Discover Cibottola: Holiday Apartment, Castello, Frescoes and Trekking Route

The Castello di Cibottola: Construction Period and Surviving Remains

The Castello di Cibottola was built around the 9th century.

Gate, Tower, Bell and Curtain Wall

At the entrance to the Castello is the gate with the original gate leaf of the drawbridge. The surviving structures also include an approximately 20-metre-high heptagonal tower. A bell weighing five hundredweight hangs from this tower. Pietro Tocchi, rector of the University of Perugia, donated it in 1850. Large sections of the curtain wall have also been preserved. For those interested in culture, this means that specific architectural elements take centre stage: the original gate leaf, the heptagonal shape of the tower, the bell and the curtain wall.

The Location Between the Hilltop, Pietrafitta and the Nestore Valley

The Castello di Cibottola lies at an altitude of 471 m southeast of Pietrafitta, on the summit of a hill in the valley of the Nestore River. The Franciscan monastery of San Bartolomeo is situated amid woodland. The two locations are therefore clearly distinguished by the hilltop and river valley at the Castello, and by the woodland at the monastery.

San Fortunato: Church and Frescoes in the Castello

The Church of San Fortunato is located within the Castello di Cibottola and was built before the year 1000. Its right-hand bay preserves numerous relatively well-preserved frescoes. Five depictions show saints with distinctly Byzantine features. These are joined by a Madonna and Child in a Giottesque style.

San Bartolomeo: Tradition and Present-Day Condition

Today, San Bartolomeo Monastery is partially destroyed and uninhabited. According to tradition, Saint Francis of Assisi, Saint Anthony of Padua, Saint Bonaventure of Bagnoregio and Blessed Giles of Assisi stayed there for varying lengths of time. San Bartolomeo Monastery is not accessible to visitors. The monastery’s current condition and the Franciscan tradition thus belong to two different aspects of the same place.

The Cibottola–La Fontana Trekking Route: Starting Point and Signage

The Cibottola–La Fontana trekking route begins below the Castello di Cibottola and follows the signs for the Sentieri del Perugino. The starting point is therefore below the Castello, while the route follows the signage of the Sentieri del Perugino.

Route Length and Walking Time for Daily Planning

The trekking route is 11.3 kilometres long; the walking time is 4.5 hours. Anyone planning to complete the route as part of a single day’s itinerary should set aside one uninterrupted 4.5-hour period for it. The 11.3 kilometres constitute the full route length for this planning. Both values should be considered together when the Cibottola–La Fontana route is given a fixed place in the day’s itinerary. This keeps the trekking route separate in terms of time from individual cultural and historical topics such as the Castello, San Fortunato and San Bartolomeo.

Discover More Places

Montecolognola, Massa Martana, Volterrano, La Fornace, Compignano, Preggio, San Martino In Campo and Castel Rigone

For the higher-level travel overview: Perugia.