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46-663: Montalto may refer to: Places and jurisdictions [ edit ] Italy [ edit ] Montalto (Apuan Alps) (correctly spelled as Monte Alto or Mont'Alto), a mountain located in Tuscany, Italy and part of the Apuan Alps Montalto Carpasio , a comune (municipality) in the Province of Imperia in the Italian region Liguria Montalto delle Marche ,

92-710: A commune in the Aude department, France Montaut (disambiguation) Montaud (disambiguation) Montalt (disambiguation) Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Montalto . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Montalto&oldid=1253826483 " Categories : Disambiguation pages Place name disambiguation pages Disambiguation pages with surname-holder lists Hidden categories: Short description

138-528: A company and rented by Francesco Guglielmi, for nine years and with the canon of 6000 scudi, a quarry (Messette) from which they shipped marble to England. The inhabitants of Retignano were particularly active in contributing to the recovery of the marble industry in Versilia, engaging in the quarries of Gabbro, Ajola, Gordici and Messette, which are part of the complex of the Mont'Alto di Retignano quarries. In 1845

184-434: A cura di R. Comba e I. Naso, Cuneo 1994) 13 ^ Archivio di Stato di Siena, Estimo 76. Estimo 93, c 153 14 ^ Archivio di Stato di Siena, Consiglio Generale 209, c.239r -239v.; Consiglio Generale 229, cc.298v-299r; Concistoro 340, c.14v 15 ^ Archivio di Stato di Siena, Concistoro N° 260, c. 19 and 359, c.29v. 16 ^ A. ALLEGRETTI, “Ephemerides senenses 1450-1496” in “Rerum Italicarum Scriptores”

230-472: A garrison of 200 men (infantry and knights as well as some mercenaries) as well as 25 days worth of supplies to Montalto and two other fortifications in the area to prepare for one of many military campaigns. By this time the Berardeschi family was in decline, and the castle passed under the direct control of Siena. Montalto was the site of many other minor battles, mostly between the state of Florence and

276-690: A mountain overlooking Thomas Jefferson's plantation Monticello People [ edit ] Duke of Montalto (title) , a Spanish hereditary title created on 1 January 1507 Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba (1453–1515) Duke of Montalto (defunct) , a Spanish hereditary title, also known as Duke of Montalto de Aragón, created on 27 May 1507 Ferdinando d' Aragona y Guardato, 1st Duke of Montalto (fl. 1494–1542) Luis Guillermo de Moncada, 7th Duke of Montalto (1614–1672), Spanish noble and Catholic cardinal Cardinal Montalto, Pope Sixtus V (1520–1590) Elijah Montalto (1567–1616), Marrano physician and polemicist Gina Montalto (2003–2018), one of

322-405: A municipality in the province of Ascoli Piceno, Marche, Italy The former Roman Catholic Diocese of Montalto , with see in the above city Montalto di Castro , a municipality in the province of Viterbo, Latium, Italy Montalto Dora , a municipality in the province of Turin, Piedmont, Italy Montalto Ligure , a municipality in the province of Imperia, Liguria, Italy Montalto Pavese ,

368-506: A municipality in the province of Pavia, Lombardy, Italy Montalto Uffugo , a municipality in the province of Cosenza, Calabria, Italy Castello di Montalto , a castle in the province of Siena, Tuscany, Italy Montalto (Aspromonte) , an Italian mountain peak New Zealand [ edit ] Montalto, New Zealand, a locality in the Ashburton District United States [ edit ] Montalto,

414-532: A reduction of land destined to crops. In 1861, at the time of the Unification of Italy , most of the inhabitants of the village were engaged in excavations and this led to the abandonment of many crops in the chestnut groves. In the two-year period 1861-1862, according to some estimates of the leviglianese Emilio Simi, more than half of the Versilian workforce was employed in marble activities. In Retignano

460-530: A siege in 1479; but in 1526 it was reported as occupied by the enemy; in 1529 Montalto was again hosting a garrison from Siena. These repeated battles and changes of control consumed a large amount of resources, damaged crops, and took quite a toll on the castle and its inhabitants. In 1546 Siena and Florence were still at war, and sir Giovanni Palmieri had little difficulty convincing the government of Siena to cede Montalto to him in exchange for his promise to defend it at his own expense. The cost of rehabilitating

