Villa Valentina. Relaxation and well-being between nature and cities of art

by Fabio Massimo Penna

Nestled in the enchanting setting of the Umbrian valleys, Villa Valentina enjoys fantastic views and, as a resort and spa, offers its guests the opportunity to relax and take care of their physical and spiritual well-being. Revitalizing bath, Finnish sauna, aromatherapy, massage to essential oils, beauty treatment. For the throat then pasta prepared daily, Petretto wine, vegetables of the vegetable garden, meat of producers in the area. And not to miss anything a nice bath in the Monteserra thermal water.  After a few days in this paradise, dealing with the stress of city life will seem easier. For those who want to know more, please report the website www.villavalentinaspa.it and for contacts the e-mail address is info@villavalentinaspa.it and the phone numbers are info@villavalentinaspa.it and the phone numbers are 39 075 9420172 / .39 075 9413418. Located in an optimal location in the Umbrian valleys Villa Valentina also offers to easily reach enchanting cities that are definitely worth visiting. We propose a possible itinerary.

Umbertide. Once known as Fratta, Umbertide is a city full of beautiful monuments. The 14th-century fortress is a majestic medieval fortress formed by a structure in which stand out a square tower, two circular towers and a rampart. The building is currently used as the headquarters of the Centre for Contemporary Art. Among the best-known "guests" of the fortress is Andrea Fortebracci, known as Braccio. A guest obliged because the famous captain of fortune was imprisoned there in 1394. The leader had attempted to conquer the fortification in a night break but discovered he had been defeated and locked up in the fortress itself. For his freedom, the family members of the important gunman were forced to hand over the castle of Montone to the peruvian leader Biordo Michelotti. Also notable is the Collegiate of Santa Maria della Reggia designed by Galeazzo Alessi and Giulio Danti. The Peruvian Alessi played an important role in determining the appearance of the city of Genoa, where he took part in the projects for the opening of Via Nuova and built villa Cambiaso and villa Sauli. Important traces of himself Alessi also left in Milan with the construction of Palazzo Marino and the church of San Barnaba. 

Montone. Near Umbertide is Montone, a municipality nestled in the green of the Upper Tiber Valley and linked to the figure of the leader Andrea Fortebracci, called Braccio. An ancient medieval contrada, Montone is one of the "One Hundred most beautiful villages in Italy". Among the most striking monuments of the country is the Gothic church of St. Francis, marked by the carved wooden door, of the sixteenth century, made by Antonio Bencivenni. In Montone there are important cultural events such as the well-known celebration of the "Donation of the Holy Spina", the exhibition of the Masters Fabbri Forgiatori and the Umbria Film Festival.  

Gubbio. The first traces of settlements in the Gubbio area date back to the Paleolithic while sites in the bronze age have been found in the vicinity of the city. It later became an allied group in Rome and, demolished by the Goths in 522 and rebuilt, became part of the byzantine dominance. After being under the lordship of the Montefeltro and that of Della Rovere, in 1624 Gubbio became part of the estates of the papal state. Its nickname "wolf city" is due to the famous story of St. Francis and the ravenous wolf. Among the monuments are the 13th-century Palazzo dei Consoli, the work of Matteo di Giovannello and Angelo da Orvieto, which looks like a construction based on the concept of harmony. The three-part concise facade is overlooked by a light crenellated tower. The building is currently home to the Civic Museum. Also notable is the Doge's Palace with its beautiful rectangular courtyard. The design of the building is alternately considered either by the Dalmatia Luciano Laurana or the Siena Francesco di Giorgio Martini. Luciano Laurana's most important work is the Palazzo Ducale di Urbino with the beautiful frontage of the towers. The completion of the Ducal Palace of Urbino is by Francesco di Giorgio Martini. The Siena architect also creates impressive defensive fortresses such as those of San Leo, Mondavio and Sassocorvaro.  Another notable achievement is the Palazzo della Signoria di Jesi while the theoretical activity of the Siena architect produces the remarkable "Treaty of Civil and Military Architecture".

Castle Town. Castle Town is a treasure trove of art and beauty. In its skyline stands out the imposing figure of the Cathedral with its original cylindrical bell tower. The interior develops into a single aisle with richly frescoed chapels. Among the paintings preserved in the Cathedral stands the "Transfiguration" of the great master of the red mannerism Florentine (of which you must remember at least the famous "Deposition" of Volterra).  Palazzo Vitelli is also of great artistic value, presenting an exterior with ornaments made on drawings by Giorgio Vasari, while at the thirteenth-century church of St. Francis, then reworked in the Baroque period, Raphael's masterpiece "The Marriage of the Virgin" was once preserved now at the Pinacoteca di Brera in Milan. A copy of the work is currently in the church. City of Castello is also famous for giving birth to actress Monica Bellucci and artist Alberto Burri. 

Considered one of the most fascinating European actresses Monica Bellucci has had an important career since the beginning. After the debut in Felice Laudadio's "La riffa" (1991) he took part in "Dracula by Bram Stoker" (1992) by Francis Ford Coppola (he is one of the diabolical brides of the famous vampire) while two years later he was among the protagonists of Carlo Vanzina's comedy "The Myths". Hunchback shot in Milan." She is often called by French directors such as Gilles Mimouni who directed her in "The Apartment" (1996) and Jan Kounen who wanted her in "Dobermann" (1997), a film in which she starred alongside Vincent Cassel.  She participated in Marco Risi's "The Last New Year" (1998) and in 2000 she was the protagonist of Giuseppe Tornatore's "Malèna". In 2002, he starred in "Irréversible" by "Gaspar Noah", a film that caused a scandal with a nine-minute rape scene. In 2004, she played the role of Mary Magdalene in Mel Gibson's "The Passion of Christ"."  Paolo Virzì wants her in "N as Napoleon" (2006) and Marco Tullio Giordana entrusts her with the role of the Italian film actress of the thirties and Forty Luisa Ferida in "Sanguepazzo" (2008).  In 2011 he starred alongside Robert De Niro in the episode "Beyond" of Giovanni Veronesi's "Handbook of Love 3" while in 2013 he took part in the film "Welcome to Saint Tropez" by Danièle Thompson, a work suspended between tragedy and comedy that tells the complicated relations between two French Jewish brothers. 

Alberto Burri is one of the great protagonists of the informal season. Burri devoted himself to the material side of this artistic trend that spread in Europe in the mid-twentieth century, contrasting the idea of form and placing itself in antithesis to abstractionism-realism. The fulcrum of Burri's research is the material, in particular the worn one, consumed by too much use that testifies with its lacerations and its deterioration the passage of time, the action of man and atmospheric agents. The artist's journey through the vicissitudes of matter is divided into four fundamental phases which are expressed through four different series of works. The bags are composed of a jute cloth crossed by seams, tears and mending which are arranged in such a way as to form a harmonious whole that refers to high moral values. The plastics torn and torn by burns acquire an aspect that expresses the current drama of human suffering. The cretti (formed by fired ceramic, kaolin and resinous mass) with their tangle of cracks refer to the progressive shattering of the earth. The final stage of this journey through the material is that of cellotex (industrial pressed cardboard panels). Burri also took part in the Origine group together with Mario Ballocco, Ettore Colla and Giuseppe Capogrossi. The intention of the movement was to free art from all the superstructures that suffocate it in order to reach its first phases in which the human soul and a primeval and pure nature could be expressed. Città di Castello preserves the works of its great citizen in Palazzo Albizzini, seat of the Burri foundation, and in the former tobacco dryers.