Umbertide

A place symbol of the medieval past, today centre of an important harvest of contemporary art

The building symbol of Umbertide, is a magnificent example of medieval fortitude, from the mighty thick boundaries more than two meters, the plant squares tower high more than twenty-one meters and from the side of around eight meters, connected to other three towers, two circulars and another square. But the dimensions don't give the idea of the grandiose construction that is risen in the beautiful mean of the city, which can confer upon to have entertained in his secret an excellent prisoner, the untameable Braccio Fortebraccio da Montone, when he was captured in 1394. This vocation is continued then, as from the years 1818 to 1923 it was a district jail. Its construction began in 1374, or perhaps in 1385, but in every case in 1389 it was certainly ended. It suffered numerous interventions and restorations, the last of which concluded only in 1986. Today is completely returned to its native beauty, and every room, corridor or passage illuminates it of dark medieval shines.

The rooms of the Fortress are still used as centre of the Centre for the Contemporary art. Such project is born from Giovanni's Ciangottini donation, painter of great fame, who has left a corpus of 19 works, which constitute the nucleus of the harvest to his own city. Periodically the rooms of the Centre become wealthy of further contributions which are exposed to the public. It's an important operation that documents the path of the contemporary art of the last years, destined to become larger and to find a proper space.