506-458: A turret leads into a courtyard with a well. To the right is the church of San Martino , and a fresco on the inside of the entry tower depicts the famous scene of the saint sharing his cloak with a beggar. To the left is a loggia with four arches from which one has access to the main villa and the Sala d’Armi (Hall of Arms) with its large fireplace and collection of lances, armor and weapons dating from

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552-661: A ‘poor devil’. Starting in the 1950s and continuing through the 1970s, small scale farming in Italy became less profitable and farmers abandoned the land to search for work in larger towns. This agricultural exodus left Montalto without a regular farming staff, and it became a burden to the Palmieri heirs. In 1970 the last members of the Palmieri family, the Princess Sobilia Palmieri Carafa di Roccella and her sister Contessa Vittoria Palmieri Forquet, ceded

598-581: Is a late 14th-century palace on the island of Ortygia in Syracuse, Sicily Castello di Montalto , located at east of Siena, Italy Montalto di Castro Nuclear Power Station , a nuclear power plant at Montalto di Castro in Italy Montalto Di Castro Airfield , an abandoned World War II military airfield, located in the province of Viterbo, Italy See also [ edit ] Montaldo (disambiguation) Monthaut ,

644-459: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Montalto (Apuan Alps) Montalto was exploited in the past for its well-known marble quarries, opened during the nineteenth century. More recently it was selected for its strategic position to be part of the Gothic Line , during World War II . Through some findings it can be argued that

690-546: Is one of the strongholds of the Ligurian Apuans, so much opposed by Rome. In 186 BC, the Ligurians inflicted a heavy defeat to the troops of the consul Quintus Marcius Philip, attracting hundreds of Roman legionaries in a series of narrow gorges and steep slopes of Montalto. The place of the disaster, according to Tito Livio, then took the name of Saltus Marcius, or "the jump of Marcio". The Roman historian says that

736-466: Is surrounded by a wall of stone and brick attesting to repeated war damage and reconstructions. Ground fill within the wall circle brings ground level to within 1 meter of the top of the wall on the inner side. The tower appears to have been constructed by the Longobards in the 6th or 7th century, but the main part of the castle was erected during the first millennium by early descendants of Winigis,

782-640: The Canaletta quarry a precious marble available only in the mountains of Retignano, an unusual mix of mixed, turquoise and floral bardiglio. They decided to start an extractive session and immediately sent by sea several marble blocks in Britain, presumably in London , where some monuments are in Versilia marble, such as Marble Arch . The samples sent by sea to Great Britain were made of marble, turquoise and bardiglio flourished. These marbles immediately pleased

828-519: The retignanesi opposed the English entrepreneur William Walton, as his marble trade damaged their land for grazing and harvesting chestnuts and wood. At the time of the Unification of Italy, in 1861, the inhabitants of the village were engaged in a large part in the excavations and the economy became mainly linked to marble, with a progressive less than half of the cultivation of chestnut trees and

