Piazza Montarone

Piazza Montarone is the main square of the village where the main activities of the town took place and that a recent conservative restoration by the new owners of the former farm of the Marquis Bichi has returned to the ancient beauty. On the left there is the entrance of the Hotel “Relais la fattoria” which occupies a part of the former farm of the Counts Guerrieri.
The Marquis Bichi and the Counts Guerrieri were the landowners who with their factors gave work to the sharecroppers of Castel Rigone, who worked the land withholding half of the harvest as compensation. These settlers were very poor because in these mountain areas the harvest was in itself always scarce. Some vintages, when the weather had been bad, half of a lean harvest was not enough to meet the needs of a family.
Erected in 1921 in the center of the square stands the monument to the fallen of the First World War by the Perugian sculptor Angelo Biscarini. One can still see the mark on the Habsburg eagle left by a mine that a department of the Austrian army placed between the soldier’s legs to vent his hatred when he had to retire in 1944. In 1945 it was restored, but it was decided to leave visible the signs of the damage reported.

Photo credits: Di Umbria ws, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=54242262