate. In the 16th century it was raised with a wooden tower of 11 m, at the base of which a niche was obtained, with the painted image of the Madonna. At the top a small loggia was opened to house the public bell. The building became one of the main references for the people, so much so that the entire surrounding district took the name of Terziere della Campana. The donzello of the Municipality was in charge of ringing the big [bell] to signal, in addition to extraordinary events, the canonical hours: Lodi (at dawn), Prima (around 6), Terza (at 9), Sesta (at 12) , Nona (at 15), Vespers (at sunset) and Compline [sic], before going to bed. Where the bell was not within earshot, it was the position of the sun in the sky that marked the time or, if the sky was cloudy, the intensity of the light was enough to mark the slow life of our ancestors. Then, with the spread of mechanical clocks, one was installed below the bell. The task of supervising, maintaining and charging it passed to the moderator of the public clock [moderator: who knows if this name meant inviting the spheres not to be in too much of a hurry?]. It is likely that the imprecision of those first mechanisms made it necessary to put them back at the right time almost daily. This function, in the absence of today's time signals on the radio, could only be performed by a sundial. The symbiosis between the two instruments is confirmed by the coincidence of the presumable period of the installation of the mechanical clock (17th century) and the year (1658) engraved on the Fratta sundial. The room of the discovery (outlined in green in figures 3 and 4) is located on the southern edge of the fifth of buildings of the current Piazza Fortebraccio, originally "Piazza Grande del Comune", in front of the Rocca "(platea comunis dicti castri ante cassarum) . There are several documents that allow us to deduce the evolution of the buildings on the corner between Piazza Fortebraccio and Via Alberti. In the fourteenth century the building in which the sundial was found did not exist, but in its place there was an external ramp (figure 5), which was demolished (figure 6) when it became encumbered for the drawbridge that would lower towards the square from the Rocca under construction: in fact, among the works commissioned to Trocascio (27 May 1385) there was also that of demolishing it and rebuilding it inside ("Eo Trocascio I promise ... remove the staircase of the podesta's palace and remake it inside the said palace or elsewhere, so that it does not harm the cassaro [Rocca] "). Figures 5 and 6 show details regarding the rear building, towards the west, taken from deeds of the notary Nicola di Antonio. First of all it belonged to the Municipality, as shown in a document dated July 1443: "... in the square of said castle, in front of the Palazzo del Podestà and the Rocca (... in the stalls dicti castri ante palatium potestatis et arcem)" ...; in 1448, "in the Town Hall and residence of the said Podestà of the said Castle, in the upper room of the said palace (... in the palatio Communis et residentiae dicti potestatis dicti castri in the upper room dicti palatii) ..." (1). In another act of the following year we speak of the "lower room" (2). He refers to "upper room" in acts of 1464 and 1466 (3). It is therefore assumed that in the building there was a large room on the ground floor (current service entrance to the theater in Via Alberti, 22), which could be used for the meetings of the City Council, and an apartment on the first floor (with entrance at no.20 ) in use by the Podestà, which was accessed by an external staircase. Today the new staircase, whose intrados is visible just to the left of the entrance at no. 22, allows you to go up to the first floor from the entrance to n. 20 of Via Alberti. A map by Anonymous dating back to 1730 (figure 7) shows us that the building where the find was not yet existed. The same indication comes from a drawing by Fabretti of 1780 (see final note), which also highlights the existence of a chapel annexed to the Monastery of the Nuns of Castelvecchio, indicated in figure 4. THE DEDUCTIONS On the basis of the clues described above, I tried to reconstruct the events of our sundial. In the first place, it is presumable that it was not part of the religious complex adjacent to the site of the discovery. In fact, the monastery of the Nuns of S. Maria di Castelvecchio had been suppressed at the end of the fourteenth century, two centuries before the construction of the sundial. Furthermore, the hours engraved on the surface of the octagon - Italic hours for civil use, rather than Italic for bells used for bell towers - support the hypothesis of a civil use and exclude the religious one. A further trace: the small distance - a few tens of meters - of the room where the sundial was found from the civic tower of the Bell (and, later, of the Clock), suggests that the two systems of time measurement were in close symbiosis, confirmed by the coincidence of the respective construction periods. The adjacency to the hall of the municipal council and to the seat of the Podestà suggests that it was exhibited somewhere in the square. The window sill of the "upper room", on the first floor of via Alberti 20, was probably the ideal point (figure 8) on which to display it in the horizontal position for which it was conceived. In fact it was sunny and protected, within reach of the highest authority of the castle. Mauro Bifani confirmed the validity of this hypothesis, found in other situations: inside the Sperelliana library in Gubbio, the sundial originally exhibited on the window is preserved, where traces of the well-oriented seat in which it was positioned remain; also in the Marches there is another, still in its place, which makes a good impression on a window sill. The Platonic marriage between the solar instrument and the mechanical one, not consummated due to the distance of their respective residences, went into crisis in the nineteenth century, for various reasons. The signs of old age arrived for the bell tower: in 1815, due to a subsidence of the foundations, it had been shortened, but with poor results: in 1820 it was completely demolished. But the clock was too important for the inhabitants of Fratta to do without it: at the same time a new tower was built (figure 9) in the central square - Piazza del Grano - in front of the current Town Hall, which had become the new center of gravity of the country. But the purchase of a new watch resulted in the death sentence of the old one, already in bad shape due to worn and rusty wheels. The solution proved to be precarious because, after just half a century, in 1873 it was decided to enlarge the Piazza del Grano to give air to the current Piazza Mazzini; to make room, the fledgling tower was sentenced to death at the bitter age of 53. As can be seen, even in the past, not all choices were far-sighted. Even for the sundial, widowed, the end loomed. To put a load of eleven there was the construction of the building at number 9 of Piazza Fortebraccio, as shown by a plan of the Gregorian Cadastre (figure 10) dating back to the period 1830-1850. From that moment on, the area assumed its current shape. The new construction "blinded" the window of the upper room where the sundial had lived, depriving it of its function. As a result, she was fired and evicted. He found refuge in the room where it was found, downgraded to a simple decorative element, albeit with the advantage of protection from the elements. Subsequently it raged, segregating it under the plaster. In short: in addition to life, the solar instrument and the mechanical one also seemed united in the end. But there was a surprise for the sundial. THE FINAL REST Rediscovered in the third millennium, by the owner the sundial has been moved to its natural environment, outside a pleasant cottage in the sweet Umbrian countryside. Although hanged vertically - contrary to its nature to relax horizontally - and with a random orientation with respect to the cardinal points, it is very happy to have rejoined the sun, remaining an interesting testimony of the history of Fratta. THE HEIRS Since the appetite comes with eating, I was intrigued to know who took over the sundial and the clock her husband, in the task of marking the time of our community after the demolition in 1872 of the ephemeral tower in the square. Nobody could tell us better than Egino Villarini, who joined me at the PC keyboard. In November 1876 the works for the enlargement of the old Piazza del Grano were completed, decided by the Municipality due to the increase in the volume of commercial activities, the growth of the population and the fact that it "was in a cramped confined space. "; last but not least, "the not very decent appearance of the buildings" which impoverished the Sorbello palace, seat of the Municipality. The square (now Piazza Matteotti) took the name of Umberto I. A new bell clock was placed in the center of the building opposite the town hall (Figure 11). It was operated by large stone blocks which, hung from a chain, descended from the top floor to the ground, where the Post Office was located. In more recent times, the task of turning the crank to raise the weights could not fail to be entrusted to Gino Vannoni, watchmaker. It was the engineer Villarini himself who relieved him of his duty by automating the operation. In 1918, the primary school clock (Fig. 12) entered the life of the people of Umbria, with the task of informing the schoolchildren, at a quarter past 8, that it was time to set off and, at 8:30, that the it was closing. Today, clocks are everywhere - on the streets, in the squares, on everyone - to synchronize with the hasty rhythms of modern life. But it would be quite another sensation to respond, as yesterday, to the call from the voice of the school: a solemn rite of the community, testifying to the collective concern reserved for the process of integrating young people into the cycle of social life. Those familiar tolls were then perceived by everyone, thanks to the silence in the town and the concentration of the houses; today they would perhaps be suffocated by the noise of cars and muffled by the remoteness of the suburbs. Yet they could represent the symbol of a cohesive and harmonious community, sickened by decades of excessive individualism. They would be especially appropriate in these times of seclusion. NOTE Regarding the volume of Fabretti, I want to tell a singular detail. Together with Amedeo Massetti we were consulting it in the Augusta Library in Perugia, when we came across a map referring to “Fratta” (figure 13, left), but it appeared totally different from that of our country. We thought it was the result of an error, also likely due to the low quality of the drawing, attributable to a novice author. After various considerations, we discovered the dilemma: the image had been copied against the light on a window pane, but on the wrong side. It was enough to do the opposite operation - this time with the PC - to get the right drawing, but with the name “Fratta” inverted (figure 13, in the center). An enlargement of the plan (figure 13, right) reveals the lack of the building of the find. There is also an interesting detail: a small church is marked with a cross (barely perceptible) - indicating that it was still officiated - annexed to the adjacent monastery of the Nuns of S. Maria di Castelvecchio. NOTES TO THE TEXT: Arch. Notar. di Umbertide, Notary Nicola di Antonio, acts 1448 - 1450, cat. 276/74, card 11 / v Arch. Notar. di Umbertide, Notary Nicola di Antonio, acts 1448 - 1450, cat. 276/74, card 99 / Arch. Notar. di Umbertide, Notary Nicola di Antonio, acts 1464 - 1466, cat. 283/5, cards 10 / r, 120 / v, 225 / v THANKS For this little research, I have made extensive use of the work of friends: Renato Codovini, generous initiator and prompter for all researchers of local history, who exhumed historical documents otherwise destined to remain buried in the archives; Amedeo Massetti, unforgettable friend and perfect citizen; Egino Villarini, an inexhaustible source of the innovations introduced in the country, with the reliability and details of having been the protagonist; Adriano Bottaccioli, who imagined the missing pieces of our country from every point of view, reconstructing them with the artist's ability and with the affection of the ex-emigrant; Mauro Bifani and Manlio Suvieri, who provided the technical information necessary for the reconstruction of a plausible history for our sundial. Fabio Mariotti, who checked the text (once I relied on Amedeo), enriching it with images. La Meridiana della Piazza Grande della Fratta

The Railway Bridge over the Tiber 1900 edited by Simona Bellucci After the unification of Italy, rail projects arose in abundance, also because the construction of the national network was in full swing and all the municipalities saw in the railway connections the possibility of getting out of isolation. In 1866 a Florence-Perugia-Rome railway was inaugurated, which placed Umbria on the main railway axis. It passed from Terontola to Umbertide and Perugia. It did not last long, because as early as 1875 a railway from Terontola to Chiusi was inaugurated that cut off Perugia and Terni from the main axis. From here began the disasters for the railways of the region, because that stretch was abandoned. Alongside the main lines, the government also financed the secondary ones, which is why in 1880 a consortium was formed in Arezzo between various municipalities for the construction of an Umbrian-Arezzo railway, of which the municipality of Città di Castello was diligent advocate, a commitment that gave the hoped-for results in a short time, as already in 1886 the section of the Arezzo-Fossato di Vico Central Apennine Railway was inaugurated with a length of 133 km. The narrow gauge railway that passed through Sansepolcro, Citta 'di Castello, Umbertide, Gubbio, fulfilled an important function of connection between the Tyrrhenian and the Adriatic. In fact, it was connected to the line for Florence on one side and for Ancona on the other, but the winding route with considerable slopes, meant that it was not so useful. However, it continued to carry out its function until it ceased its service during the Second World War due to the damage it suffered. Railway line in Umbertide in 1901 Umbertide, however, felt the need to connect also with the most important neighboring city and capital of his province: Perugia. The municipal council wanted to commit itself to this, also because interest was growing on the part of other centers, in fact Terni also wanted to connect with Perugia. In 1899 a conference was held in Terni on the project of a railway line up to Umbertide, passing through Perugia, after which a few years later in 1911 the construction of the railway began and on 12 July 1915 the line was inaugurated. From the initial steam traction, in 1920, we moved on to electri fi cation. Umbertide was an important connection center, because there was a coincidence between trains coming from Perugia and direct or towards Arezzo or towards Ancona. Railway station railway in Umbertide in about 1910 and construction of bridges and toll booth in Montecorona in about 1935. The two railway lines passing through Umbertide, the Arezzo-Fossato di Vico line and the Umbertide-Terni line, although not particularly efficient, especially the first, nevertheless fulfilled a fundamental function of connection. He became aware of this especially in the last phase of the war period, when both interrupted the connections due to the damage caused by the bombings carried out by the Allies, in order to make the retreat of the German army more difficult and for the collection of rolling stock. by both the Germans and the Allies. The rolling stock and sleepers were used to rebuild temporary bridges, to restore the minimum necessary connections. The two lines suffered different fate after their destruction. The whole railway from Umbertide to Terni had been damaged. The first section put back into operation was the southern one to connect Perugia with Terni and only later work was resumed for the northern section, that is from Perugia to Umbertide. However, the latter reopened quite early, in 1948, and once again fulfilled its important liaison function. What remains of the railway line in the section between Gubbio and Umbertide. There are two tunnels under the current route of the Statale: proceeding from Umbertide in the direction of Gubbio, immediately after the town of Camporeggiano, the first one you meet is on the orographic right of the Assino, then crossing the river on the pipeline bridge you meet the second on the orographic left. Photos and information: Eugenio Baldinelli lawyer In addition to the workers in the workshop, the people of Umbria also boasted a high rate of employment among the traveling staff and train drivers. The railway therefore represented an important and quality source of employment in the local context, with about 150 employees. The railway also had two dormitories at the terminus of Sansepolcro and Temi for the traveling personnel, in operation since the nineties. It played an undoubtedly modern factor in an area which, isolated from the motorway network, was unable to escape from its isolation even when a late construction of the E7 motorway was prepared. The company that took care of the railways was the FAC until the war period, after the war the "MUA", then it was replaced by the "FCU", then by "BUS Italia" and now it has passed to the "Rete Ferroviaria Italiana". Today the railway network is fully back in operation after the problems on the line of the last decade. In a difficult period, many came to hypothesize the possible disposal of part of the railway structure. A young architect from Umbertide, Alessandro Venturelli, worked on his degree thesis on the possible reuse of the railway workshops with internal technical tables at the time that it was feared for its disposal: “ City Market Museum of Umbertide. Restoration and reuse of an abandoned railway area ", academic year 2012/13 at the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Florence. The link refers to the thesis page. The image allows you to access the thesis with the tables that Alessandro has made available. https://www.umbertidestoria.net/tesi-di-laurea Sources: - Simona Bellucci: Umbertide in the 20th century 1943-2000, Nuova Prhomos, 2018. - https://www.trenidicarta.it/aperture.html - Umbria-Apennine Railway Photos and information - Avv. Eugenio Baldinelli - Photo: historical photos of Umbertide from the web and from various private archives to which we applied the " umbertidestoria " watermark in this way we try to avoid that the further disclosure on our part favors purposes not consonant with our intentions exclusively social and cultural. Help us remember umbertidestoria@gmail.com