874-1716: The 1090 sale of a piece of land with vineyard, located in the valley below the castle (subtus castro de Monte Alto) , by Berardo IV son of Ildebrando to Enizello of the Ubaldini family. 3 ^ “Il Caleffo vecchio del comune di Siena”, a cura di G. Cecchini, I-II, Firenze 1932-1934 4 ^ E. CASANOVA, op. cit. 5 ^ “Lo statuto dei viarii di Siena” a cura di D. Ciampoli e T. Szabo, Siena 1992. 6 ^ G. VILLANI, “Croniche di Messer Giovanni Villani cittadino fiorentino, nelle quali si tratta dell’origine di Firenze & e di tutti e fatti & guerre state fatte dai fiorentini nella Italia dal principio del mondo al tempo dell’autore”, in “Rerum Italicarum Scriptores”, Milano 1778, tomo XIII, cap. XXXIII, pag. 147. 7 ^ S. AMMIRATO, “Istorie fiorentine”, Firenze 1846, vol. I, pag. 128 8 ^ SANZANOME IUDICIS, “Gesta Florentinorum”, ed G. Milanesi in “Cronache dei secoli XII-XIV” (“Documenti di storia italiana”, VI) pag. 137-138: “Est factum planum Mons Altum nomine vanum”. 9 ^ P. CAMMAROSANO, “La famiglia dei Berardenghi. Contributo alla storia della società senese nei scoli XI-XIII”, Spoleto, 1974, pag. 260. 10 ^ Archivio di Stato di Siena, Consiglio Generale 183 c.54v, 209 c.239r -239v, 340 c.14v, 211 c.23v-24r, 1669 c.115r, 2135 c. 80. 11 ^ M. GINATEMPO, “Crisi di un territorio. Il popolamento della Toscana senese alla fine del medioevo”, Firenze 1988, pag. 615. 12 ^ A. GIORGI, “Aspetti del popolamento del contado di Siena tra l’inizio del duecento e i primi decenni del trecento” (estratto da “Demografia e società dell’Italia medioevale”,

920-540: The 14th century onward. The upper portion of the walls in the Sala d’Armi is decorated with frescoes depicting farmhouses belonging to the castle in the 16th century and vignettes of every-day activities on the land of the Berardenga (hunting, farming, etc.). The watchtower has loop-holes and ramparts which hint to the castle's past as a stronghold on the highly contested border between the rivaling towns of Siena and Florence. The complex includes six other buildings and

966-771: The 17 victims who was killed in the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting Gioseffo Danedi (1618–1689), Italian painter known as il Montalto Alessandro Peretti di Montalto (1571–1623), Italian Catholic cardinal bishop Andrea Baroni Peretti Montalto (1572–1629), Roman Catholic cardinal Francesco Peretti di Montalto (1597–1655), Italian Catholic cardinal Giacomo Montalto (1864-1934), Italian Republican-inspired socialist, politician and lawyer John Attard Montalto (born 1953), Maltese politician Adriano Montalto (born 1988), Italian footballer Other uses [ edit ] Palazzo Montalto , also known as Palazzo Mergulese-Montalto,

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1012-469: The Apuani luki ("prairies") there were the remains of small settlements. In the event of war, recourse to a fortified peak was envisaged, a peak from which the horizon could be seen and promptly signaled the arrival of the war. For Retignano, summit tale coincides with the summit of Mount "Castello", whose etymology probably has something to do with this fact. From there you can see the entire Versilia valley,

1058-578: The Berardeschi family may have been encountering increasing economic difficulties. Montalto overlooked an important medieval road that was a gateway to the Mediterranean Sea for Arezzo ’s territories, and was of great strategic importance to Siena because of its position right on the border between the lands of Siena and those of Florence and its allies. The Florentines aimed to put all of Tuscany under their control; Siena on its part wished not only to retain its independence, but also to annex

1104-556: The English that, recognizing the potential of the marble sites, set up a real company and a commercial activity in Retignano. As Fabrizio Federigi recalls, the retignanesi, a very industrious people, immediately committed themselves to reestablishing the activity of marble extraction in the Alta Versilia, reactivating also sites near Levigliani . In 1821 the two entrepreneurs, Beresford and Grybrin, with local support, founded

1150-647: The Palmieri family, whose primary residence was in Siena. For the following two and a half centuries there is little information about Montalto. A demographic study commissioned in 1676 by the grand duke of Tuscany Cosimo III de' Medici lists 7 housing groups at Montalto for a total of 50 people, 32 of them men (not including the Palmieris themselves). The Catasto Leopoldino land registry of 1830 shows Montalto as owning 5 farm holdings and various parcels of land dedicated to vineyards, crops and woods. A new restoration

1196-580: The Palmieris; a new church, replacing the old one no longer extant, was built and adorned with an altarpiece painted in the Renaissance style by Giuseppe Palmieri in 1853, showing the Madonna and Child flanked by two saints with the castle of Montalto in the background; a fresco was added by Antonio Palmieri on the entry tower, over the Sienese ' arco ribassato ', depicting Saint Martin giving his cloak to

