Montebello is one of the best preserved fortified towns of the Romagna land, it is surrounded by lush vegetation and placed at 463 m above the sea level. The village has maintained a typically medieval structure, walking through the streets of the center you can admire the beautiful Civic Tower and the church of St. Peter the Apostle. The most intriguing element of the country is undoubtedly its beautiful castle, whose original structure and its tower dates back to the eleventh century. The Montebello Castle was coveted by several lords who ruled the surrounding territories, becoming the subject of many disputes, in 1186 it was conquered by the Malatesta Family as a military garrison consolidating their power over the Val Marecchia. At the end of the fourteenth century was conquered by the Montefeltro, only to be recaptured in 1438 by Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta. After the Malatesta and the Papal States hegemony, in 1463 Montebello was assigned as a fief to the Counts Guidi di Bagno, current owners of the Castle. It was the Guidi family that changed the structure-function of the castle, not only a defensive building but also a residential and representative structure. Inside there are rare chests and safes collections; on this castle run many legends, such as the “Azzurrina story” which tells of the mysterious disappearance, which occurred in 1375, of an albino girl that her mother had tried to turn brown hair to save her from popular gossip. The lack of pigment in the hair caused the color rather than brown to assume a blue reflection, this is the cause of her name “Azzurrina”. The girl body was never found and probably her ghost still haunts the walls of the castle. If you want to visit it, you have to pay a fee; it is also possible to make very suggestive nightly visits. For further information, please contact the castle at +39 0541 675 180. At the foot of the castleyou will find the L’armeria dell’Albana wine bar (tel. 0541 675180) where you can take a short break for a flatbread and a glass of wine.

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