Borgo di Montemigiano is located in Central Italy in a region rich with history. Just over the Tuscan border to the West is Lake Trasimeno, the location of the Battle of Lake Trasimene, the Roman Defeat by Hannibal in 217 bce. Nearby town names still recall the grisly battle where over 15,000 Romans were killed in an afternoon - "Ossia" means "bones" and "Sanguanito" translates to "bloody".

The Borgo di Montemigiano dates to the early 12th Century and old maps refer to Montemigiano as M. Migiana, Montemixiano or Monte Mezzano. The medieval town is located on a hillside above the Niccone River valley, one of the Tiber River tributaries, in the northeastern part of the province of Umbria. 

This mountain was particularly strategic during medieval times due to its unobstructed views of two well-traveled and often conquered valleys. Ex Torre was the watchtower and the third floor has breathtaking views of this historic region.

The Borgo was home to many people over the centuries. One notable resident was Father Silvio who lived in Casa Campanile. His initials and the date "1633" are inscribed over the fireplace. Casa Campanile also features a beautiful fresco depicting St. Sebastian. Originally discovered in the church, the historic fresco was relocated to the dining room. 

The Borgo served as a monastery at one point, and there have been several reports of ghost sightings over the years. A friendly priest (perhaps Father Silvio) visits Casa Angletto and there are reports of people seeing spirits in the clearing next to the small chapel where there was once a graveyard. According to Angelo, there were also crypts under the large church until Napoleon mandated all cemeteries moved outside of town in the early 1800s. 

The front half of Casa Piazzetta was used for stables, and the back half was food storage for salami, cheese, wine, etc. Angelo confirmed the fireplace is not from the Borgo, but is an antique purchased during renovation. We don't know where the fireplace comes from, but the inscription reads "Jesus is our Savior 1500."

Nazis occupied nearby Gubbio during World War II and terrorized the area, murdering many locals in 1945, including The Innocenti on the hillside opposite the Borgo. 

By the 1960s many of the hilltop tops in the area were abandoned and fell into disrepair, including the Borgo. In 1984 and 1985, most of what remained in the village along with the little streets and piazzetta were purchased and renovated into six houses.  A seventh house which has been in Angelo's family for generations was renovated more recently but does not form a legal part of the condominium association.

Renovation in the 1980s was completed under the scrutiny of the commune or municipality which is in turn governed by the Fine Arts Commission in such matters and whose guidelines are strictly enforced.  Thus, the village has the appearance of an authentic medieval village in all external aspects as well as in the streets and grounds, with complete modernization inside each house (central heating, baths,  kitchens, etc.). 

A swimming pool and tennis court were added and the pool is open during the summer months. 

A small chapel, Maria SS Del Carmine, is a part of the village but is  owned  by the Vatican.   It is used rarely -- occasionally for a wedding, and notably for the feast days of San Gennaro, patron saint of Naples (September 19) and on All Souls Day or the "Day of the Dead" (November 2 or November 3rd if the 2nd falls on a Sunday). The  townspeople of Niccone march with candles from the cemetery below to celebrate Mass.

The village is surrounded by grapevines, olive and  other trees, some croplands, all privately owned, and some Vatican-owned forest land.  Zoning is agricultural in all directions.  The village itself is charming and its panoramic vistas are indescribably spectacular.

Umbertide History

Umbertide and the surrounding area was inhabited in pre-Roman and Roman times: the nineteenth‑century archaeologist Mariano Guardabassi even attributed a small building at Lame, about 1 km from the center of the modern town, to the Etruscans. In its present incarnation, Umbertide was founded in the 8th or 10th century, depending on the scholar; its original name was Fratta, and it received its present name in 1863 in honor of then Crown Prince Umberto.

Although there are remains of the medieval walls, a few medieval houses, and part of the Rocca, or citadel, many of Umbertide's best monuments are of later periods. The main church in town is the collegiate church of S. Maria della Reggia, often referred to simply as the Collegiata: it is an octagonal 16th century brick building topped by an elegant cupola, housing a few paintings by niccolò Circignani. S. Maria della Pietà, with the attractive funerary chapel of the counts of Sorbello, is late medieval and Renaissance. The seventeenth‑century church of S. Croce houses a museum with a good collection of paintings, including a Deposition by Luca Signorelli. The largest church, S. Francesco, is Gothic: in the early 21st century it was undergoing a major restoration that promised to be protracted. The twentieth‑century church of Cristo Risorto is also noteworthy.

Beyond the city limits, the township's principal monuments are:

• The castle of Civitella Ranieri, 5 km (3 mi) NE, one of the best-preserved medieval fortresses in Umbria.

• Badia di Monte Corona 4 km (2.5 mi) S, which has a beautiful crypt with early Roman capitals and 18th century painted ceilings.

• The medieval castle of Polgeto

• The abbey church of S. Bartolomeo de' Fossi, sited on a sharp ridge with distant views on either side

• The walled medieval village of Borgo Santa Giuliana