1242-670: The Romans had to strip their weapons only to beat retreat more quickly. Around 1820, a group of French and British entrepreneurs visited Versilia. While the Frenchman Boumond and his family settled in Riomagno, Seravezza, the Englishman James Beresford (in the archives marked as Belessforde ) and his partner Gybrin preferred Retignano. With the help of the inhabitants, in the summer of 1820 they found in

1288-735: The area of Montalto was already populated in prehistoric times, from the Paleolithic period up to the Bronze Age and Iron Age . The most certain origins of the neighboring villages can date back to the twenty years from 580 to 560 BC, in Roman times, when the inhabitants of the Apuan Alps were known as Liguri Apuani . The Ligurian Apuani, or more simply Apuani, were a population divided into various tribes, called Nomen ("name") by Roman historians; one of these tribes settled among

1334-575: The besieged city’s aid; on their way, the Florentine troops attacked Montalto, Siena’s main outpost in the area, and Siena came to the castle’s aid. Another claims that Siena’s troops were on their way to Montepulciano when the Florentines overtook them in the vicinity of Montalto. Others simply state that the two cities came to arms at Montalto. Either way, the resulting battle was fierce and devastating. Both sides lost many men, but Siena suffered

1380-402: The border between the territories of Siena and Florence gave it great strategic importance during the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries. Much of the castle is from medieval times and parts date back to 1000 or earlier; extensive restorations were performed in the 16th century and again in the 19th century. Montalto stands on a hill overlooking the upper Ambra river . An entry archway surmounted by

1426-431: The castle are from the 11th century, and imply that Montalto was already a well-established community by then. A census document from 1202 shows over 40 families living in its court (which included not only the castle but the land belonging to it as well). However, there are a number of documents between 1104 and 1212 registering donations and sales of land to others (including the nearby Monastery), indicating perhaps that

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1472-414: The castle finally saw some respite. Montalto was badly damaged, and its extensive land holdings were neglected and overgrown. Even the church of San Martino results in bad shape and completely bare, as noted in a 1567 pastoral visit report. Francesco and Scipione Palmieri (sons of Giovanni) started to restore the castle in 1570-1572, adding Renaissance-style embellishments such as the graceful portico along

1518-590: The castle to the former's cousin Giovanni Coda Nunziante, a professor of agricultural economics from Naples. The land is still cultivated, but to supplement the income from agriculture many abandoned buildings were restored as vacation homes. Currently the estate is used for organic farming and for “ Agriturismo ” (vacation rentals in a country/farm setting). The current estate farm is certified organic and encompasses an area of 270 hectares, about 650 acres (2.6 km ). While two thirds are woodlands,

1564-470: The castle would be great, but in exchange Palmieri would own an independent signoria (city-state). Things were not easy at first: in 1553 Montalto was taken by the Florentines and the Spanish troops of Emperor Charles V (allied with Florence), who then set it on fire before continuing on to nearby San Gusmè . But with the final defeat of Siena in 1554, hostilities ceased between Siena and Florence and

1610-524: The coast and, on clear days, even a glimpse of the Tuscan archipelago. Over the centuries, a cause of great interest in the problems of Versilia, the Apuan Ligurians were attacked several times by Roman militias. After the defeat of Hannibal, as told by Tito Livio, in 193 a.C. The Ligurians took the initiative, counterattacking the Romans and thus starting a long period of war. Retignano (Montalto)

1656-618: The extractions were not sufficiently profitable and having abandoned fields and livestock forced many people to emigrate to the plains. Marino Bazzichi claims that in the late nineteenth century 3680 stazzemesi (of which about a hundred of Retignano) went around the world in search of fortune. Some documents show that the marble of Retignano was also used in the reconstruction of the Montecassino monastery. Alpinists who visited Montalto were Francis Fox Tuckett , Douglas William Freshfield and Giovanni Targioni Tozzetti . The main slope of