L'arrivo degli aerei e la prima ondata La prima sosta e la seconda ondata CRONACA, MINUTO PER MINUTO, DEL BOMBARDAMENTO DI UMBERTIDE DEL 25 APRILE 1944 di Mario Tosti dal suo libro “IL NOSTRO CALVARIO” con la collaborazione di trecentoquarantacinque testimoni L’ARRIVO DEGLI AEREI L’udito come difesa: perché sono i rumori ad annunciare i fatti. Dalla cadenza degli scarponi, dal bussare alle porte, al sibilo sinistro degli aerei. I rumori hanno un linguaggio diverso, secondo i tempi; e quelli del tempo di guerra sono udibili immediatamente per un vigile senso di attesa e di allerta(1). Un brontolio lontano annuncia l’approssimarsi di aerei. Prima stazione Gesù davanti a Pilato è condannato a morte Gesù innocente è abbandonato dal potere imperiale. Crucifige! Crucifige! Il paese impotente è lasciato in balia dell’arbitrio della barbarie. 1) Eliana Pirazzoli, dattiloscritto, 1986 L’attacco I quattro aerei che, stanchi del carosello, avevano accennato a lasciare il girotondo, hanno davvero deciso di dirigersi verso il paese(1). Dei primi due(2), uno vira verso il Faldo(3); l’altro, abbassatosi sulle schioppe, segue il Tevere(4) verso Montecorona(5). Entrambi puntano verso Sud, come per tornare da dove sono venuti. Gli altri due li seguono a distanza. La maggior parte di quanti si erano fermati ad assistere allo spettacolo, vedendo gli aerei scomparire dietro i tetti, verso Pian d’Assino, riprendono il cammino interrotto, pensando che lo spettacolo sia finito. Non sanno che è il prologo di una tragedia immane. Altri cominciano a capire. I due aerei, scesi minacciosi da Montaguto, hanno attirato l’attenzione della Vera (Vibi) che, dalla finestra sul Tevere, stava buttando sul fiume i fondi del caffè appena colato, per non sporcare il lavandino di marmo bianco. Corre verso la camera della mamma che è a letto, inferma(6). Anche i ragazzini cominciano a capire. Lamberto (Maccarelli) stava piantando i fagioli nell’orto con il nonno; ha riconosciuto che sono degli Alleati quegli apparecchi che continuano a volare da diversi minuti sopra la sua testa nel cielo bellissimo, di pieno sole. Capisce che stanno per bombardare. Corre in cas per avvertire la mamma e la sorella che fanno le maglie: dapprima le donne ninnano un po’. Si radunano tutti nell’atrio in fondo alle scale. Il nonno vorrebbe uscire verso la bottega di Conti. Lo convincono a restare lì. L’Antonina, la mamma di Lamberto, comincia a piangere. Il nonno Giuseppe (Fiorucci) la consola: “Sta tranquilla, ‘ché i travi en de ferro...”(7). 1) Fabrizio Boldrini, Domenico Mariotti, Francesco Martinelli 2) Amedeo Faloci 3) Franco Mischianti 4) Paolo Mazzanti 5) Franco Mischianti 6) Vera Vibi 7) Lamberto Maccarelli LA PRIMA ONDATA (1) I due aerei, giunti sopra Montecorona, virano verso Poggio Manente. Il primo, pilotato dal capo-pattuglia Jandrell, punta il muso rosso verso il ponte sul Tevere. Segue la traiettoria ottimale secondo la tecnica militare: deve essere obliqua rispetto all'asse della strada, di quel tanto necessario ad indirizzare gli ordigni alla base del ponte, in modo che l'onda d'urto si espanda dal basso all'alto, per aggredire l'arco lungo la direttrice di minor resistenza; centrare la carreggiata raramente genera danni irreparabili rispetto alla transitabilità della campata(2). La direzione di avvicinamento deve lasciare il sole dietro le spalle, per evitare abbagliamenti. In questo caso, la traiettoria così determinata ha anche il vantaggio che il tratto più basso della picchiata, sviluppandosi sopra i tetti, mantiene il bombardiere fuori del tiro di eventuali armi antiaeree, che i ricognitori possono aver sospettato ai margini del centro storico. Nei piloti è del tutto marginale la preoccupazione per l'incolumità dei civili. Non sono bastati decenni di dittatura, quattro anni di guerra e di miseria, per risparmiare ad un paese inerme il colpo di grazia. Si è deciso di infierire. Ecce homo. Dalla stazione, già quasi deserta(3), si riesce a vedere la testa del pilota con la cuffia di cuoio(4) che sfreccia sopra la casa del contadino della "Commenda", la rivendita di vino e latte di Civitella(5). Il cacciabombardiere compare all'improvviso alla gente in piazza, che guarda in su, attratta dal rombo crescente, paralizzata, nelle gambe e nella mente: piomba in picchiata(6) verso di loro, nero contro il cielo pieno di luce. Crepita la mitragliatrice, per dissuadere l'antiaerea che non c'è. Adriano Zurli, militare dell'aeronautica, non appena ha sentito un paio di raffiche, si è reso conto del pericolo; insieme a Gigi de Torello (Luigi Carlini) salta negli orti dietro le case di Via Roma e fugge risalendo la Regghia(7). Ugo Forni, arruolato in aviazione, è in casa di Mogi (Alessandro Romitelli), il gestore del Dopolavoro della ferrovia. Quando ha sentito il crescendo della picchiata, ha fatto riparare tutta la gente del caseggiato nel fondo della Lisa (Baldoni)(8). Anche Secondo, alla Caminella, esperto perché convalescente per ferite riportate in prima linea, capisce che stanno per bombardare(9). Seconda stazione Gesù si carica la croce sulle spalle Prima scarica La vista delle bombe All'improvviso due cilindri luccicanti, simili a grossi maiali(10), abbandonano la pancia del "picchiatello"; fanno un paio di capriole(11), come se vogliano indugiare; poi precipitano, lasciando una scia rossastra(12) in mezzo ad un frastuono assordante. Brizio (Boldrini) ed i suoi amici le guardano più curiosi che impauriti(15). "Ma queste en bombe!!" urla all'improvviso la Pomeìna (Armando Silvioni), facendo gelare il sangue(16) a quanti sono in piazza. "Bombardano!" ripete Sganapìno (Giuseppe Galmacci) guardando in alto(17). Sembrano una coppia d'uova(18). "Buttono ji ovi d'oca!", conferma puntando l'indice un ragazzino, più esperto di pollai che di macchine da guerra, dalla collina della Serra(19). Anche al Faldo, vedendo cadere quei cavulìni, non sanno paragonarli ad altro di conosciuto che ad una coppia d'ovi d'oca: comuni, innocue uova, solo più grosse del normale. Le bombe non hanno mai abitato qui(20). La Pia (Gagliardini), in casa dietro le scuole, visti cadere dall'aereo che si abbassa quei due cavolini, incuriosita chiede ad Alfredo (Briganti): "Che ha lasciato cadere quell'apparecchio?". "Fuggi, sono bombe. Fuggi via!(21)". A Muzio (Venti) sembrano dei bijittìni, uguali a quelli che hanno buttato nei giorni scorsi per avvertire la gente del pericolo(22). Ognuno, da dovunque li guardi, ha la sensazione che gli ordigni puntino sulla propria testa. Tuttora sono in pochi - perlopiù giovani - ad avere l'istinto di fuggire. I ragazzini delle magistrali scattano dove le gambe li portano, rispondendo ciascuno alla propria indole e prestanza. Nino (Grassini) si rifugia dentro il locale più vicino: il negozio di alimentari di Palchetti, in piazza, a pochi metri da dove si trovava(24). Brizio (Boldrini) sfreccia veloce verso Piazza Mazzini, gira per il mercato, mentre Sergio (Celestini) gli grida qualcosa correndo al di là della Regghia(25): per la velocità - lui è l'ala sinistra della Tiberis, un fulmine! - non è riuscito a curvare verso il mercato ed è filato dritto verso la piazza della Collegiata. Bruno (Burberi) indugia qualche attimo. Ramiro, quando era arrivato a casa tutto trafelato per aver visto i ricognitori, aveva trovato Bruno Righetti che voleva fare una saldatura su un pezzetto di macchina per cucire: gli aveva detto del pericolo e che avrebbe riparato il pezzetto se stava fuori a far da sentinella; prima però era salito in casa per avvertire la mamma e per mangiare un boccone. Mentre stava portandosi alla bocca un pescetto in bianco, la mamma, che nel frattempo era andata in terrazza, con voce eccitatissima gli ha urlato. "Ramiro, che è `sto rumore?". Lasciando il pesce, lui è stolzato in terrazza ed ha visto, all'apparente distanza di trenta metri, la sagoma di due ordigni che lasciavano una scia rossastra; sente il fischio delle bombe ed il rombo dell'aereo in picchiata, che non può vedere a causa del sole che ha di fronte(26). La grossa bomba / che pare d'argento, / per i riflessi della luce del sole / girando su se stessa, / piomba giù(27). La maggior parte della gente è rimasta bloccata, attonita(28): non riesce ancora a credere che stia arrivando la morte sul paese; sugli amici; sui famigliari; su di sé! Gli ordigni sembrano ancora galleggiare sopra le teste della gente in piazza, come sostenuti dalla volontà delle persone atterrite. Poi planano via, fino a scomparire sibilando dietro la casa di Burelli(29), verso il Tevere. Al di sopra delle bombe sta sopraggiungendo anche l'aereo che le ha sganciate, preceduto dal crepitio delle pallottole delle mitraglie sui tetti(30) e dal ruggito parossistico dei motori che vogliono risalire; anche la fusoliera, adesso diventata d'argento nel riflettere i raggi del sole, scompare dietro le case. Galeno è sulla soglia del suo "salone"(31), attonito, col camice bianco ed il pettine in mano(32). Forse cerca il suo amore(33). Due amichette vestite da piccole italiane non sono ancora tornate a casa dalla scuola; si sono fermate a parlare lungo il Corso. Hanno alzato lo sguardo verso l'aereo che è appena passato proprio sopra le loro teste. Tutte contente esclamano: "Oh ... quant'è bello!"(34). Il boato Qualche attimo di silenzio, ancora nell'illusione che nulla sia vero, che si sia trattato di un'allucinazione, che tutto sia finito. Invece, un tuono(35), un boato immane, indicibile, più sconvolgente di un terremoto, scuote tutto: case, corpi, sentimenti, ragione. Quando sentii il rumore / lo credetti un tuono dapprima / ma lungo e nero e sempre / più forte. / Un grido di cielo squarciato / rauco interminabile / adunco / sopra le case dentro la terra / nel soffitto nei pavimenti nei muri / in ogni più piccola cosa / e dentro di me(36). Le due bombe si sono schiantate sulla riva destra del Tevere(37), a nord della campata centrale del ponte(38), all'altezza dell'osteria di Lisetti in via Spunta(39). Il terribile rumore investe l'Elena (Boriosi) sul portone di casa, dove è appena arrivata, dopo essere ridiscesa di corsa per le scale, con il libro che la sorella Rina intendeva restituire alla Gina Borgarelli(40). Sono le 9 e 45. È iniziata la più grande tragedia della storia del paese(41). L'onda d'urto Lo spostamento d'aria dispiega la sua forza tremenda. Fa sbalzare Toto (Antonio Silvestrelli) dentro la barbieria dello zio Virgilio (Occhirossi), in direzione opposta a quella che intendeva percorrere verso le volte della parrucchieria di fronte(43). Nell'osteria di Via Spunta vola via il cappello di Natale (Bucaioni), che stava innaffiando la colazione con un bicchiere di vino; lui resta lì, immobile, rendendosi conto di essere sotto un muro robustissimo(44). Si spalanca la porta della cucina a piano terra in Via Mancini; cadono detriti dal soffitto sulla farina che la Batazzi sta impastando sopra la spianatòra(45). Frullano all'improvviso le pagine del vocabolario di latino, sotto gli occhi dell'Ornella (Duranti) e della Wilma (Borri)(46). Il verdone in gabbia le guarda, ammutolito. Il terrore fa perdere il lume della ragione alla Lidia (Tonanni), una sartina che sta provando un vestito alla sora Virginia (Santini), in Piazza San Francesco. "Io voglio mori' co' la mi' mamma!", arùga verso la cliente, quasi come sia lei la responsabile di quel pandemonio. E la Virginia, poveretta, a giustificarsi: "Sta calma! ... Guarda... che ci sei venuta da te!"(48). Nello stesso momento, in Via Soli, la mamma della Lidia, 1'Annetta (Taticchi), e la Martina (Maddoli) sono sbattute per terra(49)". La Marietta (Beatini) è impietrita davanti alla porta della cartoleria di Tommasi; vi cerca rifugio proprio mentre la lastra di vetro della vetrina le cade davanti, frantumata dalle vibrazioni(50). Tutti i vetri si rompono: quelli del Corso(51), del Comune(52), delle scuole elementari "Garibaldi"(53), delle case al mercato(54). La terra trema. Sempre più gente strilla: "Bombàrdono, bombàrdono"(55). I sassi e le schegge I ciottoli del pitrìccio sono catapultati dappertutto. Cadono sassi fino all'ultimo piano dell'abitazione di Lorenzo (Andreani) in via Cibo, dove la mamma stava accudendo alle faccende di casa, verso il Tevere(56). Precipitano in piazza(57); sulla torre(58); davanti alle chiese di piazza San Francesco, alla pompina della Caminella(59). Una svecciata di sassi raggiunge Bruno (Burberi), che si è deciso a scappare verso la Collegiata; cerca protezione svoltando nel primo vicolo, Via Alberti, e s'infila nel negozio di verdura della Pierina(60). Brecce saltano sui tetti di Via Mancini, emulando il precedente crepitio delle pallottole sparate dalle mitraglie(61) degli aerei verso i camion tedeschi davanti al Capponi(62). Una gragnola di sassi neri colpisce le vetrine del Bar Giardino, sotto lo sguardo attonito delle due bambine - Giovanna e Carla - assorte nello scartare quel torroncino per cui avevano interrotto il loro cammino verso la tempesta del vicolo di San Giovanni (63). Giorgio (Toraci) e Renato (Pecorini), in Via Alberti, di fronte al forno di Bucitino, stavano giocando con le figurine di carta del presepio, che si possono ribaltare dai fogli dove sono incollate. Sobbalzano allibiti al rumore delle sassate sui coppi del tetto. La Madonna che stavano sollevando dal foglio, si strappa e resta lì, abbandonata a terra. Fuggono per le scale, per ripararsi in una nicchia molto robusta(64). Una pioggia di ghiaia cade sulla casa del Faldo, dietro la quale hanno fatto riparare gli anziani, sdraiati nel fosso(65). Verso il "Mulinello", una scheggia spezza il grosso ramo di un noce(66). Un masso enorme si schianta fra Via Stella e la Collegiata, a qualche metro da Franco (Mischianti), che è sbalzato a terra. Si mette al coperto, rifugiandosi nella barbieria di Palazzoli in Piazza Mazzini(67). Una pietra. colpisce la bicicletta di Umberto (Dominici), l'apprendista fotografo, che sta correndo davanti alla chiesa(68). In direzione opposta Maria Maddalena (Marzani), con la lettera per il fratello al fronte, sta svoltando in bicicletta verso Reggiani, in mezzo ad una bufera di sassi e ad un frastuono indescrivibile(69). Non può scappare Guerriero de l'Elena (Boldrini), che ha fatto salina; si trova nei fondi del Sellàro, lungo la Regghia, insieme ad Elio (Caprini), a Osvaldo (Baroni) ed al Ministro (Alfiero Silvioni). Il rumore dello scoppio e dei sassi che cadono sui bandoni della stalla ha fatto imbizzarrire i cavalli, che sferrano coppie di calci, impedendo ogni possibilità di fuga. Un macigno cade vicino e sfascia un carro(70). La nube Le colonne di fumo, scaturite dalla radice del lampo dell'esplosione, si fondono fra loro in una nube, che si gonfia sempre più lenta e minacciosa man mano che cresce a dismisura. Un gran polverone(71) segue la tempesta iniziale di sassi ed invade il paese. Il terrore Il boato ha risvegliato tutti quelli che hanno assistito alla scena, sbigottiti, pietrificati; finalmente scappano. Anche molti di quanti l'hanno solo sentito, intuiscono e fuggono verso punti più sicuri. Nella sartoria di Palmiro (Maccarelli) all'inizio del ponte sul Tevere, presi dal loro lavoro, gli apprendisti non avevano dato importanza al rumore degli aerei, anche perché li avevano sentiti spesso. Scossi dal gran boato della bomba caduta vicino a loro, tutti sono usciti di corsa, spaventatissimi(72). La vetrina della bottega di calzature economiche, nello stesso palazzo, si è frantumata e le scarpe esposte sono volate verso le commesse, che non avevano posto tanta attenzione a quel ronzio; si mettono a correre, tenendosi per mano, in direzione della piazza; ma quasi subito il fumo le separa; si perdono(73). Baldo (Ubaldo Gambucci) è lì davanti, perso; accenna ad andare dentro la bottega di mercerie, dove sono la Menchina e l'Adriana del Sellàro (Cecchetti); va in qua e in là, senza decidersi(74). Suo figlio Gigetto (Luigi Gambucci) stava facendo firmare un mandato ad un cliente di Montecastelli, Eusebi, allo sportello dell'Ufficio Postale. Tutti hanno l'istinto di scappare, ma si fermano titubanti sul portone, non osando avventurarsi fuori, in quell'inferno di pietre; Gigetto trattiene a forza 1'Itala (Boldrini), tirandola dentro per un braccio(75). Sopraggiunge l'Elda (Bebi Ceccarelli), la direttrice dell'ufficio, con le figlie: è rimasta attardata, per portar via dalla cassaforte gli stipendi dei maestri(76). Vorrebbe uscire, mentre la figlia Marianella vuole rimanere al coperto. Di fronte alla Posta, in Comune, la Peppa (Ceccarelli), che era andata a ritirare la tessera per la carne della macelleria Bebi, fugge per le scale con la Piera e l'Ada (Bruni)(77). II Commissario fa chiudere il portone, impedendo a chiunque di uscire(78). L'atrio del municipio s'intasa di persone accalcate. Peppino (Grilli) e Pietro de Sciuscìno (Bartoccini) si ritrovano sulle spalle di Agostino (Bico)(79). La Lea (Rapo), che stava spolverando, aveva visto gli aerei andare verso Montecorona; quando uno di essi era riapparso lasciando cadere due "ovini", lei è fuggita in cucina tirando per un braccio il nonno. Lui completamente sordo, non si era accorto di niente: stava cercando di accendere il fuoco nel focolare, per cuocere il dolce per il compleanno della nipotina. Per festeggiare l'evento, la mamma aveva già disposto sulla spianatora tutto l'occorrente per il dolce delle quattro tazze - di farina bianca, gialla, latte, zucchero - da cuocere con la teglia coperta, i carboni sotto e sopra. Ora fuggono per le scale(80). La Dora (Silvestrelli) aspettava il dottor Valdinoci che avrebbe dovuto visitare il babbo, a letto con una gran febbre. Aspettava anche le frittelle che la mamma stava cocendo con un po' di pasta del pane, prima di portare le file nel locale per la lievitazione al forno di Quadrio Bebi. Vista la bella giornata, aveva aperto la finestra della camera del babbo per cambiare l'aria; vi si era affacciata, verso il fiume. All'improvviso ha sentito uno strano rumore sempre più forte; ha visto un oggetto o due venire dal cielo; poi lo scoppio. Tutti, di corsa, si sono rifugiati