tra i colli
dell' | Umbria |
| meridionale |
| l'Amerino |
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Melezzole
All in stone, from the buildings to the paving, Melezzole presents itself as the typical medieval castle with a round plan. The keep, still existent, has the Todi eagle put there in 1554. The parish church of San Biagio has a very old origin and has been restored in 1624.
Surrounded by woods, it bases its economy on the products of the mountain and on an agriculture of quality.
Typical cultivation is the chestnut, and it's the chestnut wood that shapes the landscape all around, bare and moon-like in winter, bright in spring and summer, wonderful in autumn.
Santa Restituta
Another charming dwelling in the Amerini mountains is Santa Restituta a few kilometres from Avigliano. Also in this case we're talking about a possession of Todi, since 1220. Destroyed in many occasions, besides the typical constructions in stone and local wood, preserves the two access gates with towers. The parish church contains a wooden statue of the 15th cent. of the Virgin of the Pear-tree. The cemetery church as well, is interesting. It dates back to the 121h cent.
Toscolano
Among the characteristic hamlets of the Amerini mountains, the one which most has kept the aspect of a medieval "castrum", is Toscolano, 8 kilometres far from Avigliano. Nearly intact is the circle of walls with its imposing defence and sighting towers. The fortification was remade in 1442, when the Castle becomes definitely a possession of Todi, as testified by the Todi eagle surmounting the access gate to the hamlet. Worth visiting is the votive chapel, dedicated to the Most Holy Annunciation, at the entrance of the town. The major art historians agree to ascribe the wonderful frescoes inside the chapel to Piermatteo d'Amelia, great master of the Umbrian Renaissance.
Frattuccia
It's a hamlet, in the territory of Guardea since 1863, but located in the slope of the so called Amerini mountains. For this reason it has followed the history of the other castles contended among Todi and its rivals, between Ghibellines and Guelphs. Particularly charming is at Christmas time the "ecological" crib: more than a hundred figures realized with salvaged material, from paper to glass.
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