Città di Castello

Comune di Città di Castello
Coat of arms
Città di Castello Location of Città di Castello in Italy
Coordinates: 43°27′39″N 12°14′38″E / 43.46083°N 12.24389°E / 43.46083; 12.24389Coordinates: 43°27′39″N 12°14′38″E / 43.46083°N 12.24389°E / 43.46083; 12.24389
Country	Italy
Region	Umbria
Province	Perugia
Frazioni	Antirata, Astucci, Badiali, Badia Petroia, Barzotti, Baucca, San Martino d’Upò, Belvedere, Bisacchi, Bonsciano, Caifirenze, Candeggio, Canoscio, Capitana, Celle, Cerbara, Cinquemiglia, Colcello, Coldipozzo, Cornetto, Croce di Castiglione, Fabbrecce, Fiume, Fraccano, Grumale, Lerchi, Lugnano, Madonna di Canoscio, Marchigliano, Montemaggiore, Monte Ruperto, Morra, Muccignano, Nuvole, Palazzone, Petrelle, Piosina, Promano, Riosecco, Roccagnano, Ronti, Rovigliano, San Leo Bastia, San Biagio del Cornetto, San Lorenzo Bibbiana, San Maiano, San Martin Pereto, San Martino di Castelvecchio, San Pietro a Monte, San Secondo, Santa Lucia, Scalocchio, Seripole, Terme di Fontecchio, Titta,Trestina, Uppiano, Userna, Userna Bassa, Valdipetrina, Vallurbana, Vingone, Volterrano
Government
- Mayor	Fernanda Cecchini
Area
- Total	387.53 km2 (149.6 sq mi)
Elevation	288 m (945 ft)
Population (2008)
- Total	40,303
- Density	104/km2 (269.4/sq mi)
Demonym	Tifernati
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
- Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	06010, 06011, 06012, 06018
Dialing code	075
Twin Cities
- Joué-lès-Tours	France
- Sighişoara	Romania
Patron saint	Saint Florido
Saint day	November 13
Website	Official website

Città di Castello is a city and comune in the province of Perugia, in the northern part of the Umbria region of Italy. It is situated on a slope of the Apennines, on the flood plain of the river Tiber. The city is 56 km north of Perugia and 104 km south of CesenaArezzo. on the S3bis. It is connected to the A1 highway by the SS 73 from

History

The town may have been Etruscan; the Romans knew it as Tifernum Tiberinum^[1] or Civitas Tiberina. Just nearby, Pliny the Younger built his villa in Tuscis, which is identified with walls, mosaic floors and marble fragments surviving at a place now called Colle Plinio, the “Hill of Pliny”. (“Tifernum on the Tiber”)

In 550, Tifernum was largely destroyed during the Ostrogothic campaign by Fantalogus, at the orders of Totila. The town was subsequently rebuilt by its bishop, Floridus, around a castle, and renamed first Castrum Felicitatis and later Civitas Castelli. By the Donation of Pepin of the Frankish king Pepin the Short in 752, it went to the Holy See, though in practice it was disputed between the papacy, Perugia and Florence. It was ruled by the Vitelli family, even after Cesare Borgia attached the city more directly to the Holy See.

In subsequent centuries, it had various rulers, among them Pier Saccone Tarlati di Pietramala, brother of Guido, Bishop of Arezzo. Pier Saccone sold it in 1322 to Guido Alberto de’ Guidi di Modigliana. In the later Middle Ages it was governed successively by the Guelphs and Ghibellines. In 1375, Città di Castello joined the insurrection of other cities of the States of the Church. Cardinal Robert of Geneva (later antipope as Clement VII), tried to capture it using Breton mercenaries, but was repulsed. Under Pope Martin V in 1420, it was taken by the condottiero Braccio da Montone. Later Niccolò Vitelli, aided by Florence and Milan, became absolute ruler or tiranno. Antonio da Sangallo the Younger built an extensive palace for the Vitelli family.

In 1474, Sixtus IV sent his nephew, Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere (later Julius II); after fruitless negotiations he laid siege to the city, but Vitelli did not surrender until he learned that the command of the army had been given to Duke Federico III da Montefeltro. The following year Vitelli tried unsuccesefully to recapture the city; fear of Cesare Borgia induced him to desist, since Cesare Borgia had his father strangled and Città di Castello added to the papal possessions.

Towards the end of the twentieth century, the city has seen a considerable expansion northwards toward San Giustino, with industrial parks tracking the river, railroad and main highway: the area produces farm machinery, textiles, ceramics and furnishings.

Main sights

The city is mostly built of brick, since the local sandstone erodes very rapidly. Its principal monuments include the medieval Palazzo Comunale and a tall thin tower, the Torre Comunale; and the Pinacoteca Comunale, an art museum with mostly Renaissance works, notable for its external decoration by Giorgio Vasari.

The much reworked cathedral, now mostly eighteenth century, has an altar-front (paliotto) of chased silver dating to the twelfth century, and a crosier from the fifteenth. The Museo del Duomo, or cathedral museum, is famous for the Canoscio hoard, a set of Late Antique silver spoons and plates with Christian motifs. The city has memorialized the abstract painter and sculptor Alberto Burri, who was born in Città di Castello, with the “Fondazione Palazzo Albizzini Collezione Burri” housing a large permanent museum of his works in the former Palazzo Albizzini.

Famous inhabitants

For persons from the city, see People from Città di Castello. In addition, the following are believed to have had a local connection, usually through long residence there:

• Pliny the Younger
• Pope Celestine II
• Filippo Titi
• Monica Bellucci
• Vitellozzo Vitelli
• Alberto Burri
• Salvatore Sciarrino

Twin towns

• Joué-lès-Tours, France, since 1991

Notes

Sources and external links

• Youtube.com
• This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company.  Newadvent.org
• Touring Club Italiano, 1966. Guida d’Italia: Umbria pp136-42.
• Official homepage (in Italian) (in English)
• Bill Thayer’s site
• Basic information at Umbria Online (in English)