nel passetto delle scale, sotto gli architravi, come da tempo stabilito. Vi hanno trovato Lazzaro (Bottaccioli) con la Stella, che pregano ad alta voce(81). II fratello della Dora, Spinelli (Renato Silvestrelli), ed il Boca (Vantaggi) sono partiti come frecce - il primo in bicicletta, il secondo a piedi - verso Via Roma; si ficcano entrambi sotto un vecchio banco da lavoro nel bugigattolo da ciclista(82). La Sunta (Baruffi) corre verso Fornacìno, senza zoccoli, che ha perso per strada(83). Anche Rolando (Paneni) ha scalciato via gli zoccoli e fugge scalzo verso il macello(84). Un carrettiere, sorpreso davanti alla Collegiata, scappa abbandonando il carretto ed il mulo che lo trainava(85): ha ben altro cui pensare che rispettare la regola di legare la bestia dietro il carro! Don Luigi si è alzato di scatto e si è rifugiato di corsa in un adito che dalla chiesa conduce alla sagrestia. Chiama nel suo improvvisato rifugio altre persone che sono entrate in chiesa, spaventate dalla bomba e da un'intensa raffica di mitraglia. In tutto sono in cinque: tre uomini ed una giovane donna che, stringendosi al collo un bambino, grida e piange disperatamente(86). In cima alla Piaggiola, dove avevano continuato a lavorare tranquillamente - "Tanto ... gli aerei sono tedeschi" - Renato (Caseti) si precipita per le scale, cavalcando il boato e scavalcando la ringhiera. Corre verso la Pompina e si allontana, verso Santafede ed il Fosso di Lazzaro(87). Nello stesso punto, lo scoppio ha sorpreso l'Elvira (Rossi), nipote di Quadrio. Era uscita da casa con la cognata Peppa (Giuseppa Gallicchi) per comprare la conserva nel negozio dello zio, perché avevano dato i punti della tessera annonaria; ne avrebbe approfittato per salire al piano sopra la bottega per fare una visita allo zio malato. Ma ha deciso - quando uno non deve morire, non deve morire! - di passare prima, con sua cognata, a prendere i buoni in Comune per ritirare le uova dalla Sandra (Migliorati). "Uh, Peppa, è il bombardamento!", adesso urla. La sora Adalgisa (Castelletti) le fa entrare dentro il negozio di argenteria. L'Elvira, incinta dell'Anna di sette mesi, si inginocchia: "Pater nostro, salve regina, rechemetèrna..." ...ma finché [Dio] non ha voluto, [il bombardamento] non ha smesso. Fuori vede tutta la gente correre: sembrano impazziti quelli che a frotte fuggono con le mani sui capelli(88). Fiordo, il carrettiere, si butta dentro la buca dove stava scavando la rena(89). Nella bottega di Quadrio, Amleto, che aiutava a vendere nella bottega del suocero, ha capito; aggrappato al bancone con le mani, le braccia tese ed i polsi in avanti, grida a tutti: "State fermi ... calma ... è il bombardamento"(90). Mentre si sente fortissimo il rombo dell'aereo che rimonta dopo la picchiata, Ramiro ha già preso la mamma per la mano e fugge per le scale, urlando continuamente: "Via! Via! Piano! Piano!". Dopo aver sostato qualche secondo dentro 1' entrone, si dirige verso il Roccolo; mette la mamma al riparo in un fosso asciutto e prosegue verso la collina per osservare cosa facciano gli apparecchi(91). È curioso di verificare, in particolare, se le bombe scoppiano come le disegna Walter Molino nelle tavole della "Domenica del Corriere": con questo intento, tiene spalancate le palpebre degli occhi fra i pollici e gli indici, per evitare che l'istinto le faccia chiudere al momento della deflagrazione(92). Alle ceramiche Pucci, `l Moro, il muratore che lavorava sul tetto, era stato incaricato di stare in allerta e di dare l'allarme appena avesse visto arrivare degli aerei. Ma le bombe sono state più rapide della sentinella. Tutto il personale è scappato e vede l'inferno sopra il paese. Le schegge arrivano fin laggiù. Una quarantina d' operai si riversano verso i campi fra la strada ed il Tevere, cercando di allontanarsi più possibile(93). Altri si riparano, tutti rannicchiati, tra cumuli di argilla. Una grossa lamiera, scagliata chissà da dove, dopo aver volteggiato in aria, si abbatte latrando a pochi metri dal riparo del ragioniere (Martinelli)(94). Menco de Fornacìno (Domenico Fornaci) si rifugia nel sottoscale, fra gli attrezzi da lavoro(95). I bambini La Giovanna (Pazzi), uscita da scuola, è sotto il portone di casa per ripararsi dai calcinacci, senza rendersi conto di cosa sia quel can-can, con tutta la Qente che fugge verso la Piaggiola. Qualcuno la fa rifugiare dentro la casa della maestra Peppina, in cima alla salita(96). In fondo alla Piaggiola, Stefanino (Marsigliotti) passa di corsa davanti al negozio del babbo; gli urla che va fuori del paese, senza riuscire a farsi sentire. Si unisce alla folla che fugge verso il Roccolo(97). La Marisa, che ha fatto salina, aveva ripreso la strada di casa verso la Piaggiola e la piazza, perché a quell'ora la scuola doveva essere finita. Un signore, di fronte a questo finimondo, la dissuade dal proseguire per il centro e le grida di andare verso la campagna(98). Un altro signore prende per mano un bambino che sotto la torre - imbambolato - non sa che fare(99). Lorenzo (Andreani), che stava tornando a casa con il mazzettino di odori dell'orto della zia Lucia, è rimasto annichilito in mezzo alla strada. La mamma di Tonino (Traversini), un suo compagno di scuola, l'afferra per la mano e lo tira dentro un portone per farlo riparare(100). Massimo (Valdambrini), sei anni, era solo vicino a casa; la mamma era a fare spesa ed il babbo al lavoro. Lo prende la moglie di Annibale (Trentini); insieme corrono verso Pinzaglia e Navarri, lungo la "cupa"(101). A1 contrario, davanti alla caserma dei carabinieri, è un ragazzo ad aiutare la mamma, che si è bloccata, terrorizzata: le gambe le si piegano e non si regge in piedi per la paura(102). Un bambino della Badia, appena scappato da scuola, è rimasto solo; si è rifugiato in un androne vicino all'asilo. Spaurato, piange - a bocca larga - come una vite tagliata. Due donne, che sono scese per le scale appena dopo aver sentito il boato che sembrava venire dalla stazione, lo rincuorano(103). La Rita (Tosti) insieme a due amiche - Maria (Tosti) e Paola (Corbucci) - stavano attraversando il ponte sul Tevere per tornare a casa al Corvatto, dopo aver lasciato le scuole elementari. Si erano messe ad ammirare gli aerei che giravano alti sopra le loro teste. Quando la bomba è caduta sul pietriccio, fra la fine del ponte ed il Molinaccio, scagliando sassi tutt'intorno in mezzo ad un rumore tremendo, la Rita si è messa a correre verso casa tenendo per mano le sue compagne. Ferruccio (Bartolini) e Serafino (Pucci), che si trovano vicini a loro, urlano di buttarsi a terra. Ma la Rita vuole tornare a casa per non far preoccupare la mamma malata; continua a correre con le sue compagne, senza ascoltare lo stradino del Comune che grida di buttarsi nel fosso(104). Alla quarta elementare, nella scuola delle monache, il dettato era stato interrotto all'improvviso dagli apparecchi sempre più bassi e dal fischio della bomba. Tutte le scolare erano corse alle finestre verso Via Spoletini per guardare. "Via, via! Lontano dalle finestre" ha gridato suor Letizia, ammaestrata dai bombardamenti cui aveva assistito a Roma(105). Le ragazze della quinta, sedute in fondo all'aula grande vicino al terrazzo, dove sono state radunate insieme ad altre classi per la momentanea assenza di alcune maestre, si sono alzate di colpo e gridano, con le mani alla testa: "La mi' mammina!"(106). Le fanno fuggire tutte verso il patóllo, facendole riparare sotto la capanna dei Carbonari. Una bambina si acquatta sotto la bura di un carro, con le mani sulle orecchie per attutire i botti ed i fischi. In un cantone prega inginocchiata Suor Filomena, la cuoca"(107). Poco lontano, Maria (Bico Corradi), con l'Elda febbricitante in braccio, è riparata sotto una grossa nicchia con la signora Renzini: tutte pregano e dicono le litanie(108). Dalle elementari di Via Garibaldi, le ultime classi ancora rimaste dentro l'edificio si riversano fuori della scuola dall'uscita verso l'asilo, opposta al lato dove è caduta la bomba. Anche i bambini che si trovavano a scuola al piano terra della palazzina con la torretta in Via Fratta, scappano verso Civitella(109). Lo scoppio della bomba ha frantumato il vetro della finestrina a mezzaluna sopra il portone in fondo alle scale dell'Avviamento, che è caduto davanti alla marea di scolari che stava fuggendo. Tutti insieme hanno fanno dietro-front: chi era primo della fila si è ritrovato ad essere l'ultimo. A furia di spintoni e gomitate risalgono le scale ed escono a valanga dalla porta posteriore della scuola, diretti verso il Tevere. Qualcuno grida di stare nascosti, perché potrebbero mitragliare. La professoressa Simoncini si raccomanda di aspettarla ed a modo suo cerca di correre, sgambettando, ma inutilmente(110). Celestino (Caldari) non è più un bambino: ha 49 anni. Gli dicono di fuggire, vedendolo immobile. Lui risponde, serafico: "A mo so' vecchio... chi me tocca!"(111). Ostinata inconsapevolezza Tanti di quelli che hanno solo sentito lo schianto senza aver visto nulla, non si rendono ancora conto di cosa stia succedendo. Continuano a rifiutare la realtà. Qualcuno pensa a quello spericolato di Bice Pucci, che ha voluto salutare la zia Mariannina rasentando più del solito i tetti con il suo aereo(114). "Che matti!!! Ne sarà caduto uno sul pietriccio!", pensa Alfredo (Ciarabelli), il renitente alla leva nascosto da un paio di mesi nella casa dei Grilli, fra Via Cibo e Via Mariotti(113). Tanti altri immaginano la stessa cosa(114). "È caduto 'n apparecchio tul Tevere", si spiegano dentro il negozio di alimentari della Rosina de Pistulino (Tosti), nella strada che porta alla torre. Ma la Rosina intuisce la verità e fa riparare tutti dietro un buzzo di conserva, tra i vetri sbriciolati a terra(115). L'Argentina (Ramaccioni) continua tranquillamente a cucire, nella sua casa vicina alla pompina, credendo che ne abbiano combinata un'altra delle loro i tedeschi accampati all'inizio della strada dei cipressi(116). "Ma ch'è ... tona? Eppure era sereno!", commenta rivolta al nipote la nonna, appena tornata dal forno, mentre va ad aprire gli scuri per vedere cosa stia succedendo(117). “... vecchia rode tozzi! ["la Vecchia" rode i tozzi di pane secco]" ripete un bambino di quasi due anni: ha collegato il rumore delle bombe a quello dei tuoni, che crede siano causati da una vecchia che sgranocchia pane indurito(118). "Forse bombardano a Castello!", cerca di raccapezzarsi una ragazzina nei pressi della stazione, guardandosi intorno spaesata senza aver neppure fatto caso agli aerei. Non le passa nemmeno per la testa che il nostro paesino inerme giustifichi un'operazione militare(119). Consapevolezza In fondo al Corso - dove hanno sentito gli aerei, visto le bombe, sentito il boato, l'onda d'urto, i vetri rotti, i sassi - tutti hanno capito. Le domande sbigottite, che rimbalzano ovunque, fanno precipitare tutti nella tragica verità: "Bombàrdono, scappàmo!" grida terrorizzato Bruno (Villarini) dalla finestra(120), con il coro di tutte le scolare dietro; la Rina de Schiantino, che corre per strada insieme a tutti i colleghi della sartoria di Maccario, gli fa eco: "Scappàmo! Bombàrdono!„(121). "Bombàrdono!" urla Peppone de Pùmmene (Giuseppe Agea) sopra il ponte della Regghia della Via Tiberina (122), mentre scappa verso la Collegiata(123). Davanti al macello la gente che fugge verso la collina del Roccolo grida, come in un coro stonato: "Via, via ... che bombàrdono!!"(124). "Bombàrdono!" "Bombàrdono!" "Bombàrdono!", urlano dappertutto, come un'eco ossessionante, mentre fuggono, impazziti. Chi dentro il portone più vicino. Chi verso spazi aperti, lontano dalle case: verso il Roccolo, la Regghia, Civitella, Taschino, la Carninella. Bombardano!!! Bombardano. Davvero! Anche nel nostro paese inerme. Anche qui è arrivato il fuoco violento di un mondo impazzito. Anche qui si può morire, senza ragione, come in ogni parte del mondo quando l'uomo perde la ragione. "Ne arriva un altro! Scappiamo!". Seconda scarica Terza stazione La prima caduta di Gesù sotto la croce Il tenente Pienaar punta il suo falco pellegrino sul ponte del fiume e sgancia la seconda coppia di bombe. La casa di Bruno Gli ordigni sono(125) per Bruno (Villarini), il sarto, e per le sue scolare, che si stanno scapicollando giù per le scale. La Gigina (Mischianti), sulla cinquantina, l'unica attempata del gruppo, lascia passare gli altri che possono correre più veloci: "Fuggite voialtri che sete più giovini e aéte più da campà'!"(126). Sua figlia la scavalca insieme alle amiche, tenendo in braccio la nipote del fidanzato: un batuffolo di capelli ricci che stava per portare all'asilo(127). Tenera anticipazione dell'essere mamma(128). Sono arrivati all'ultima rampa di scale, quando l'apocalisse sopra di loro cresce fino al parossismo: una bomba centra la casa(129), che precipita seppellendo tutti nel buio della morte. Per loro tutto è finito! Cessano di vivere la Giulia, la Cecilia, la Ida, la Rina, la Viulìna(130), la piccolissima Anna Paola; e Bruno(131). Non c'è più "filo" per allungare la trama delle loro vite(132). Solo la mamma Gigina, sbalzata verso Via Cibo dalla finestra delle scale(133), trova miracolosamente scampo sotto un trave, in cima alla collina di macerie. Dentro la stessa bara di sassi muoiono Angelo, il calzolaio, e la moglie Luisa, che abitavano al piano inferiore(135). Lui era il "medico delle scarpe", che andava a piedi a lavorare con la valigetta, non avendo né una bottega né un piccolo laboratorio in casa. Il suo organetto ha rantolato l'ultima nota, schiacciato in mezzo alle pietre; i nipoti non saranno più rallegrati dalle sue melodie(136). La Felicina è schiacciata da una trave proprio sullo scalino del negozio di alimentari, preso in affitto dalla Pastàra all'angolo fra Via Spunta ed il Corso(137). I1 crollo coinvolge anche le due abitazioni adiacenti. Demolisce un'ala della casa verso il ponte, dove la Vera (Vibi) assiste terrorizzata a quest'inferno abbracciata alla mamma, a letto inferma; la polvere impedisce di vedere cosa accada; diventa difficile respirare(138). Nel portone a piano terra sono rimasti intrappolati Nello del Flemma e l'Armida de Caldaro, che ha finito il tempo per partorire(139). Dalla bottega del calzolaio del ponte, lì di fronte, nessuno può scappare. Il banchetto da lavoro è saltato e tutti sono restati senza parole, come imbambolati; un polverone ha invaso tutto e non si vede più niente. "Semo armasti chiusi dentro!", sussurra Aldo (Frambois) posando una mano sulla spalla di Peppino (Lisetti), apprendista come lui, che ha cercato nel buio, tastoni(140). Nell'edificio verso piazza, i genitori del maestro Bernacchi sono sprofondati nel baratro che si è aperto sotto di loro, mentre lui, Benedetto, stava porgendo una tazza di caffè alla moglie Marianna, malata, chinandosi verso il letto su cui era coricata(141). Silvano, il nipotino, è salvo solo perché l'angolo estremo del pavimento su cui si trovava ha resistito; è rimasto in piedi sopra due mattoni, miracolosamente restati al loro posto, di fronte al vuoto, tra fumo, polvere, calcinacci. Ma non può respirare; allora tenta di spostarsi; mette un piede in avanti; sprofonda come in una voragine; si aggrappa e scivola... si aggrappa e scivola... sempre più giù(142). Per fortuna la seconda bomba della coppiòla non è esplosa(143). La Polda, colpita alla testa da uno sciacquone caduto dal piano superiore, spira(144) dietro il portone d'ingresso della stessa casa, dove si era recata per aiutare la suocera Peppa. Pochi attimi prima, nello stesso punto si trovava il figlio Gigino, che era dal barbiere (Taticchi) quando è caduta 1a prima bomba. D'istinto si era dato a correre verso il Corso anziché verso Piazza San Francesco, che era la via naturale di fuga; si era rifugiato dietro quel portone dove abitavano i nonni, in via Cibo, per ripararsi dai sassi; dopo qualche attimo, non sentendosi sicuro, era corso verso piazza"(145). Anche l'altro figlio, Peppino, vent'anni, era dentro la barbieria con i1 fratello; come lui, è fuggito per il Corso, verso piazza. Vuole allontanarsi dalle case: si precipita dentro il bar Pazzi, corre verso il retro, salta negli orti, si lascia cadere sulla sponda del Tevere; e poi di corsa verso il Faldo, inseguito dai botti delle bombe(146). Nella barbieria di Gilì (Virgilio Occhirossi) tutti erano corsi verso Via Spunta, sul retro, che dava l'impressione di essere il punto più protetto; ma quando Toto (Antonio Silvestrelli) era giunto sulla porta, la seconda coppia di bombe è esplosa proprio in fondo al vicolo; lo spostamento d'aria gli ha sbattuto violentemente la porta sul petto; per un attimo si è sentito mancare'(147). La moglie di Schiupitino si è riparata nel retrobottega del negozio di alimentari al Corso, sotto un arco, con la figlia Emma. Con loro c'è Mario (Mariano Vestrelli), il falegname, che si è raccomandato: "Dite con me `l paternostro ... 'ché morimo tutti!"