Castello di Reschio

Origins of Castle till mid-14th century

The name Reschio, derived from Resculum, suggests a fortification at the site dates to the late Roman Empire. The present structure was likely begun at some time between the 9th and 11th centuries. Historians from the 17th and 18th centuries (Muratori and Gamurrini respectively) refer to land grants by Charlemagne and other emperors wrote prior to the 11th centuries. These certificates, emitted for the Bourbon of Monte Santa Maria family (originally the Lords of Colle), possibly represent the first records referring to the Castle of Reschio. However, no such documentary evidence is still extant.

The first documentation of the castle is from 3 May 1202, when Uguccione di Ranieri of the Vagliana branch of the family of the Marchesi del Monte S. Maria, marchese di Colle e di Vagliana, submitted to the town of Perugia this castle and its properties along with those of Monte Gualandro, Castel Nuovo, Santa Maria di Pierle, Lisciano, and Tisciano. A treatise for protection was signed with the consuls of Perugia. The historian Litta, understands this to mean Uguccione was in possession of those sites by a grant from Federico Barbarossa, and, as the imperial power diminished, the obligation arose to keep them by vassalage treatise.

Reschio, Imperial Feud

The Emperor Charles IV, by a certificate of May 14, 1355, invests Ugolino and his nephews Angelo, Guiduccio and Pietro Marchesi del Monte Santa Maria, with the castles of Marzana, Lippiano and Reschio, confirming their privileges (Mariotti 1835). Ugolino requested this deed from the Emperor, by which all Feuds are freed from protection bonds, of which investiture was given or confirmed (among them, the curia of Reschio is expressly mentioned). The family of the Marchesi del Monte S. Maria therefore depends directly from the Holy Roman Empire, thus freed from the Umbrian towns, where the various factions were always in conflict with each other. The marquisate hereby became an imperial “sovereign” feud. Ranieri di Ugolino was the only member of the Bourbon del Monte family who, after the investiture by Charles IV, did not have the title of marquis of Monte S. Maria, but was the first one to take on the title marquis of Reschio, most probably his place of residence.

The Montemelini Family of Perugia

In 1364 the castle of Reschio still belonged to the Marquis of Monte S. Maria (Ranieri, the son of Ugolino di Berarda, used the title of Marquis of Reschio, likewise his son Antonio).

The castle passed to the Montemelini family in 1365 when Antonia (Ranieri’s granddaughter) inherits a part of the marquisate of Reschio (including the Castle). Antonia was married to Ranieri di Tiberio Montemelini of Perugia, but had to defend the Castle from the pitfalls of her relatives (amongst which the toughest one her cousin Cerbone, who had many relatives killed in order to be sole proprietor of the marquisate).

In 1593 Montemelini Lord of Reschio put his feud under the protection of the Grand Duke of Tuscany and was condemned by the Pope for having placed the coat of arms of the Medici on the gateway of the Castle.

The Castle in the Twentieth Century

In 1932, after 240 years, the marquis Ridolfo Bichi Ruspoli Forteguerri sold the estate of Reschio, including a number of farmhouses still part of the propriety to this day, to Professor Angiolo Maria Cenciarini. The sale took place “per aversionem” or “with closed gates” meaning including all the contents of the Castle, of the houses and farms on the estate. In the deed, drawn up by the notary Zati of Florence, one can read that the entire sum paid for the purchase corresponded to a total price of 800,000 lire. Under the Cenciarini, the property was dedicated to cultivation and processing of tobacco.

In 1970s, the property belonged to the counts of Bosca di Roveto, who renovated the castle.

In 1994, count Benedikt Bolza purchased the estate. The present owners have started a process of requalification of the entire real estate heritage, and recovery of the Castle.