Montone is a municipality in the province of Perugia, located on top of a hill in the upper Tiber Valley, overlooking the confluence between the Tiber and the Carpina. Its particular location offers a broad overview of the beautiful green hills in the surroundings. The main center is a typical medieval village surrounded by a series of sturdy fortified walls and within features a maze of narrow alleys and stairways.
The area was inhabited since ancient times and the Roman presence is attested by several finds, recently unearthed. Directly involved in the clashes between the Byzantines and the Lombards, the first official records of the existence of the town date back to the X century, while historians report of the presence of a settlement in the IX century, since the certified defeat of the Lombards by a group of local populations. In the early XII century, Montone was proclaimed municipality with its own statutes and assigned to protect the city of Perugia against conflict attempts with the nearby Città di Castello. The town, assigned to the family Fortebracci, submitted the same historical fate and through the Family's most famous figure, Braccio da Montone, a captain of mercenary troops with great oratory political and strategic skills, it managed to subdue the region, creating a small state. After the death of the last heir of the Fortebracci, the fief returned to the Church, who later assigned the domain to the Vitelli of Citta di Castello.
Attractions:
- the Church and Convent of San Francesco. The first, in Gothic style, was built in the XIV century. It features a single nave plan with a polygonal apse and a portal sculptured by the artist Bencivenni da Mercatello. Inside it preserves several frescoes attributed to Alberti da Ferrara, a finely carved XVI century choir and a XV century fresco of the artist Caporali. At present the complex houses the Civic Museum;
- the Collegiate Church, whose construction dates back to 1310, was rebuilt in the XVII century. It features a Latin cross plan that ends with circular apse, the walls are covered with precious frescoes and the coffered ceiling, gilded and decorated with carvings, covers the aisle;
- the Parish Church of San Gregorio, built around the year 1000 in Romanesque-Byzantine style, features three naves and an circular apse. Inside are preserved valuable frescoes of the Umbrian school;
- the Church of Santa Croce, which for certain is one of the oldest of the area;
- the Civic Museum, which houses paintings of great value and a section devoted to vestments and jewelry of the Parish;
- the Museum del Tamburo Parlante (the Talking Drum), located on the ground floor of the Convent of San Francesco.