(148). Lo spostamento d'aria ha scardinato il braccio di chiusura della porta, rompendogli le coste ed interrompendo la sua preghiera(149). La maggior parte dei sarti di Maccario ha seguito Fausto (Ciocchetti) perché lui sa meglio come comportarsi sotto le bombe, dopo tre anni di guerra: è da poco tornato dalla Croazia, in licenza prolungata perché ha da poco perso il fratello maggiore(150). Ma lui, prima di essere soldato, è fratello di Peppino, che lavora nel salone di Galeno: anziché correre in direzione della Caminella, verso i campi liberi, si dirige verso la barbieria(151). II percorso è ancora del tutto sgombro(152). Come la mandria dietro al capobranco, i suoi compagni lo seguono in Via Mariotti, sotto l'arco di Fiordo: la Rina de Schiantino (Santini), Mario (Lozzi), Peppino (Rapo), di soli quattordici anni. In particolare non si stacca da lui la Nunziatina (Bendini), che di Fausto è innamorata(153). La fuga ed il destino si stanno sgranando lungo gli anelli di una catena d' affetti. L'Elda (Bartocci) si è divisa dai compagni. Ha imboccato il vicolo di San Giovanni, per rifugiarsi nell'ingresso dell'albergo Capponi: nel fitto fumo nero, intravede due soldati che hanno indossato la maschera antigas. La donna di servizio dell'albergo accende una candela che rischiara un po' 1'ambiente(156). Nella bottega di Quadrio tutto è diventato scuro. Amleto accende un fiammifero cercando di aprire la porta del retrobottega. "Ho la mia famiglia di sopra!!" pensa a voce alta. Ma la porta non si apre, perché dal lucernaio posteriore è venuto giù qualcosa(157). Davanti alla porta del suo forno s'intravede, tra il fumo, la sagoma di Luciano, il nipote di Quadrio. Non ha seguito gli amici nella corsa verso 1a salvezza: non l'hanno potuto tenere. "Vado a casa ad avvertire la mi' mamma!", ha insistito(158). Ora, per sollecitare la fuga dei familiari, li chiama urlando dalla strada, in mezzo al caos della gente che scappa alle sue spalle. Mentre la Lea (Rapo) fuggiva, il boato della seconda bomba, ancora più tremendo della prima, ha fatto volare lontano il cappello del nonno, che si preoccupa di riprenderlo; incrocia la mamma e la sorella Mariolina che stanno correndo verso casa. Tutti insieme rientrano e si rifugiano sotto il letto matrimoniale(159). L'Ornella e la Wilma, abbandonato sul tavolo il vocabolario di latino, sono corse verso la finestra sulla piazza ed hanno visto una colonna di fumo salire dal Tevere(160). Peppino (Baiocco), l'apprendista di Bruno, si è acquattato nell'orto sopra il Tevere, sul retro della trattoria di Ntonio de Ragno; da lì ha visto volare mattoni e pietre della sartoria dove intendeva salire un minuto fa, per riunirsi alla sorella Giulia. Ma era tornato indietro; al rumore degli aerei aveva ripreso il portone per salire; poi era rivoltato di nuovo, proprio nel momento in cui una lasca impressionante aveva fatto sobbalzare tutto. Era fuggito verso piazza dove si stava già diffondendo un gran polverone(161). È il finimondo(162). E una macchia rossa, in alto, / coprì il sole / il cielo gli alberi il fiume / i giochi i volti i sorrisi i baci / i miei occhi / la mia mente(163). Consapevolezza tardiva Alfredo (Ciarabelli) si era diretto in cucina per vedere dalla finestra verso il Corso se era davvero caduto un aereo; quando ha sentito il secondo boato, ancora più grosso, ha capito e non si muove più: è come stordito. Non ricorderà niente di quello che sta per succedere(164). Finalmente tutti hanno capito. Ma ormai nessuno ha più scelte. Chi si trova all'aperto, continua a fuggire a perdifiato, spinto dal terrore. Chi non è già riuscito a guadagnare l'aria oppure, al contrario, ha avuto l'istinto di ripararsi dentro un portone, resta paralizzato dove si trova, aspettando immobile che quest'inferno finisca al più presto(165). Invece è solo l'inizio. La corsa di Brizio (Boldrini) è arrivata sotto la torre(166). Sergio (Celestini), davanti alla Collegiata, ha sentito il babbo chiamarlo dal lato di Via Roma; è corso verso di lui, ma ha proseguito la fuga imboccando il ponte della Regghia verso la piattaforma. Il fronte d'urto della seconda bomba lo ha sbalzato in aria per un salto senza fine; ha l'impressione che gli sia scoppiata dietro le spalle, davanti alla Collegiata(167). Da Peppolètta, si radunano tutti nella cantina scavata sotto il livello della strada, dove il babbo aveva messo anche un'accetta, nel caso fosse stato necessario aprire un varco verso la Regghia'(168). I piloti si sono resi conto di aver mancato l'obiettivo per pochi metri(169). Forse non si rendono conto di aver colpito a morte il Borgo di San Giovanni, che è caduto per la prima volta nella sua storia millenaria: in sacrificio per l'umanità, come Cristo. Terza scarica Il tenente Lombard ripete l'esatta traiettoria del collega che l'ha preceduto. La casa dell'Elena La terza coppia di bombe precipita sibilando; esplode(170) a pochi metri dalla seconda, sulla casa dell'Elena (Boldrini), dove non c'è più nessuno. Saltano in aria le ricevute delle cambiali e le bombe a mano celate nella scatola di scarpe presa in consegna qualche settimana prima, nella convinzione che contenesse solo libri. Gliel'aveva data Tonino (Taticchi), comunista, quando era stato avvertito di un'imminente ispezione da Milio (Ramaccioni), anticomunista ma amico(171). Quarta stazione Gesù incontra sua madre Madre e figlia - la Delma e la Franca - incontrano l a morte, travolte dai detriti, nel fondo dei Fiorucci dove si erano rifugiate(172), mentre fuggivano dalla loro casa di fronte, all'inizio del vicolo di San Giovanni(173). La Delma non ha saputo trarre frutto dagli insegnamenti della mamma Abigaille, capace di interpretare i sogni e prevedere il futuro ai clienti del botteghino del lotto, che gestiva con la sorella Desdemona al Corso(174). Sotto il vicino arco di Fiordo cadono tramortiti a terra Ciocchetta e la Nunziatina(175), i giovani sarti innamorati(176); i loro compagni di fuga - Peppino, Mario e la Rina - senza rendersi conto di cosa possa essere accaduto, storditi ma illesi, li trascinano dentro la porta di un fondo appena spalancata dallo spostamento d'aria(177). La mamma e la sorella di Orlando (Bucaioni), il pescatore di ranocchie, sono fuggite verso il ponte; quando sono state in fondo al vicolo di San Giovanni, la mamma si è rifugiata nel portone di Ciarabelli e la sorella in quello precedente, l'ingresso dell'albergo Capponi. La mamma si è sporta un attimo per controllare se la figlia fosse al sicuro, rimanendo ferita in modo non grave per il crollo della casa dell'Elena(180). Sotto i detriti è rimasta leggermente intrappolata la Tuta (Lozzi), insieme al carretto con la biancheria che stava riportando dal fiume(181). Toto (Antonio Silvestrelli), dopo essersi ripreso dallo stordimento per la seconda bomba, era uscito dal retro della barbieria di Gilì (Virgilio Occhirossi); con gli altri ha cercato di fuggire in Via Spunta verso il ponte, proprio in direzione del nuovo scoppio. Rientrati precipitosamente nella barbieria, sentono un lamento provenire dall'esterno: fra la polvere trovano una fiolina (Giuseppina Mariotti) che piange, accucciata in un cantuccio dove la nonna l'ha fatta riparare (182). Brizio sta girando per la Fontesanta, dietro la casa di Broccatelli(183). I piloti scrivono sul diario di aver colpito i binari appena ad est del ponte: è segno che già non vedono più l'area intorno all'obiettivo(184). Difatti, dalla collina del cimitero è scomparso alla vista il campanone sopra le poste, avvolto dal fumo(185). Quarta scarica Tocca al tenente Mitchell ripetere la traiettoria che ha portato a sfiorare per due volte il ponte; si butta in picchiata, colpendo a pochi metri da dove sono esplose le bombe precedenti, vicino alla testata est. La casa di Moscione Mitchell centra la casa mediana della schiera verso ponente del vicolo di San Giovanni: quella di Peppe de Mosciòne (Bernacchi), operaio alla fornace. Gli ordigni sterminano tutta la sua famiglia: cinque f iglioli - Anna Maria, Raffaele, Benedetto, Valentino, Angela(186) - insieme alla loro mamma, la Sunta(187). "Un gelo s'apprese al loro volo ... e lasciarono cadere le a1i"(188). Erano tutti secchi come filigèlli, forse per costituzione; forse per la miseria. Eppure, nonostante l'apparenza, la donna allattava sia l'Anna Maria, sua figlia, che un altro bimbo, Brunello (Giancarlo Bruni), come balia. Per questo, ogni giorno venivano a prenderla a casa e la portavano di là dal Tevere, per attaccare il figlio di latte al suo seno; cercavano di nutrirla con abbondanza affinché il latte bastasse per entrambi i bambini(189). Le bombe hanno demolito anche le due case adiacenti. In quella verso la piazza, muore un'altra Sunta, la moglie di Selleri, il calzolaio(190). Dopo aver riempito le brocche alla pompa degli archi di piazza, era salita dalla Bruna (Brunori), una vicina di casa. «Quando hanno sentito gli scoppi, si sono buttate entrambe per terra, ma il pavimento è sprofondato sotto di loro(191). Sono precipitate dal terzo piano. La Bruna ha avuto la fortuna che alcune travi, dopo aver attutito la caduta, hanno formato una specie di tetto che l'ha riparata dai calcinacci. Così si è ritrovata nella stalla, vicino alla sua giovane amica ed alla cavalla(192) di Vitorio (Vittorio Giulioni): entrambe morte»(193). Nella casa vicina, ancor più verso piazza, Luciano (Bebi) è entrato nel portone, vedendo che i suoi tardano a scendere. È salito al primo piano e dalla porta grida: "Mamma! Mamma! Fuggi! Teta! Scappàte!"(194). Ma Quadrio è a letto: non se la sentono di lasciarlo solo e l'aiutano ad alzarsi. Intanto suo genero Amleto, il radiotelegrafista, con la freddezza del militare di carriera abituato al pericolo, cerca di portare in salvo verso la torre la suocera, che stava servendo in bottega(195) la Rina de Sciuscìno (Bartoccini)(195). Dalla porta del forno, perché quella della bottega - verso il ponte - è bloccata, scappa la Maria (Migliorati), insieme alla Rina. Mentre corre fra detriti e sassi si accorge che è rimasta senza una scarpa. La Maria vorrebbe dirigersi verso casa, che è vicino alle monache, ma in piazza della Collegiata il bancario Martinelli le dice di andare verso il mercato, non verso la ferrovia, perché è pericoloso(197). Nella casa adiacente a quella di Mosciòne, verso il ponte, muoiono Pasqualino e Angelino, i due figli(198) della Sunta, che la moglie del calzolaio aveva lasciato a letto. Soli, in mezzo al cataclisma, aggrediti dall'orco. La casa di Ulisse Nella casa di fronte, quella di Ulisse, a metà della schiera verso sud del vicolo di San Giovanni, si riversano le macerie delle case dirimpettaie. All'ultimo piano, la mamma Adele ha fatto riparare sotto l'architrave di cucina Gino de Bargiacca (Igino Corbucci), costretto dalla nascita su una sedia. Nel trambusto, il ragazzino si ritrova a terra sotto il tavolo(199). I suoi muscoli atrofizzati si caricano di un'altra croce. Quinta stazione Simone di Cirene aiuta Gesù a portare la croce L' androne a piano terra è pieno di gente, scesa dai piani superiori o entrata da fuori. Vi si è appena rifugiata l'Elda (Bartocci), la sartina di Maccario, che, separatasi dagli altri colleghi, non si sentiva sicura dentro l'albergo Capponi. Proprio sulla soglia ha incontrato la moglie di Paolino, il ferroviere, con la figlia Argentina di quattro anni in braccio ed il trippone con il nascituro; la bambina non riusciva a respirare per la polvere del crollo precedente; allora la mamma Marcella ha deciso di uscire(200) proprio nel momento in cui le case di fronte sono crollate su di loro(201). Anche dentro l'androne di Ulisse (Violini) è arrivata la morte: l'ingegnere romano che stava passeggiando nel vicolo(202), riparatosi lì dentro, è stato scaraventato dallo spostamento d'aria in fondo al piccolo corridoio di fronte al portone(203). La Sandra (Violini), che cuciva nel suo appartamento, era scesa in fondo alle scale - il babbo Ulisse aveva istruito così le figlie - dove ci sono muri e volte robustissimi. Ha visto l'Augusta, un'anziana vicina di casa che si era riparata dentro il portone di fronte, quello dei Brunori, dall'altra parte del vicolo. "Augusta, venite di qua... ch'è più robusto!", le ha detto. "No cocca! A mo' sto di qui!", ha risposto lei(204), un attimo prima di essere seppellita(205). Accanto all'Augusta, un gruppo di persone è sommerso dal crollo dei piani superiori: la Mimma(206), che abita lì dal '34, quando lei ed il marito Astorre (Coletti) erano venuti a casaiòlo lasciando il podere di Palazzone(207); la Cesira (Ceccagnoli), rifugiatasi dentro l'androne insieme all'Adriana (Fileni), che stava accompagnando all'asilo; Bronzone (Antonio Feligioni), sfollato da Milano. 1) Gianna Feligioni 2) Franco Pucci 3) Rolando Fiorucci 4) Giuseppe Feligioni 5) Francesco Martinelli 6) Orlando Bucaioni 7) Luigi Carlini 8) Tita romitelli 9)Domenico Fornaci 10) Francesco Martinelli 11) Mario Tacconi 12) Giuseppe Feligioni, Willelmo Ramaccioni 13) Ramiro Nanni, Come io, Ramiro, vissi il bombardamento… , manoscritto del 1979 14) Fotomontaggio di Valerio Rosi su disegno base di Adriano Bottaccioli ed immagine del cruscotto del P40 fornita da Andrea Gragnoli 15) Fabrizio Boldrini 16) Bruno Burberi 17) Antonio Silvestrelli 18) Franco Villarini 19) Nello Minelli 20) Marino Giulietti 21) Pia Gagliardini 22) Fotomontaggio di Valerio Rosi su disegno base di Adriano Bottaccioli ed immagine del cruscotto del P40 fornita da Andrea Gragnoli 23) Muzio Venti 24) Egidio Grassini 25) Fabrizio Boldrini 26) Ramiro Nanni, Come io, Ramiro, vissi il bombardamento… , manoscritto del 1979 27) Olimpio Ciarapica, da una poesia del 1952 28) Silvana Bartoccioli 29) Fabrizio Boldrini 30) Maria luisa Rapo 31) Classe III E, Scuola Media Statale Mavarelli-Pascoli, Voci della memoria , Comune di Umbertide e Centro Culturale San Francesco, Umbertide, 2002 32) Fabrizio Boldrini 33) Classe III E, Scuola Media Statale Mavarelli-Pascoli, Voci della memoria , Comune di Umbertide e Centro Culturale San Francesco, Umbertide, 2002 34) Irma Mariotti, intervista raccolta da Leonardo Tosti il 25 aprile 1994 35) Olimpio Ciarapica, da una poesia del 1952 36) Maria Letizia Giontella, “Poesia a tre voci e tre cori” , Comune di Umbertide, Concorso Nazionale XXV aprile, Centro Culturale San Francesco, 1983 37) Dante Mariucci, testimonianza raccolta dalla nipote Francesca – V elementare - 1985; Franco Mischianti, Renato Silvestrelli, Franco Villarini 38) PRO, London, Operation Record Book, Detail of work carried out by 5 S.A.A.F., 239º stormo aereo “Wing Desert Air Force”, 5º squadrone aereo 39) Orlando Bucaioni 40) Elena Boriosi 41) Olimpio Ciarapica, da una poesia del 1952 42) Fotomontaggio di Valerio Rosi su disegno base di Adriano Bottaccioli ed immagine dell’aereo fornita da Andrea Gragnoli 43) Antonio Silvestrelli 44) Orlando Bucaioni 45) Dina Batazzi 46) Ornella Duranti 47) Fotomontaggio di Valerio Rosi su disegno base di Adriano Bottaccioli ed immagine dell’aereo fornita da Andrea Gragnoli 48) Lidia Tonanni 49) Bruno Tonanni 50) Fabrizio Boldrini 51) Romano Baldi 52) Domenico Baldoni 53) Italo Lotti, Domenico Manuali, Giovanni Migliorati 54) Cesira Baldelli 55) Irma Mariotti, intervista raccolta da Leonardo Tosti il 25 aprile 1994 56) Lorenzo Andreani 57) Fabrizio Boldrini 58) Franco Anastasi 59) Gianna Burzigotti 60) Bruno Burberi 61) Maria Luisa Rapo 62) Renato Silvestrelli 63) Giovanna Mancini 64) Giorgio Toraci 65) Dante Mariucci, testimonianza raccolta dalla nipote Francesca – V elementare – 1985 66) Italo Ciocchetti 67) Franco Mischianti 68) Umberto Dominici 69) Maddalena Maria Marzani 70) Guerriero Boldrini 71) Orlando Bucaioni 72) Elda Bartocci 73) Ada locchi 74) Adriana e Domenica Cecchetti; testimonianza indiretta del fratello Giuseppe 75) Luigi Gambucci 76) Dina Conti, Luigi Gambucci 77) Giuseppa Ceccarelli 78) Piera Bruni 79) Lidia Corradi 80) Lea Rapo 81) Dora Silvestrelli 82) Renato Silvestrelli 83) Assunta Baruffi 84) Rolando Paneni 85) Ada Locchi 86) Don Luigi Cozzari, lettera per il 1º anniversario, 1945 87) Renato Caseti 88) Elvira Rossi 89) Giancarlo Guasticchi 90) Maria Migliorati 91) Ramiro Nanni, Come io, Ramiro, vissi il bombardamento …, manoscritto del 1979 92) Giovanni Bico 93) Giuseppe Mattioni 94) Francesco Martinelli 95) Domenico Fornaci 96) Giovanna Pazzi 97) Stefano Marsigliotti 98) Marisa Pazzi 99) Emilio Panzarola 100) Lorenzo Andreani 101) Massimo Valdambrini 102) Franco Caldari 103) Ines Guasticchi 104) Rita Tosti (la mamma è morta qualche mese dopo) 105) Giovanna Bottaccioli 106) Lidia Corradi 107) Giovanna Bottaccioli 108) Lidia Corradi 109) Giovanni Duranti 110) Margherita Tosti, manoscritto del 1985 111) Annunziata Caldari 112) Luigi Gambucci 113) Alfredo Ciarabelli 114) Aldo Fiorucci 115) Ines Biti 116) Luciano Ramaccioni 117) Emilio Gargagli 118) Mario Tosti 119) Marcella Casi 120) Egino Villarini 121) Rina Santini 122) Lea Rapo 123) Giuseppe Agea, testimonianza indiretta della figlia Elisabetta 124) Emilio Gargagli 125) Flora Grandi, lettera dell’11 settembre 2003; Franco Mischianti 126) Ines Guasticchi, Franco Mischianti, Egino Villarini 127) Guerriero Massetti 128) Classe III E, Scuola Media Statale Mavarelli-Pascoli, Voci della memoria , Comune di Umbertide e Centro Culturale San Francesco, Umbertide, 2002 129) Orlando Bucaioni, Franco Mischianti 130) Flora Grandi, lettera dell’11 settembre 2003; Nella Palchetti Palazzetti 131) Vittime: Giulia Baiocco, Cecilia Boldrini, Giuseppina Grandi, Anna Paola Massetti, Ida Mischianti, Rina Romitelli, Bruno Villarini 132) Classe III E, Scuola Media Statale Mavarelli-Pascoli, Voci della memoria , Comune di Umbertide e Centro Culturale San Francesco, Umbertide, 2002 133) Franco Mischianti 134) In alto: Fotomontaggio di Valerio Rosi su disegno base di Adriano Bottaccioli In basso: pianta d’Umbertide, con il bersaglio, la fiammata dello scoppio nel punto di caduta della seconda coppia di bombe ed il fumo della prima 135) Vittime: Angelo Mischianti, Luisa Rondini 136) Classe III E, Scuola Media Statale Mavarelli-Pascoli, Voci della memoria , Comune di Umbertide e Centro Culturale San Francesco, Umbertide, 2002 137) Vittima: Felicia Montanucci 138) Vera Vibi 139) Anna Caldari 140) Giuseppe Lisetti 141) Vittime: Benedetto Bernacchi, Marianna Manuali 142) Silvano Bernacchi 143) Renato Silvestrelli, Silvana Bernacchi 144) Vittima: Leopolda Sabbiniani 145) Luigi Romitelli 146) Giuseppe Romitelli 147) Antonio Silvestrelli 148) Emma Gagliardini 149) Guerriero Gagliardini 150) Carolina Frati 151) Classe III E, Scuola Media Statale Mavarelli-Pascoli, Voci della memoria , Comune di Umbertide e Centro Culturale San Francesco, Umbertide, 2002 152) Giuseppe Rapo 153) Classe III E, Scuola Media Statale Mavarelli-Pascoli, Voci della memoria , Comune di Umbertide e Centro Culturale San Francesco, Umbertide, 2002 154-155) Foto gentilmente messa a disposizione da Gianfranco Ciocchetti 156) Elda Bartocci 157) Maria Migliorati 158) Fernanda Martinelli 159) Lea Rapo 160) Ornella Duranti 161) Giuseppe Baiocco 162) Sergio Ceccacci 163) Maria Letizia Giontella, “Poesia a tre voci e tre cori” , Comune di Umbertide, Concorso Nazionale XXV aprile, Centro Culturale San Francesco, 1983 164) Alfredo Ciarabelli 165) Egidio Grassini 166) Fabrizio Boldrini 167) Sergio Celestini 168)Sergio Ceccacci 169) PRO, London, Operation Record Book, Detail of work carried out by 5 S.A.A.F., 239º stormo aereo “Wing Desert Air Force”, 5º squadrone aereo 170) Silvano Bernacchi 171) Fabrizio Boldrini 172) Vittime: Delma Tognaccini, Franca Fagioli 173) Adriana Ciarabelli, Annunziata Fiorucci 174) Classe III E, Scuola Media Statale Mavarelli-Pascoli, Voci della memoria , Comune di Umbertide e Centro Culturale San Francesco, Umbertide, 2002 175) Amelia Lozzi 176) Vittime: Annunziata Bendini, Fausto Ciocchetti 177) Giuseppe Rapo 178) Fotomontaggio di Valerio Rosi su disegno base di Adriano Bottaccioli. In basso: pianta d’Umbertide, con il bersaglio, la fiammata della terza coppia di bombe ed il fumo di quelle precedenti 179) In alto: Fotomontaggio di Valerio Rosi su disegno base di Adriano Bottaccioli. In basso: pianta d’Umbertide, con il