Italy · 10th century
Castello di Reschio forms part of a chain of walled settlements in proximity of the Tuscan boundaries. It belonged to the county of Porta Sant’Angelo of the commune of Perugia, perched on a hillock above the valley of Pierle, along the right riverbank of the Niccone stream. Today it is part of the communal territory of Lisciano Niccone, province of Perugia.
The name Reschio, derived from Resculum, suggests a fortification at the site dates to the late Roman Empire. The present structure was likely begun at some time between the 9th and 11th centuries. Historians from the 17th and 18th centuries (Muratori and Gamurrini respectively) refer to land grants by Charlemagne and other emperors wrote prior to the 11th centuries. These certificates, emitted for the Bourbon of Monte Santa Maria family (originally the Lords of Colle), possibly represent the first records referring to the Castle of Reschio. However, no such documentary evidence is still extant.
The first documentation of the castle is from 3 May 1202, when Uguccione di Ranieri of the Vagliana branch of the family of the Marchesi del Monte S. Maria, marchese di Colle e di Vagliana, submitted to the town of Perugia this castle and its properties along with those of Monte Gualandro, Castel Nuovo, Santa Maria di Pierle, Lisciano, and Tisciano. A treatise for protection was signed with the consuls of Perugia. The historian Litta, understands this to mean Uguccione was in possession of those sites by a grant from Federico Barbarossa, and, as the imperial power diminished, the obligation arose to keep them by vassalage treatise.
The Emperor Charles IV, by a certificate of May 14, 1355, invests Ugolino and his nephews Angelo, Guiduccio and Pietro Marchesi del Monte Santa Maria, with the castles of Marzana, Lippiano and Reschio, confirming their privileges (Mariotti 1835). Ugolino requested this deed from the Emperor, by which all Feuds are freed from protection bonds, of which investiture was given or confirmed (among them, the curia of Reschio is expressly mentioned). The family of the Marchesi del Monte S. Maria therefore depends directly from the Holy Roman Empire, thus freed from the Umbrian towns, where the various factions were always in conflict with each other. The marquisate hereby became an imperial “sovereign” feud.
Text adapted from “Castello di Reschio” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Castello di Reschio ranks #6,724 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #478 of the 560 mapped in Italy. Founded c. 950, it is older than 92% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 193 atlas entries founded in the 10th century. 3 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Terni, 88 km away. See how Italy compares in the castle statistics.
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