Montecastello di Vibio - art, accomodation, events and so ...

Montecastello di Vibio

Gate of May 1st

Concordia's Theatre

Montecastello di Vibio owes its name to the "gens Vibia", one of the most famous families which during the period of maximum splendour of the Republican and Imperial Rome created the "splendidissima colonia" (wonderful colony) of "fida Tuder" along the Tiber and Naia Rivers's valleys.
However, it is likely that Montecastello had already existed several centuries before this date, as a settlement of the native populations in that fertile and strategically important Tiber Valley that the town dominates and controls.
Then came the tormented years, or even better centuries of conflict with nearby Todi, which conquered and lost Montecastello several times. It was in those times that the particularly proud character of the inhabitants of Montecastello showed itself to the point that nearby Todi, even more powerful, was obliged to ban Montecastello with a ban from any kind of trade, in order to tame its spirit of independence.
Under Napoleon, Montecastello di Vibio lived a period of redemption and of great splendour since it became the ruler of a vast territory near Orvieto.
Influenced by new ideas, the community opened to new initiatives, among which the most supported was the one that gave birth to the "Teatro della Concordia" between 1807 and 1808.
When this lovely building was started, thanks to the support and funding of nine local families, it was decided that even its name should be a memory of the principles of brotherwood and friendship which had animated the French spirit of the Revolution and the Italian Jacobinism.
The theatre, the smallest one in the world and a rare example of harmony and skill as far as the design of the scenic spaces and facilities for actors are concerned, can still be admired after being restored. An initiative that gave it back to the public and artists's delight.
It has only two series of boxes and no more than 30 stalls in the auditorium.