bersaglio, la fiammata della quarta coppia di bombe ed il fumo di quelle precedenti 180) Orlando Bucaioni 181) Amelia Lozzi 182) Antonio Silvestrelli 183) Fabrizio Boldrini 184) PRO, London, Operation Record Book, Detail of work carried out by 5 S.A.A.F., 239º stormo aereo “Wing Desert Air Force”, 5º squadrone aereo 185) Domenico Mariotti 186) Vittime: Anna Maria, Raffaele, Benedetto, Valentino Bernacchi, Angelo Palazzetti 187) Vittima: Asssunta Palazzetti 188) Classe III E, Scuola Media Statale Mavarelli-Pascoli, Voci della memoria , Comune di Umbertide e Centro Culturale San Francesco, Umbertide, 2002 189) Giancarlo Bruni 190) Vittima: Assunta Caprini 191) Wanda Guardabassi 192) Vittorio Giulioni, testimonianza indiretta di Fernando Marchetti 193) Bruna Brunori, testimonianza raccolta dal nipote Matteo – V elementare – 1985 194) Fernando Martinelli 195) Francesco Martinelli 196) Virginia Tosti 197) Maria Migliorati 198) Vittime: Angelo Selleri, Pasquale Selleri 199) Elisabetta Bellarosa 200) Elda Bartocci 201) Vittime: Marcella Mazzanti, Argentina Merli 202) Vittima: Alfonso Ferrari 203) Margherita Violini 204) Vittima: Augusta Orlandi 205) Margherita Violini 206) Vittima: Giulia Pierotti 207) Rina Alunno Violini THE THIRD WAVE (1) The last four "picchiatelli" must lighten the load, now only ballast that prevents the return to base. Lieutenant Jandrell has decided to keep the Regghia bridge as a target, between the Collegiata and the square, which can still be glimpsed from above. Less and less convinced, the pilots start to unhook their bulky appendages, almost reluctantly. It's 9:53. Ninth discharge The bombs that Lieutenant McLachlan drops - they seem the violins playing "Rapastello" (2) - crash into Via Guidalotti (3). A bomb demolishes the house of Tommasi, the veterinarian (4). Inside is his mother - Sora Rosa, elderly and heavy - who had refused to follow her great-grandchildren with their mother Rachel, fled as soon as they heard the first bombs (5). Sora Checca, her daughter-in-law, remained with her. Afraid of it devices closer and closer, they were facing the window in Via Guidalotti to ask for help. On the road Hamlet was running; he, shocked, had whispered that his family members were already all dead; he had headed the appointment towards the end, under the father-in-law's house Quadrio (6). Finally Sister Rosa was convinced to escape. For the already damaged staircase (7), Sora Checca tried to get off, pulling her mother-in-law by the hand. For the shock wave, the first was ruined by hitting the face on the wall; the second (8) is dead (9). The other bomb stuck, unexploded (12), in front to the adjacent shoe shop, from where Paris (Giovanni Miccioni) he had already fled at the first outbreak, to look for his daughter Peppina at school (13), followed by Peppolétta (Ceccacci) (14). The other two shoemakers had stood still, petrified. The explosion in the house next door sparked inside the shop its tremendous strength. Selleri, seated in front of the work desk, was thrown from the chair e stripped of clothing (15). Tenth station Jesus is stripped The shoemaker is all crevelàto (16). It loses blood from the ears, eyes and body, due to the displacement of air and the rubble (17). His colleague Pierucci, the Carbonaro (18), remained dazed, but unable to move. From inside the Palazzoli barbershop, Menchino (Pucci) he despairs: "Oh God ... I committed it!" (19). It just has saw the bomb hit his representative office building sentance of agricultural machinery, from where he had left when the planes had arrived, to go and taste the usual breakfast: a fried egg (20). Tenth discharge Lieutenant Powell is already in a dive when he notices that the cloud of the last outbreak adjacent to the bridge on the Regghia it has almost completely hidden the objective. Recall the plane ahead of time, resulting in lengthen the trajectory of the bombs. The pair of bombs falls on the rubble of the houses of the hamlet of San Giovanni already demolished: he digs two craters on the mass of debris from the Bucaioni house (21) and resets the amount he was still standing. It is the coup de grace for Selleri's little sons, the shoemaker: they are pulverized. Without realizing what is happening, Peppino (Rapo), the little tailor apprentice who had stayed close to his two wounded comrades, it is covered with rubble up in the chest (23). A few tens of meters, under the bed marriage, her sister Lea cries out: "Mom! Amàzzime you ... don't make me 'mad' from them! "(24). The Borgo di San Giovanni, which has become a hellish volcano, gasps in the last spasms of agony. The bombs, burst at the base of the pre-existing cloud, they do to erupt into the sky a black, gigantic mushroom, above the crater. Towards the Calvary the lens of Doctor Balducci's camera opens, which has reached the fields beyond the Milordìno's house. The image of the dying country is fixed on his film. Eleventh Station Jesus is crucified The third stop Even the bridge in the square cannot be seen anymore from the sky. Lieutenant Jandrell no longer knows what to fish for. Upon returning to the airport from the field of Cutella, he will have to show some scalps in the game bag! He can't go back empty-handed. On the ground, the prolonged silence due to the uncertainty of the squadron once again stimulates to flee. Whoever is in the area of the Collegiata has the feeling that the danger has gone away: the last bomb has gone off inside the historic center, further back than that previous, that from Via Guidalotti had thrown stones all around them. The instinct is to get out of cover. Pierucci, the shoemaker, recovering from his daze, separates from Selleri, who cannot get up from his banquet. He leaves the shop and he goes, swaying like a drunk, towards the tower and the market. From the barbershop in Palazzoli, where he had placed himself under cover, peeps out Franco (Mischianti). He does not hear planes arriving; runs towards the market, passing in front of the still intact octagonal church (26). Elisa (Pucci) follows him, with the hairdresser's white cloth still on her shoulders (27). Many notice her for that unusual outfit, drawing encouragement to imitate her. Palmiro (Santarelli), one of the pupils who remained behind the sacristy of the Collegiate, is convinced: he runs away with her, towards the market (28). Other comrades follow him, taking different directions. Ines (Biti), the clerk of the Fornaci fabric shop, has also decided to flee, who saw Elisa running across the square. He tries to convince Checchina (Fornaci) that it is not necessary to stay indoors, although the vaults of the shop should be safe: "Better outside than under the rubble !!". Calmly, Ines takes off her apron, closes the door with the padlock. Together they run towards the market, with the speed allowed by the shorter leg than the other of the young lady (29). 1) Gianna Feligioni. 2) Lauro Beccafichi. 3) Fabrizio Boldrini. 4) Franco Anastasi, Renato Silvestrelli. 5) Venanzia Riccardini. 6) Paola Banelli. 7) Venanzia Riccardini. 8) Victim: Rosa Boncristiani. 9) Umberto Tommasi. 10) Above: photomontage by Valerio Rosi based on a drawing by Adriano Bottaccioli and image of the P40 dashboard provided by Andrea Gragnoli. Below: Umbertide plant, with the target and the smoke of the bombs already fallen. 11) Above: photomontage by Valerio Rosi based on a drawing by Adriano Bottaccioli. Below: Umbertide plant, with the target, the blaze of the ninth pair of bombs and the smoke of the previous ones. 12) Piero Baldelli. 13) Giuseppina Miccioni. 14) Cesare Ceccacci. 15) Victim: Giuseppe Selleri. 16) Orlando Bucaioni. 17) Pompeo Selleri. 18) To Ines Biti. 19) Elisa Manarini. 20) Elisabetta Bartoccioni. 21) Orlando Bucaioni. 22) Above: photomontage by Valerio Rosi, with cloud derived from the photo by Roberto Balducci, on an image taken from the Photo Library of the Municipal Archives. Below: Umbertide plant, with the target, the blaze of the tenth pair of bombs and the smoke of the previous ones. 23) Giuseppe Rapo. 24) Maria Luisa Rapo. 25) Bruno Porrozzi, Umbertide in the images, Pro Loco Umbertide Association, 1977, p. 91. Photo Roberto Balducci. 26) Franco Mischianti. 27) Ines Biti, Palmiro Santarelli. 28) Palmiro Santarelli. 29) Ines Biti. THE FOURTH WAVE Now even the bridge in the square has been completely engulfed by the smoke of the bomb that exploded a few meters away. Lieutenant Jandrell has no choice: he decides to aim against the Regghia bridge that leads to Santa Maria. Better than nothing! Eleventh discharge Lieutenant Stubbs obeys the squadron leader: swoops towards the goal, anxious to get rid of the load. The bombs fall in front of the Collegiate Church (1), very close to the target: one remains unexploded, while the other touches the sacristy of Pòngolo, breaking up (2) a clove. A huge crater opens onto the square (3). Don Luigi and his companions startle with fear, for the roar of nearby bombs and the noise deafening of the windows that break and shatter to the ground; the walls of the antisagresty and the house above, collapsing, they darken around them (4). A splinter, shot off by the explosion (5), mows Pierucci, the shoemaker, who was continuing to pace, unsteady, to get away from the Paris shop: he collapses lifeless (6) on the ground towards the tower, near a plant (7). Perhaps, while the bombs were falling, he would have thought about when, in 1921, he was forced under threat of a revolver, shouting: "Long live the Fascio, long live Italy (8). He was the first to suffer the arrogance of fascism and the last to be mowed. The elementary school kids, who were still left behind the Collegiate and the sacristy for the sense of security given by the their bulk (11), are hit by the tremendous crash, very close. The others, who had recently left that shelter, are taken in full from shock wave. Palmiro (Santarelli), blocked in the escape from the noise of the plane in beaten, he protected himself behind a tree trunk in the market (12). Carlo (Porrozzi) has just turned at the corner of Via Roma where Zurli's shop is. It is invested from a huge heat; he feels himself being lifted and catapulted several meters. He falls to the ground, injuring himself at knees (13). Vittorino (Tognaccini) is run over from behind from the blast of the explosion, as he runs towards Uncle Giosuè's tavern (14). Mario (Alpini) is hit in the side by a big guy stone; keep running up the Piaggiola towards the shoe shop - between Piazza delle Erbe and Via Grilli - of the father, who lowered the shutter up almost at the bottom. He went to the market, having seen that from Via Guidalotti one could not pass because they had hit the house near the Busattis (15). Ines (Benizi), who helps the Viglino at home, rides madly towards Piazza Marconi; the Maria Pia is perched on the handlebars; the Lucilla (Corbucci) le chases on foot, recommending to wait for her (16). Maestro Marsigliotti, all dusty for him burst, tries to take cover inside the door of the first house in Via Roma, towards the Regghia (17). A brick has landed on the pot in the kitchen of Via Bremizia, where Ersilia (Cecchetti Pinzaglia) he had put the broth back; he made the lid shine and fell among the boiled meat (18). In the notary's house, his daughter Maria (Zampa Leonardi) and the woman who helps her around the house they went down to the basement to take refuge in a dark basement. Cats around to them, as they did not realize what was happening. The bomb dropped in front of the sacristy shook the house like an earthquake: Maria imagines what oscillation there must have been now on the upper floors, which had already swayed frighteningly under their feet when the first bombs fell, much further away (19). La Dina (Galmacci) arrived at the bottom of the Piaggiola: the blast of air threw her into the door of Palazzo Baglioni; he finds himself without a coat and without shoes (20). The oratorians who watched from Santa Maria were hit with particular violence by the shock wave, which found fewer obstacles than the others in its path; Peppino (Gagliardini), who had leaned out of the ditch just at that moment, went all black (21). Twelfth discharge It is up to Lieutenant Wright to deliver the final blow. The last two bombs hit the house of the Gagliardini (22), even at almost half kilometer from the original goal of the bridge on the Tiber. The shock wave makes theirs fly bed (23) above Mariotti's roof, verso Via Roma (24). In the nearby house of the podestà Guardabassi, at the corner of Via Roma and Via XX Settembre, a little girl is thrown from the terrace inside the flight of stairs: roll up, arrive until the end. The old mayor assures us that those just fallen are the last bombs: maybe he counted the planes and the blasts. You can escape (25). Miss Fornaci and her saleswoman, Ines, they turned the stone cippus round that limits the passage to the market to pedestrians only; when the plane arrived they stooped down behind the wall towards the stream, under the first plant towards the Regghia. The fighter-bomber it rises, with a deafening roar, barely above their heads (26). The blast sent the doors open of the basements of the house where the master Marsigliotti had just found shelter; if it they were just looking for the keys, to take refuge there more safely. Every good thing came into view: lard, oil, flour and other gold, hidden there to escape the clutter. There is no time to think about the famine suffered in the past months, not even in the face of that abundance so close. The tragedy has re-established the scale of values. But for a short time: tomorrow there will be nothing left (27). Menco de Trivilino (Domenico Baldoni) from the post office arrived at the curve of the Marro, towards San Benedetto. As he glances back towards the smoke-filled town, he realizes that the last few pilots have seen nothing; they unhooked blindly. Antonio (Baroni), displaced by Capeccio, runs in the opposite direction in search of his mother who had gone to the center of the town wounded to death (29). Roberto Balducci has moved further towards the pine forest of Civitella. Photograph the last newborn mushroom, which emerges next to the pre-existing gigantic cloud (30) already dilated. It is the symbol of our ordeal. It's 9:54 am. The agony of the Borgo di San Giovanni was consumed in nine minutes (31). The heart of our country has been erased (32): it has now become a tomb. Twelfth Station Jesus dies on the cross Jesus died again: on the Calvary of St. John, next to dozens of crosses from which as many victims of ignorance, selfishness and violence dangle. The sun went out and darkened on the earth. Final strafing The rumbling of the bombs stopped. The silence that replaces them sharpens the feeling of deafness. From the temporary shelters on the outskirts, people come out who had not managed to escape: only now do they feel like doing so, encouraged by the absence of explosions. Man gradually regains possession of his rational abilities, overcoming the unconsciousness of the animal instinct. The primal terror experienced in the midst of the storm, in the eye of the storm, is gradually taking over, along with awareness, fear and dismay. From the Santa Croce area they all pour towards the Caminella and the Tiber; they instinctively lie down on the ground near Baldino, who is deaf and has not realized what is happening. He looks astonished at that stream of desperate people pouring towards the river, asking himself repeatedly aloud: "Ma ndu'va all these people?!" (33). Many crouch in a ditch full of nettles, without feeling the slightest discomfort. To get further away from hell, they climb over the embankment that separates them from the neighboring farmer - Secondo - while the low-flying planes still pass, strafing. A boy rolls to the ground and pretends to be dead (34). The final strafing is not a surprise for the pilot colonel Bice Pucci who, shortly before, in directing people to the Tiber, had recommended to Lidia (Tonanni): "Take off your red shirt ... after the machine gun bombardment ... "(35). In the bullfight of Piazza San Francesco the roles have been reversed: it is the sacrificial bulls who wear the muleta to incite the matadors. The red robe has also become a further concern for Vera (Vibi); if it is thrown on before going down - with yes and one shoe - along the pile of rubble which, from the terrace on the first floor of her house, slopes down to the street. She managed to support her mother (36), partially paralyzed, in her nightgown. While they are machine-gunning, he goes towards San Francesco, up to the Caminella, where he makes his mother sit under a tree (37). The crackling of the machine guns that followed the explosions of the bombs (38) is a further scar. At the Filippi furnace, at the bottom of the Piaggiola, they hear the gusts (39). Romolo (Romitelli), the tinsmith, swears: "Listen to these filthy ... they also machine guns!" (40). If it makes sense, in the inhuman logic of war, to destroy a bridge - and whoever has the misfortune of being nearby - with the aim of harming the enemy, it really has no justification for raging against defenseless people. Some foiled have the courage to justify everything: war is war. The planes leave Five or six planes, before leaving, go to the Hornbeam to unload some shiny objects. "Oh my God! ... they are bombing again!", The seminarians looking out from the Montone wall scream in dismay, before realizing that they are tanks (41). «Also in Monestevole, between the houses of Palombi and Ferranti, two planes, zigzagging in the sky, drop two large envelopes. As soon as they are unhooked, they look like bottles to the kids on top of the Valcinella toppétto. They believe they are bombs. They plug their ears, but as soon as they touch the ground they raise a small cloud of dust; there is a muffled thump, not a pop. The distance is considerable, but they run to see. In their pre-adolescent minds, this is a day of wonders, of celebration. They run from one hill to another, as if exalted. And it is not their discouragement or bewilderment; on the contrary, they feel the sweet sensation of being the protagonists of unusual and, in their own way, heroic events. Perhaps in Umbertide there will also be some dead; but they are not affected in their affections. The country is far away, stranger. Eight kilometers, in their eyes, are one stellar distance. Sweaty, out of breath, here they are where did those two big