1702-400: The facade facing the courtyard. The chapel was whitewashed and received a new floor and altar furnishings in 1583, though at this point it was no longer an autonomous parish but annexed to the nearby monastery. A series of frescoes depicting coats of arms and life on the estate's sharecropping farms was added in the great hall some time between 1570 and 1587. The estate became the country home of

1748-506: The first count of Siena under the Franks in the 9th century, and his son Berard from whom the Berardenga land takes its name. There are many references to the Berardeschi (= descendants of Berard) family in documents relating to Montalto, the area surrounding it, and the nearby Monastery of San Salvatore a Fontanabuona that was founded by Winigis in 867 and later expanded by his sons Raineri and Berard. The earliest extant documents regarding

1794-470: The heaviest blow; Florence took more than 1200 prisoners, and the castle was almost entirely destroyed. The Florentines reportedly boasted that “Montalto has been flattened, Montalto is an empty name”. The castle was so severely damaged that the Berardeschi appealed to Siena for help in restoring and enlarging the walls. Siena agreed to a loan because of the strategic importance of the castle. In 1251 Florence again entered Siena's territory, and Siena sent

1840-542: The mountain has tree routes for free climbing and it is regulated by the Tuscany Region. Castello di Montalto 43°22′05″N 11°32′49″E  /  43.368152°N 11.547017°E  / 43.368152; 11.547017 The castle of Montalto lies east of Siena , Italy , in an area known as ‘la Berardenga’, which is an extensive territory in the Chianti region of Tuscany . Its position right on

1886-544: The mountain massifs of the Montalto complex, very extensive, bordered by natural borders and full of resources, including streams, medicinal plants and fauna. Here the Apuans led a life sowing and exploiting the area of Retignano as a residential area from the spring months until the first winter. In the more sheltered areas and clearings of "Gordici" and "Valimoni", located in the woods, about 700 meters above sea level, called

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1932-818: The part of Montalto's inhabitants for financial help in rebuilding its walls or other fortifications. Variations in the population of the castle and its lands reflect the changes of security. A census conducted to determine tax levies in 1278 shows only 24 families living at Montalto, compared to the over 40 noted in 1202. In 1320 according to a new census Montalto contains 63 “fiscal units”, though it Is unclear whether this refers to families or land. The black plague of 1348 further contributed to depopulation and neglect. A document from 1422 indicates only 13 men were left at Montalto; in 1453 there were 20. In addition to financial help, Siena also sent troops and munitions to fortify Montalto on several occasions (as documented in 1402, 1431, 1452, 1478). The castle successfully resisted

1978-418: The republic of Siena, but also at the hand of German and English mercenaries (acting either independently or at the service of Florence) and later French mercenaries allied with the king of Naples . In most cases the Berardenga area was not the marauding armies’ direct object but simply an occasion for plunder on the way to their destination. Witness to these repeated attacks are the numerous requests to Siena on

2024-468: The rest is cultivated. Annual crops include wheat, sunflowers, alfalfa, canola and others, depending on the year. A portion of the land is planted in olive groves. Montalto's lands are also used for honey production by local bee keepers. 1 ^ E. CASANOVA (a cura di), “Il cartulario della Berardenga”, 1927, year 867, LIII, and year 1003, II. 2 ^ E. CASANOVA (a cura di), “Il cartulario della Berardenga”, 1927 (anno 1090, DXIII). The document seals

2070-566: The town of Montepulciano which controlled the main trading route between France and Rome. From 1201 to 1553 Florence and Siena were eternally at war with each other, and the castle of Montalto was therefore often under attack. Most notably, the greatest damage to the castle occurred during the so-called Battle of Montalto, which took place in June 1208. There are discrepant reports on how the battle started: one historian recounts that Siena had Montepulciano under siege, and Florence intended to come to

2116-433: Was undertaken in the middle of the 19th century by Giuseppe Palmieri and completed by his son Antonio in 1908, in the neo-Gothic style popular at the time. The defensive walls were rebuilt, the watchtower restored to something like its original height, and a new gate tower was built to give entrance to the courtyard. Interior decorations were added to hallways and rooms, depicting the coats of arms of various families related to

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