envelopes, close by to the house of Pulcinelli. They find two soldiers on the spot fascists, who, having found that it is empty containers, they leave again; but first they shoot you with the gun a few shots, perhaps to poke around thickness of the metal. The kids have the green light for watch. They are strange, very elongated, armed stems of pipes, electric wires, unions. They can contain a few quintals of gasoline. Maybe even more. The comments are wasted. Tonino says: "But these English have had judgment ... the drums did not drop them where they are grazing beasts, but here where there is nothing ". The petrol scattered around puts you in a good mood. It seems to smell the threshing. It is indeed a day of wonders "(42). Airplanes make a final low-flying turn (44) to check what happened; maybe they try disgust for having broken the quiet of those brown roofs of ancient, and the idyllic texture of those lace of vines stretched out among the stuccoes on the fields. Finally, get rid of any ballast - even the weights on the conscience - take a ride, all together, for, regain altitude. Then, in single file they disappear southwards, behind Montecorona (45). The fly-blind game is over. Umbertide is all landed (46). From this moment they will be remembered as "the twelve apostles" (47). Strange apostles, who have fulfilled their mission - of death or of freedom? - leaving 67 dead, three dying (48) and thousands of survivors with the death in the soul, scattered along the Calvary of San Giovanni. It's 5:10 am. The line of red-billed peregrine falcons points south. Perhaps he blushed more: from the shame of the evil they have sown. Doves crouched under the foliage of Elceto "hold the olive branch between their beaks that they cannot bring back to town after the flood: the time has not yet come for them to take off again. The Kittyhawk enterprise will not go down in history as a stage of progress: of course, the Wright brothers did not imagine the exploits of their great-grandchildren! In the flight diary the pilots note: "239 Stormo Wing DesertAir Force, 5th Air Squadron Operation no. 225 of 25 April 1944 A bomb narrowly missed the central section of the bridge to the north. A bomb narrowly missed the eastern access of the bridge to the south. A bomb hit the railroad tracks in the east access area of the bridge, interrupting the line. The other bombs fell in the inhabited area to the west of the country, east of the bridge. Leave seven houses on fire. Light anti-aircraft shots from Perugia airport [Sant'Egidio]. Visibility: haze Total flight time: 26 00 hours ". This is all for the war technicians: terribly little for those who have suffered, helpless, their exhibition. But war is also a drama for the pilots. Several of them, who are bringing death, will lose their lives in other missions (49); like Lieutenant Facer, who is about to expire after being shot down, just the day before yesterday, in the Fabriano sky. Others will see the end in the face, managing to escape it by a miracle, like Captain Pienaar, who in three months, on August 15, 1944, will live a bad adventure. At 4:41 pm, he will take off on a mission with his navigator, Lt. AR Lockhart-Ross. Arriving a few kilometers north-east of Lechfeld, at 9150 meters above sea level, he will veer left and right to ensure there is no danger. It will dive at 90 degrees towards Gunzburg-Leipheim airport, near the Danube, a few kilometers from Ulm. Suddenly it will frame a twin-engine aircraft fast approaching its tail in the rearview mirror. Pushed to the maximum the power, it will release the tanks of long range in order to exploit to the maximum the superior speed of its "Mosquito"; it will begin to turn to starboard rather than port, as is normally done when aiming for the target. As soon as this maneuver starts, it will suffer fire from the 30 mm cannon of the German plane, from a distance of about 120 meters. Captain Pienaar will see pieces of his plane fly away. Hit on the left aileron and rudder, his "Mosquito" will have a sudden deviation and will begin to spiral under the acceleration of gravity. The pilot will try to recall the aircraft, but the jammed valves will not respond to commands. When the attacker has approached 500 meters at very high speed, he will not be able to tack to starboard. Subjected to no less than a dozen unsuccessful attacks by the Messerschmitt 262, at extraordinary speed, Pienaar will see it rise and disappear against the sun each time. Fortunately, the navigator will be able to identify the route of the German plane from a trail of white vapor left behind. With the strength of desperation the South African pilot will dive into a large cumulus cloud, managing to disappear from the sight of the German. For 40 minutes the life of the two men inside the "Mosquito" will hang by a thread. With all the instruments out of order, they will be able to fly over the Alps by just 150 meters. Despite the blocked valves, the broken radio, the useless landing gear, the plane will be able to land on its belly in Udine, with only 67 liters of fuel in the tank, enough for seven minutes of flight. Pienaar and Lockhart-Ross, will be decorated for the extraordinary feat (50). But also the pilots of the 5th squadron who, like him, will return home safely will be victims of the war. Not only for the time they will have spent in lands far away from their country and from their loved ones. Afflicted by hardships and fears. Kind to obey the orders of others, perhaps without sharing them, perhaps without understanding them, perhaps without even asking the problem of judging the effects of their actions. They will also be victims for the time they will have to live, if they reflect on the terrible tragedies caused by their raids; if they imagine the victims' judgment. Who knows if any of them, even at this moment, during the flight back to Base Camp will turn a thought to those ants who are now chaotically crossing, as if mad, around the coordinates of the target? You / soldier of the night / who go / from one border of a country to another / from shore to shore / from river to river / listen ... (51) . Chances are they have neither the time nor the inclination - poor pilots! - to listen to our laments, while they are risking their lives, hanging from those trabiccoli. They are certainly not dabbling in pleasure flights. Lieutenant MWV Odenaal will be scanning the horizon to identify as soon as possible if another plane will go up, in attack action, from Perugia airport, like the Bf 110 of three weeks ago. Passing over Spoleto, they will all turn a thought to Lieutenant DR Barret, their companion whom they saw plunging towards death, on his first and last mission. Lieutenant Stubb, flying over the Rieti airport, will experience the bad feeling of last April 8 when, with his plane hit, he returned with his heart in his throat to the base. Two days later the same thing happened to him during a raid on a bridge. He and Captain Odenaal were hit by anti-aircraft. Not to mention Captain Spies who, not even a month ago, was forced to make a crash landing and spent a couple of weeks avoiding falling into the hands of the Germans. In short, there is no one among them who has not recently had nasty surprises: it is unlikely that there is room within their conscience to worry about others. It is likely that they are concerned only with avoiding attacks and arriving safely on the ground, in time to have lunch. They are not posing any problems above all because they are the last wheel of a perverse mechanism, forced to obey a distant, invisible engine. The gear cannot oppose the motion of the system: it cannot think, decide. He has no conscience; therefore it has no responsibility. It is the perverse engine that is primarily responsible; when it was started, no one can stop it until it has overwhelmed and crushed everything and everyone, in a pulp of flesh and blood, where nothing is more recognizable and judgeable. Every single tragedy is the inevitable result of the state of war: of every war, at any time. Because war is the negation of civilization, of law, of values, of feelings. In addition, to make its effects even more perverse are the soldiers and their infernal machines, which make mistakes and fail more often than you think. Violence is seldom efficient: evil cannot give birth to good. For completely opposite reasons, even the inhabitants of Fratta today have no time to think about anything else: they have to save their skin and bury the dead. But in the future, coldly, they will look for the reasons for too many inexplicable facts: the bombs scattered over the country, without any apparent logic; the trajectory of the dive, which crossed the inhabited center; the final strafing; the seven houses on fire, helpless, strategically insignificant, flaunted as macabre booty in the flight log of the raiders. Victims will be able to interpret these absurdities as the result of Lieutenant Jandrell's eagerness to show that he managed to do some damage to make a career; at the cost of telling some bombs. But they can also think the worst: the choice of fatal trajectories for civilians, the scattered bombs, the machine guns against the flies, the trophy of the burning houses could be the signs of an abominable terrorist bombing (54)! The fundamental rule of the war right to preserve the safety of civilians could appear to be circumvented. If that had been the case, all twelve apostles would have betrayed Jesus - humanity - by becoming accomplices in his crucifixion. Twelve Judas! With the mitigating factor - for individuals - of having acted without their own will and, in any case, not on their own initiative. April 25, / day of pretended glories, / of questionable and non-existent magnitudes for many, / day of upheaval, grief and ruin for others. / The helpless and defenseless country. / Death, rushing and hissing from the sky, / is satisfied in a few moments, / with an orgy of the blood of innocent victims. / A black cloud has enveloped Umbertide. / When the impiety has ceased / heaps of ruins / have obliterated hearths, houses / and many friends and people. ... like shadows they vanished / from a reality that was yesterday / and now no longer exists. / They were men, who wanted to live / who would have done without war / and the glories and manias of the Nation. / They have been erased for the mistakes of others / for the drunkenness of greatness of a wrong society / which reduces men to slaves and defenseless / without care of their intentions, / freedom and will (55). 1) Fabrizio Boldrini. 2) Emma Gagliardini. 3) Roman Children. 4) Don Luigi Cozzari, letter for the 1st anniversary. 5) Cesare Ceccacci, Renato Silvestrelli. 6) Victim: Antonio Alunni Pierucci. 7) Umberto Tommasi. 8) Francesco Pierucci, 1921/22 - Fascist violence and crimes in Umbria, Caldari Typography, Umbertide, 1975, p. 42. 9) Above: photomontage by Valerio Rosi based on a drawing by Adriano Bottaccioli, with an image of the P40 dashboard provided by Andrea Gragnoli. Below: Umbertide plant, with a still different target and the smoke of bombs already dropped. 10) Above: photomontage by Valerio Rosi based on a drawing by Adriano Bottaccioli. Below: Umbertide plant, with the target, the blaze of the eleventh pair of bombs and the smoke of the previous ones. 11) Avellino Giulianelli, Domenico Manuali. 12) Palmiro Santarelli. 13) Carlo Porrozzi. 14) Vittorio Tognaccini. 15) Mario Alpini. 16) Maria Pia Viglino. 17) Franco Villarini. 18) Maurizio Pucci. 19) Maria Zampa. 20) Dorina Galmacci. 21) Warrior Gagliardini. 22) Saints Improved. 23) Warrior Gagliardini. 24) Emma Gagliardini. 25) Ornella Bellarosa. 26) Ines Biti. 27) Franco Villarini. 28) Bruno Porrozzi, Umbertide and its territory , Pro Loco Umberride Association, 1983, p. 73. 29) Domenico Baldoni. 30) Giuseppe Lisetti. 31) Ramiro Nanni, Like I, Ramiro, I experienced the bombing. .., manuscript from 1979. 32) Elena Boriosi. 33-34) Amedeo Faloci. 35) Lidia Tonanni. 36) Giuseppe Lisetti. 37) Vera Vibi. 38) Silvano Bernacchi. 39) Giorgio Toraci. 40) Bruno Burberi. 41) Luigi Braconi. 42) Mario Bartocci, manuscript from 1986. 43) Above: photomontage by Valerio Rosi based on a drawing by Adriano Bottaccioli. Below: Umbertide plant covered entirely by the smoke of the exploded bombs. 44) Luigi Braconi. 45) Fabrizio Boldrini, Luigi Braconi. 46) Amelia Picciolli. 47) Bruno Tonanni. 48) Registry of the municipal registry. 49) Letter from Lieutenant Mitcbell to Mario Tosti dated March 1986. Beautiful works! , Municipality of Umbertide, 1995, p. 53. 50) MJ Martin, Neil D. Orpen, South African Forces World War II ; Eagles victorious: operations of 'the South African Forces, Air ops in Italy , Cape Town, Purnell, 1977. 51) Maddalena Rosi, "You", National Competition 25th April , Municipality of Umbertide and S. Francesco socio-cultural center, 2002. 52) PRO: Public Record Office, London, Operation Record Book, Detail of work carried out , SAAF, 239th "Wing Desert Air Force", 5th air squadron; Taken from: Mario Tosti (curator), Beautiful works !, Municipality of Umbertide, 1995, p. 50. 53) Edda Vetturini, "Memories of wartime (Bastia Umbra 1940/45)", Proceedings - Properziana del Subasio Academy - Assisi, Series VI n. 22, 1994. 54) Sante Migliorati, Egino Villarini. 55) Olimpio Ciarapica, from a poem of 1952. La terza e quarta ondata THE FIRST STOP The last plane of the first quartet has rejoined the others, who continue to turn above Romeggio. They delay (1), to evaluate the result of the attack and reflect on what to do. The hurricane of piercing hisses, followed by explosions (2), momentarily subsided. It's 9:46. Brizio (Boldrini), having arrived at the market, at the corner of Broccatelli's house, turn towards the Fontesanta. He turns, looking towards the center: behind the fortress, a large, gray, dense cloud has swallowed other bombs which inflate it, spreading it over the town. He feels the need to sit down: his legs begin to tremble; slowly he catches his breath (3). Sitting on the side of the road, the desperate Lina (Foni Roselletti) cries, screams, invokes her hired husband: "Teo is in the square!". They try to console her, assuring her that there were no cars in the square (4). The archpriest, Don Luigi, curled up in the corridor towards the sacristy of the Collegiate, listens, wondering in terror if the sequence of bomb blasts - fallen, now near and far - is over (5). La Cesira (Romitelli), who had escaped from the Quadrio oven at the first outbreak, had thrown herself to the ground at each dive, as her son had suggested (6); now she runs quickly home. In the same way Menco de Traversino (Domenico Traversini) flees by the tree; he had dropped the spade in the garden of Sor Dino (Ramaccioni) and had fled towards the station, throwing himself to the ground at the arrival of each hiss and resuming running after the explosion. He is headed for the Migno-Migno, where he recently married his wife (7). A safer refuge Franco del Capoguardia (Anastasi) noted that the pairs of bombs fall at regular intervals, of about thirty seconds one from the other (8); after three blows he deduced that, if the neighbor had spared him, he would have had time to flee towards the tower. Thirty seconds have lasted three hours since then. Hearing the last boom not far away, he fled from the Duty Office in Via Guidalotti to the tower, followed by all the others (9). Even the receiver was convinced, thinking: "The heads of all the people who flee, certainly think more than mine alone (10)". They were lucky, because they decided to escape at just the right time, during the truce. The silence between one bomb and the next, more prolonged than the previous ones, pushes anyone who has been blocked by that hellish noise outdoors: whoever can escape by the shortest route towards the air and the light. Others are looking for a safer place. Tommasi, from the stationery shop below, yells at Ornella (Duranti) and Wilma (Borri) to get off, to take refuge in the vaulted room on the ground floor. The two girls obey, although Sora Checca (Duranti) had for some time instructed her daughter, showing her the main wall where to take shelter (11). Escape from the crater In the post office they are all crowded in front of the exit: customers, employees and the Ceccarellis. La Menchina della Posta (Domenica Burzacchi Lotti), mindful of her husband's recommendation to take shelter as soon as possible in a place covered by vaults or arches or architraves, runs away towards the vault of Via Grilli (12). The Ceccarellis run out in the opposite direction, towards the Collegiate. Gigetto (Gambucci) instead stops; he rethought the special package containing the money for the salaries of the masters (13), which Peppe della Fascina (Giuseppe Venti) brought with the cart from the station to the post office (14); climbs the stairs to close the safe (15). Outside the Quadrio oven, the people flee towards the square, extricating themselves among the debris that clutter the road: they are almost mad. Maria (Guasticchi Feligioni) - she does not imagine that her husband, Bronzone, is buried a few meters from her - desperately asks for help to get the old Lazzaro de Botaciólo down the stairs, in whose house she had been housed together with her displaced family from Milan. He sees a friend of his pass - Baldo (Ubaldo Gambucci) - who, in the midst of all that confusion, does not hear it (16). Panic has taken over; everyone becomes deaf, even in the brain, responding to the instinct of survival. Upstream (17) Luciano (Bebi) went down the stairs to check that the way out remains free; precedes the mother who is slow to follow him. The door is stuck. From the street Amleto, the radio-telegraph naval marshal yells at him to open the door: "Open ... open ... (18)". From the inside, Luciano replies that he can't do it, because something has fallen that blocks the exit (19). Meanwhile, Quadrio's daughters try to escape from the back in their nightgowns (20); Father hears their cries for help. He calls all the Saints, but no one answers (21). The radio operator hears screams coming from the next door, towards the square. They are the Capucìni - the parents and their daughter Lidia (Mariotti) - who have come down from the upper floors in flames and beg to open. The door is stuck. Finally Hamlet manages to force the opening; accompanies them through the arch of Via Mancini and the arches of the slaughterhouse in the square (22) to put them all in via Alberti (23), up to the Rocca (24). A blond boy (Umberto Bellarosa), who was fleeing from the "Tiberina" towards the Collegiate Church, arrived in front of Reggiani, could not resist returning home, upstream, in Via Mancini. Look under the arch: the old woman de Piandàna, with the bread table on her head, goes here and there like a sleepwalker, in the midst of the dust that obscures everything (25). Giovannino (Migliorati) also had the instinct to return to his house, in front of the nuns, after abandoning the teacher and his companions who fled in the opposite direction, towards the station. When he turns towards Via Spoletini, someone pushes him inside the door of the house before the level crossing (26). Nina and her husband, Valentino (Ciammarughi), were working the field near the Ramaccioni, near the Tiber. When the bombs arrived, the first thought was to go to the nuns' kindergarten, a few tens of meters from home, where Pierina, the daughter, was. They ran across the field to rejoin the child. Arriving at the school garden net, he can't get over it because of how upset he is; his wife gives him some insult as he climbs the net which, under the weight of both of them, lies down to the ground letting them pass. They immediately see their daughter walking towards them, completely calm, not at all frightened by the noise and confusion (28). Instead, a little fiery with red hair (Fausto Fagioli) cries and cries, because his mother has not come to get him: it almost seems that he has the presentiment of having lost her, together with his sister Franca (29). Even Linda (Guardabassi), when the hum of the airplanes became more insistent, fled in the middle of the fields towards the nuns' kindergarten where she had left her daughter. For the great fear of the bombs dropped above her head, when she found herself in front of the Carbonaro gorge she went straight and overtook it with a jump. Arriving at the kindergarten, Imperia sua is not found, until she escapes from under Sister Adele's skirt, where she has found ample refuge (30). Escape from the periphery From the outskirts of the historic center everyone flees to the countryside. The Boca and Spinelli do not feel safe under the counter in the cyclist's closet. They go out to flee to the countryside. The first starts running towards Peppolétta, with his head down; he notices a fountain pen on the ground but does not pick it up, remembering that at school they taught that it can disguise a bomb (33). The second, who runs away next to him, at the height of the road that leads from Via Roma to the station, because of his speed he cannot avoid a cyclist - Cannéto (Ruggero Bartolini) - who is shouting: "Oh God i mi 'fiulini !! ". Both of them tumble to the ground. Nearby the General (Mario Giornelli), standing on his chariot, whips the mule towards the countryside. Ennio (Montagnini) and Santino (Migliorati), who took shelter behind the wall of the house of the teacher Checca, call Spinelli (Renato Silvestrelli). "Lie down like the rest of us and lie on your stomach". He obeys, trying to take the position they taught in school (34). Umberto (Dominici) flees to the mechanic's shop in Peppino (Rondoni), at the beginning of Via Roma, where his younger brother Claudio works; takes him by the hand; together they run towards the Regghia joining the multitude of terrified people who pour into the countryside (35). The tide becomes more and more impressive (36). The terror is so immense that the wife of Misquicqueri (Nello Migliorati), who ran away from home with her daughter Francesca a few months old wrapped in a blanket, only when she stopped towards the Roccolo, out of breath for the race, she realized that she had lost his creature on the street. Desperate, she retraces the journey backwards until she finds it, on the ground: there are no bombs capable of detaining her (37). It went better for Maurizio, by a year. All frightened, he was wrapped in a cloth by his sister - Gianna (Feligioni), a young seamstress - who carries him in her arms running along the Piaggiola towards the market (38). Adriana (Ciarabelli), who was surprised by the bombs inside the restaurant of Ntonio de Ragno (39), escapes along the same road. He joins the crowd running towards the Madonna del Giglio, where Nellino de Pajalunga's father cries, despairing because his mules have escaped (40). Many people covered in dust and bloody arrive at the ditch of Santafede (41). Each small street is swarming with people who arrive, out of breath and shocked, from the square and the market (42). Maria and Santina de Pistulino (Tosti) are all white, candid, from dust (43). Little Luciana de Zùmbola (Sonaglia) was thrown to the ground by a blast of air. She is hurt, but the fear is stronger than the pain: she gets up and, turning back, she sees a large white cloud towards the square (44). Celso (Mola) reached the top of the Roccolo hill: he ran along the Regghia, through a green wheat field two palms high, with a short white nightgown; he tried to crouch down to hide his intimacies, but each subsequent outburst dissolved his modesty and pushed him to other sgalànci (45). From the station area, a girl runs away along the road of the oaks that leads in the direction of the pine forest, up to the Navarri farm. Following his father's instructions, he put the gold chains in his pocket and loaded the ham on his shoulder. He throws himself into the ditch where Marino de Caldaro has his work to do to force his wife Maria to crouch: she wants to keep her head up to look, without realizing that the ants are invading her (46). Rolando del Buffè, who had fled with his mother from the station, has already arrived at Caldarelli's house (47). Powerless from the periphery From the outskirts we witness, helpless, the agony of the country devastated by the blazes and the red-hot winds of its convulsions. Roberto Balducci, the doctor, has fled from his house near the station, towards the fields, in the direction of Civitella; he took his camera, sensing that the most terrible tragedy in the history of the country is unfolding. Massimo (Valdambrini), a child sheltered between the two crags where the Cupa is collected towards Pinzaglia and Navarri, is still speechless for the tremendous spectacle just interrupted: the hisses of the bombs that hurt the ears and the brain, the crashes of the explosions that they made everything tremble; the whistles of the splinters that reached up there; the shades and the planks that flew in the air (48). "Keep your head down!", Repeatedly recommend teachers to schoolchildren who have repaired in the small trenches dug in the lawn behind the elementary schools (49). Next to them Bruno de Chiocca (Tarragoni), who has come out of the school where all his companions have remained, peers in the direction of the square, embracing the trunk of the walnut that shelters him (50). From the church of Santa Maria the boys of the oratory watch astonished, crouched in the ditch between the football pitch and the house of Pippo del Caporale (Renato Caporali). Don Giovanni (Dottarelli) had them repaired below the edge of the field, recommending that they lie down with their stomach raised off the ground (51). Every now and then they take a look at the town that disappears more and more, in the midst of clouds of dust. Guerriero de Schiupitìno (Gagliardini) looks with binoculars; his brother Peppino felt the ends of his hair brushed by the movement of the air of the bombs (52) that sparkled and rotated before falling (53). From the loggia on the hill, other children enjoy the show, heedless of the anguished faces of adults (54). The Simoncini girls who escaped from the goodwill took shelter of a crag for a while; Zina (Corbucci) instead has crouched in the middle of a field and someone yells at her to move from there, because they could see her. They take them into the stable of Secondo, a farmer near the Tiber. Professor Ciangottini says to stay calm and to pray: then they begin to say the Hail Mary, all together, aloud, or only within themselves (55). Other boys of the same school, who escaped through the arch of Piazza San Francesco, sought shelter behind the embankments and in the holes of the sand miners, to admire the planes from safety as they swooped down from Civitella, dropped the bombs and went up to Corvatto , veering towards Montalto to rejoin all the others (56). Rodolfo (Panzarola), on the other hand, realizes that the show is the most tragic thing that can happen; he feels anguish and anger for this havoc against his country (57). Emilio (Baldassarri) does not go for the thin and fords the river at a run, to run home towards the Niccone (58). In his house in Piazza San Francesco, in front of the school, a boy is not at all afraid; he would like to see what happens, but his mother does not intend to leave the cellars of Ciammarughi, where they took refuge after hearing the loud noise and the stone-throwing on the roof. The son, impatient and eager to see, tries to convince her with a subtle blackmail: "Yes, I die [if I die], it's your fault!". He won it: they go out. When they arrive at the Caminella, they find a group of Neapolitans screaming like obsessed (59). Ermelinda (Rondoni Valdambrini) prays behind the bank of Secondo: she is quite right! She must thank God for being able, when she heard the first blow, to escape like a hare from the tobacconist's in the square, where she had gone to buy salt: the second bomb fell behind her, as she ran over the Regghia bridge. towards Piazza San Francesco. As soon as she crouched behind the shelter, she heard the whistle of a splinter that crashed to the ground, touching her head (60). From Ceramiche Rometti, Pietro (Corgnolini), a sixteen-year-old boy, saw the planes circling in a row, one after the other, swooping down on the town from the east and, in the ascent after the dive, disappear behind the flames and clouds of smoke rising to the sky after the explosion. He is not afraid: he is not realizing what is happening and what effects may follow (61). Rina had prepared the cake for breakfast, at the Palazzone farm, near the Gamboni lock; he was dusting it from the ashes on the loggia, summoning the men who were hoeing the grass in the garden. At the sound of planes and bombs, she ran to the window on the opposite side of the house to look toward the center. He witnesses the collapse in dismay (62). Don Luigi is standing at the door of the sacristy (63). He has looked out to scrutinize the movements of the planes, but immediately withdraws when he hears them approaching again (64). The archpriest does not imagine that they are called Kitryhawk, "peregrine falcons": he would shudder at the mere thought that a bird of prey could be attributed the qualities of a pilgrim. The train that was coming from Pierantonio stopped shortly after the toll booths on the straight. It is full of people: in addition to the students there are people heading to a fair in the Upper Tiber. Everyone rushed out; the crowd was such that someone broke the windows to get out. A carabinieri marshal has stationed himself on a stack of crossbeams: pathetically points in the air a "91-38 musket with fixed bayonet" towards the planes that are turning again from the top of Montecorona to strike towards the center of Umbertide, almost in the direction parallel to the straight (65). In fact, the squadron has made its decision: another quartet of steel birds, each with its own pair of 500-pound bombs (66), is about to rage, taking over from the one who has just returned to formation. 1) Luigi Gambucci. 2) Candido Palazzetti, Umbertide , Scholastic Patronage, Umbertide, 1958. 3-4) Fabrizio Boldrini. 5) Don Luigi Cozzari, letter for the 1st anniversary. 6) Tita Romitelli. 7) Domenico Traversini. 8) Franco Anastasi, Ramiro Nanni, How I, Ramiro, lived the bombing .... 1979 manuscript. 9) Franco Anastasi. 10) Luigi Gambucci. 11) Ornella Duranti. 12) Italo Lotti. 13) Luigi Gambucci. 14) Muzio Venti. 15) Luigi Gambucci. 16) Ines Guasticchi. 17) Giovanni Migliorati. 18) Adriana Fileni. 19) Francesco Martinelli. 20) Linda Micucci. 21) Adriana Fileni. 22) Domenico Mariotti. 23) Warrior Boldrini. 24) Lidia Mariotti. 25) Umberto Bellarosa. 26) Giovanni Migliorati. 27) Photo kindly made available by Adriana Fileni. 28) Piera Ciammarughi. 29) Concetta Mariotti. 30) Linda Micucci. 31-32) Photo kindly made available by Adriana Fileni. 33) Bruno Advantages. 34) Renato Silvestrelli. 35) Umberto Dominici. 36) Luigi Carlini. 37) Anna Migliorati. 38) Gianna Feligioni. 39) Adriana Ciarabelli. 40) Emilio Gargagli. 41) Ada Locchi. 42 Luciana Sonaglia. 43) Italo Lotti. 44) Luciana Sonaglia. 45) Graziella Gagliardini. 46) Anna Bartocci. 47) Rolando Fiorucci. 48) Massimo Valdambrini. 49) Maria Duranti. 50) Bruno Tarragoni Alumni. 51) Giorgio Pacciarini. 52) Giuseppe Gagliardini. 53) Willemo Ramaccioni. 54) Angelo Chiavini. Testimony taken from Yesterday, today ... the thread of memory , Lucignolo Aggregation Center - Committee of Memory, Umbertide, 2003. 55) Margherita Tosti, manuscript of 1985. 56) Giuseppe Golini. 57) Rodolfo Panzarola. 58) Giuseppe Golini. 59) Mario Destroyed. 60) Ermelinda Rondoni. 61) Pietro Corgnolini. 62) Rina Alunno Violins. 63) Maria Migliorati. 64) Don Luigi Cozzari, letter for the 1st anniversary. 65) Rolando Tognellini. 66) Ramiro Nanni, How I, Ramiro, lived the bombing ... , manuscript of 1979. THE SECOND WAVE (1) The clouds of dust raised by the first four bombs, falls north of the longitudinal axis of the bridge, yes moved to the south-east, pushed by a slight north wind; have risen right on the most critical point of the dive. Neither the railway bridge nor those of the national road on the Tiber and on the Regghia. The pilots, who they could see them clearly when they arrived now they can only picture them under the blanket of smoke. For hit the target should go into it: a leap into dark. Too risky! You have to give up any big target of the national road. Lieutenant Jandrell is irritated: he has failed his own mission on the last day he wanted to wear a success as Commanding Officer of Base Camp. Command to fall back on a new goal, even of minor importance, as long as it is visible (2): the bridge over the Regghia that connects the square to the Collegiata. Fifth discharge Captain Spies, in a wide circle, went over the Serra, where does the dive start. Ramiro has come to the smooth [on the edge] of the farmhouse Fontesanta; thinks the squadron commander delayed the continuation of the attack because he has saw many people running away (3). But this concern is perhaps incompatible with the precautions that pilots they must have to protect their skin (5). The fighter-bomber drops black, similar things beak-tailed suppositories (5), which strike the wing east of the post office building. La Ines (Biti), left the shelter of the conservatory buzzo in the shop of Rosina de Pistulìno (Tosti), it was barely returned to the Fornaci fabric shop. He was about to take the bag and the keys from the desk to close the shop and leave, despite the refusal of Miss Francesca (Fornaci), the Checchina. From behind the glass door towards the square, he sees the post building collapse: it is hit by a very strong explosion, a terrible gust and a lot of smoke (9). The corner between the square and the alley of San Giovanni crumbles, burying Galen, the barber, the foreign customer and the two apprentices Peppini: fiolo de Poggione (10) and `l Roscìno (11), blond, curly, with the serum above the cheekbones (12), which after a few moments followed the fate of Fausto, the elder brother who wanted to go to his aid (13). All the people present in the affected building had just come down the stairs from the floors above the barbershop (14). Italo's mother (Grandolini) is missing, who went to mass (15). There is Lina (Violini), a mathematics student in Pisa, with her father Severino; the shock wave makes her heart burst. The father, protected by a beam, feels the desperate grip of his daughter (16) who expires embraced at his ankles (17). Lodina (Donnini), the wife of the head of the bank's office, came down from the mezzanine floor together with her children - the youngest child in her arms and the other by the hand (18) - and Maria (Giovannoni), a young girl who 'helps around the house. The children die immediately (19), close to the mother, who remains almost unharmed. The girl is thrown under Lina's body (20). In the central part of the building still standing, Gigetto (Luigi Gambucci) was climbing towards the safe of the Post Office; in front of him the bombs, which fell very close, have ripped from hinge a stair window, which is ruined on the landing. Everything has gone black; dark full. It is the darkness of death that in that at the same moment he grabbed his father Baldo (Ubaldo Gambucci) (21), a few tens of meters. For a moment he was unable to take that step in more than he has rescued one of his mates escape, around the corner of Via Stella. His watch was blocked by the swarm of splinters very small that have hit it, instantly of death: 9.50 am (22). Next to Baldo (Gambucci) the boy from twenty years old (24), possibly a Jew, who had just separated from their father in front of the Capponi Hotel where they are guests (25). A few meters away lies Virginia (27); math's teacher. He had tried to join the flight of the women of the family Ceccarelli (28), who were thrown by the blast on the wall of the buildings in front of the post office, all shot to death (29). Sixth station Veronica wipes the face of Jesus It is carnage. How many tears, on how many faces, must be dried! Better luck fell to Picchiottino: his cage is was thrown from the window to under the table (30). Looks speechless; even less than men do realizes what ever is upsetting the quiet tran of greenfinch. A bottle of perfume flew from Galen's barbershop to land - miraculously intact - on the roof of the Sor Igi's house, at Corso (31). The dust storm has invaded the fruit shop della Pierina in Via Alberti, obscuring it; then Bruno (Burberi) seeks escape towards Piaggiola (32). Sixth discharge Seventh station Jesus falls the second time Those who have remained in the Borgo di San Giovanni now find themselves permanently trapped, closed by the rubble at the top and at the end of the alley: he can only wait for the end of the lottery of death. Everything is shrouded in smoke. Luciano feels trapped (33): he searches desperately protection by fixing the head inside the mixer bread, near the door (34). Above him, Lieutenant Jooste drops two bombs that do not hit the house but, rushing into the alley of San Giovanni, they undermine it from below (35): the terrible explosion guts the oven e the shop, on which the upper floors collapse. Above the tomb of the young people (36) land the elderly, lingered in the escape; Quadrio fell with his bed from the upper floors, gliding over the debris (37). He and Fernanda, mother of Luciano (Bebi), are only wounded, covered by a few rubble. The shock wave also demolishes the house next to the oven, towards the square, and dig the one in front. Under the first die, embracing each other (38), the spouses (39) who manage the Virgil's trattoria. Crouched in a corner she remained s epolta la Bettina (40), who had taken refuge from them (41). From the top floor she sinks into the restaurant and the embroiderer ends her days (42). In the house opposite, Amalia dies, the little girl who has recently returned to the village from the icy refuge of San Cassiano. Spira in the arms of the grandfather, who remained protected under a beam (43). Grandmother Marianna also lost her life (44), with the inseparable tobacco paper in her pocket to smell (45). Seventh discharge Another plane, flown by Captain Odenaal, after a dive almost parallel to the straight, drops a couple of bombs over the station, which continue towards the center and crash into Via Guidalotti, behind the house of the teacher Elide (Franchi), the wife of the band director musical (46). The intersection between Via Alberti and the alley is hit that connects Via Guidalotti to Piazza delle Erbe: the rear part of the Porrini house crumbles (47) and the Marzani, where they die embraced (48) the Barbagianni spouses (49). The corners of the osteria delle Balille and the Venanzia inn (51). Here they also pour the rubble of the building opposite, imprisoning how many had gathered at the bottom of the stairs (52). "The Franks had run away from the kitchen, when they had seen all the glass fall on them for the outbreak at the post office; they had taken the fiola - Giuliana, one year old - from the high chair. The purse with the money, ready on a nail in the back the door remained in place. They had crowded in behind the door, together with the patrons of the inn, terrified. They wanted to escape to the market. Two German soldiers they had stopped him, making it clear that it would be too dangerous. Elvira (Nanni), who had gone up to take the bag, did not have time to get back down and was blocked by the rubble on the landing, under a beam that made a hut. It is on the second floor, in the collapsed corner, towards piazza delle Erbe (53). Linda (54), displaced from Turin with her sister Mafalda, who works at the Ration Cards Office of the Municipality (55), did not understand the law: she wanted to go out at all costs, because she had the eldest daughter, Silvana, at school . She managed to escape, holding her youngest son, Giancarlo, three years old, by the hand. But it was overwhelmed by the rubble just outside the door. From inside the door you can hear the moans of the fiolo, close to the mother who shows no signs of life "(56). Eighth station Encounter between Jesus and the women of Jerusalem Women beat their breasts and moan to Him. "Do not weep over me. Weep over yourselves and your children" (57). Linda can no longer cry, neither about herself nor about her children. The same fate befell another woman, the butcher's wife (58). She, Maria, had spoken from the window of the house with Quinto, her husband, who was facing that of the town hall opposite. When the planes arrived, he had tried to get out of the house; Elvira (Caprini) had tried to hold her back, but to no avail. She passed, running from Via Alberti towards the square, in front of the shoe shop in Via Grilli, while the owner, Lilo (Angelo Alpini), was lowering the shutter to protect himself. He had tried to pull her by the hand: "'ndu gite, vinite [where you go, come] inside, ché càdon le bombe!". There had been nothing to do. "No! I have da gì da la mi 'Giovanna", she insisted, resuming the race towards elementary school, where she thought her eldest daughter was (59). He did not know that they had had it repaired in the house of the teacher Peppina, just a stone's throw away. After a few meters; Maria was mowed right under the vault: a splinter (60) of the bomb dropped at the corner of Piazza delle Erbe passed it from side to side, also wounding the mother of Chirico, the head of the railway depot, who stood behind (61). The veterinarian and the mother of Maestro Pino, leaning their hands against the wall, protected Ornella and Wilma with their bodies from all the stationery stuff that fell on the floor from the shelves (62). In the back room of the Palchetti food shop, a few meters from the explosion, everything has become dark; on the shoulders of Nino (Egidio Grassini), lying on the ground as they had taught at school, pats of lard fell from the ceiling. Several times he had tried to get up to go out in the back, in Piazza dell'Erbe, but the hiss of successive bombs had blocked him to the ground, as if crushed by the shock of the explosion (63). Nearby, other people, who had been locked in Municipality, they had looked for a way out through the woodshed overlooking Piazza delle Erbe; but to no avail, because the door was jammed. The displacement of air of the last bomb opened the door wide. Neither they immediately take the opportunity to escape through the vault; among them Gigino (Fagioli), wounded in the forehead, again he does not know that he has lost his wife and daughter. They pass by to Pazzi's wife, who is asking for help, agonizing; but, taken by terror, they do not stop (64). She is on the ground (65), leaning with her back against the wall near the urinal; leaking blood (65) that is runny on the plaster of the wall, leaving indelible traces as a warning to the survivors. Maria has not no longer even the strength to speak. Plead with it look an acquaintance to bring the little one to safety Gabriella, the daughter he has in his neck (67). The Steak is that takes the daughter, waiting for the opportune time to bring her to safety towards the countryside (68). Maria does understand that she would like to be taken back, out of the vault, on the opposite side of the outbreak. Down there, the Menchina della Posta and others, recovered from daze (69), they try to please her, dragging his heavy body outside the vault, in Via Grilli (70). Even the elderly woman who had been injured by the same splinter, try to get busy. They ask her to do more strength, to pull with both hands; she responds with his Neapolitan accent: "Nun` o tengo cchiù [I don't have it anymore] "He has a torn arm (71). Eighth discharge The pair of bombs dropped by Lieutenant Hooper falls behind the rubble of the Quadrio kiln and demolishes the house of Simonucci, the Town Accountant. All those who took shelter from the upper floors remain buried at the bottom of the staircase in Via Mariotti, towards the vault, thinking it was the safest place. In vain Marinetta (Trotta) tried to convince them to run away (73). Bengasina (74) dies with Polda, the girl who helps her with housework (75). Near them, three other women lose their lives: Gina, a teacher of literature, cheerful, cheerful, smiling; aunt Esterina, rustic, scapeciàta, grumpy (76); Giovannina, who had gone to class (77). The collapse overwhelms other inhabitants of the building, on the upper floors: an embroiderer and her son (78), who has returned for a few days on military leave from Spoleto, in aviation as a reconnaissance photographer (79). Hamlet, who had unsuccessfully tried to get in touch with his family from the alley of San Giovanni, was no longer able to return to the entrance to the oven, because a mountain of rubble now prevented access from the square. So he tried to enter from the back of the house, through the arch where there is the Maurino (Luigi Fagioli) staircase. He fell (80) there, hit by a ledge (81). A hero (82). First he sacrificed himself for the others, bringing them to safety. Then he thought, in vain, also about his family. In the end he fell, like Jesus, who redeemed all men. Ninth station Jesus falls for the third time In the nearby hairdresser, where Gina (Borgarelli) sought consolation for her terror every time there were alarms, Velia curled up under an arch, helpless in the face of the flames and gusts of dust released from the crater of Via Mariotti, through the small door towards the back of the Corso (83). When the first bombs fell he was washing Elisa (Pucci )'s head (84). Loredana (Trentini) was waiting to do her hair, obeying her mother who had been scolding her for a few days: "Me sembri` na capeciòna, with all `sti ciùrci". They were all paralyzed by the tremendous noise of the planes and by the glass of the door that fell to the ground (85). The external wall of the building at the rear of the hairdresser's, connected to Simonucci's house through a passage above the arch, collapsed, causing the kitchen of Tilde, wife of Paris (Giovanni Miccioni) to fall. Luckily she had gone to drain the lupins in the toilet, towards the Corso, instead of on the kitchen sink, as always (86). The second stop The second aircraft quartet also rejoined the formation. It's 9:51. The storm broke out six minutes ago. The dust cloud has invaded the entire historic center; up there, from the cockpits, you can no longer see anything. Lieutenant Jandrell realizes the mission is compromised. He consults with the other pilots. The opinions excited to decide on what to do, exchanged through the radio, grant a longer respite (87): on the ground, whoever can take advantage of it. At the same time in Città di Castello the alarm bellowed (88). From the crater La Velia sees that no one is moving from the pharmacy opposite; remains curled up under a hairdresser's arch, trying to squat even more (89). Instead Loredana (Trentini) and Elisa (Pucci), taking advantage of the prolongation of the quiet, sometimes leave the place. The first runs away, towards the Piaggiola, dodging a woman with a clique of hair behind her head, on the ground there at the vault, who seems to be dead. She is Pazzi's wife. Dina (Galmacci) cannot avoid beating her up. Taking advantage of the momentary silence, she comes running from the vault, after having escaped from the back room of Palchetti, in piazza delle Erbe (90). Elisa flees in the opposite direction, towards the Collegiate Church. Menchino (Domenico Pucci), her husband's cousin, sees her running with curlers on her head in the direction of home, instinctively to reunite with her son Franco, a few months old; he makes her enter the Palazzoli barbershop at the corner of the Reggiani palace, already full of people, pulling her by the arm: "Where are you going? Can't you see that bombs are falling everywhere!" (91). Others take refuge in the shops adjacent to the barbershop, where Eusebia sells the shards and Grattasassi the fabrics (92). Opposite, at the beginning of the bridge towards the Piazza, where Tonino's (Grilli) Shell petrol station was, some German soldiers got out of a truck. They shout: "Korre! Korre!" (93). On the opposite side of the square, some of the schoolchildren crouched behind the Collegiate Church run away, each to his home. Another boy, frightened by the tiles falling all over the place, runs away from the Boca basement towards the platform; he passes by a German who is cursing, pointing his gun at the sky. He throws himself in the middle of the nearby cornfield, for fear that the pilots will notice the soldier's intentions and shoot at him (94). The children Many children have watched bewildered at the end of the world (95). When he saw the first plane above the square drop things that looked like shaving soaps, the cylindrical ones, Simonello (Simonelli) felt his mother Giuseppa (Migliorati) dragged into the door of the teacher Lina (Barbagianni). Another twenty people took shelter there. Many have prayed. Father John did nothing but shout "Calm, calm" interspersed with curses, while he closed the door which opened at each explosion. Simonello asked several times: "Mom, will we die?", But he was not so afraid, because he felt safe under his protruding belly for the little sister who is about to be born (96). In the arms of an adult, in front of a window in Via Roma, Maurizio (Burelli), who has just turned two, has just imprinted in his mind the indelible image of a threatening plane and a terrifying din (97). With each bomb explosion, little Laura jumped on the bed, together with the knock of a window (98). Another girl cries, Dora (Silvestrelli); so far he has trembled with fear, like his house on the Corso where it is sheltered (99). Peppe (Magrini) is in bed - he has a fever - and listens, motionless and wide-eyed (100). Quinto de Pistulino (Tosti) is seated at the end of Via Soli, a few tens of meters from the crater, on the edge of a stuffed demijohn, supporting his twenty-month-old son. He keeps it dangling between his legs, squeezing his chest with his hands, to protect him from the impressive roars that make everything vibrate, even in the bowels (101). An enormous mushroom of smoke has engulfed the country and rises higher and higher (102); it is blown by the wind towards the "alberata" [Via Cesare Battisti], the tobacco factory, the Tiber (103). Yet, there is still someone who refuses to accept the tragedy: Santino has to forcefully persuade his mother Ida, a janitor in the kindergarten, to take refuge inside; she is lingering to withdraw the flower shards from the windows for fear that, falling, they will be ruined (104). In the crater of San Giovanni, night fell everywhere; ahead of time. Those who are not already dead can barely breathe from the dust and debris. Wait for the end (105). 1) Gianna Feligioni. 2) Avellino Giulianelli. 3) Ramiro Nanni, How I, Ramiro, lived the bombing ... , manuscript from 1979. 4) Giuseppe Cozzari. 5) Marinella Roselli. 6 Above: photomontage by Valerio Rosi based on a drawing by Adriano Bottaccioli. Below: Umbertide plant, with the smoke of the bombs already fallen. 7) Top left: photomontage by Valerio Rosi based on a drawing by Adriano Bottaccioli, with an image of the P40 dashboard provided by Andrea Gragnoli. Bottom left: Umbertide plant, with the target and the smoke of the bombs already fallen. 8) Top right: photomontage by Valerio Rosi based on a drawing by Adriano Bottaccioli. Bottom right: Umbertide plant, with the target, the blaze of the fifth pair of bombs and the smoke of the previous ones. 9) Ines Biti. 10) Annunziata Caldari. 11) Maria Luisa Rapo. 12) Class III E, Mavarelli-Pascoli State Middle School, Voices of memory , Municipality of Umbertide and San Francesco Cultural Center, Umbertide, 2002. 13) Italo Ciocchetti. 14) Victims: Galeno Monfeli, Mario Arrunategni Rivas, Giuseppe Ciocchetti, Giuseppe Pierini. 15) Francesco Martinelli. 16 Victim: Lina Violini. 17) Margherita Violins. 18) Elda Villarini. 19) Victims: Domenico Donnini, Gianfranco Donnini. 20) Maria Giovannoni. 21) Victim: Ubaldo Gambucci. 22) Luigi Gambucci. 23) Photograph kindly provided by Luigi Gambucci. The watch was recovered from the pocket of father Ubaldo, a victim of the bombing. 24) Victim: Licinio Leonessa. 25) Franco Caldari. 26) Above: photomontage by Valerio Rosi based on a drawing by Adriano Bottaccioli. Below: Umbertide plant, with the target, the blaze of the sixth pair of bombs and the smoke of the previous ones. 27) Victim: Virginia Cozzari. 28) Dina Bebi. 29) Victims: Elda Bebi, Marianella Ceccarelli, Rosanna Ceccarelli, Giulia Bartoccioli. 30) Ornella Duranti, Margherita Tosti. 31) Giovanni Angioletti. 32) Bruno Burberi. 33) Francesco Martinelli. 34) Fernanda Martinelli. 35) 'Domenico Mariotti. 36) Victims: Luciano Bebi, Maria Domenica Bebi, Tecla Bebi, Anna Banelli. 37) Adriana Fileni, Domenico Mariotti. 38) Pia Galmacci. 39) Victims: Veronica Cozzari, Realino Galmacci. 40) Victim: Elisabetta Boldrini. 41) Dorina Galmacci. 42) Victim: Assunta Porrini. 43) Mario Cambiotti. 44) Victims: Amalia Cambiotti, Marianna Mastriforti. 45) Maria Luisa Rapo. 46) Bruno Tonanni. 47) Sergio Celestini. 48) Magdalene Maria Marzani. 49) Victims: Antonio Barbagianni, Zarelia Tognaccini. 50) Above: photomontage by Valerio Rosi based on a drawing by Adriano Bottaccioli. Below: Umbertide plant, with the target, the blaze of the seventh pair of bombs and the smoke of the previous ones. 51) Fausta Olimpia Pieroni. 52-53) Walter Biagioli. 54) Victim: Rosalinda Renga. 55) Piera Bruni. 56) Maria Chiasserini. 57) Luke 23, 28. 58) Sergio Celestini. 59) Mario Alpini. 60) Mario Alpini, Annunziata Caldari. 61) Giovanna Pazzi. 62) Ornella Duranti. 63) Egidio Grassini. 64) Giuseppa Ceccarelli. 65) Victim: Maria Renzini. 66) Ramnusia Nanni. 67) Paola Banelli. 68) Giovanna Pazzi. 69) Italo Lotti. 70) Mario Alpini, Sergio Celestini. 71) Italo Lotti. 72) Above: photomontage by Valerio Rosi based on a drawing by Adriano Bottaccioli. Below: Umbertide plant, with the target, the blaze of the eighth pair of bombs and the smoke of the previous ones. 73) Joy Simonucci. 74) Elena Boriosi. 75) Victims: Bengasina Renato, Elvira Mortini. 76) Class III E, Mavarelli-Pascoli State Middle School, Voices of memory , Municipality of Umbertide and San Francesco Cultural Center, Umbertide, 2002. 77) Victims: Armede Gina Borgarelli, Ester Borgarelli, Giovanna Pambuffetti. 78) Victims: Neodemia Barattini, Mario Scartocci. 79) Class III E, Mavarelli-Pascoli State Middle School, Voices of memory, Municipality of Umbertide and San Francesco Cultural Center, Umbertide, 2002; Fernando Scartocci. 80) Victim: Amleto Banelli. 81) Domenico Mariotti. 82) Elio Caldari. 83) Velia Nanni. 84) Elisa Manarini. 85) Loredana Trentini. 86) Giuseppina Miccioni. 87) Domenico Manuali. 88) Alvaro Tacchini (curator), Venanzio Gabriotti - Diary , Institute of Political and Social History Venanzio Gabriotti, Petruzzi Editore, Città di Castello, 1998, p. 192. 89) Velia Nanni. 90) Dorina Galmacci. 91) Elisa Manarini. 92) Celestino Filippi. 93) Maria Migliorati. 94) Luigi Guiducci. 95) Giuseppe Magrini. 96) Simonello Simonelli. 97) Maurizio Burelli. 98) Laura Corbucci. 99 Dora Silvestrelli. 100) Giuseppe Magrini. 101) Mario Tosti. 102) Renato Silvestrelli. 103) Sergio Ceccacci. 104) Saints Improved. 105) Silvano Bernacchi, Vera Vibi.