After parking along the
tree-lined road that from Via Flaminia leads to the village, at its end you will
find on the right the
War Memorial, placed in a square from which
you can enjoy the view over the country and the Apennine spurs in North-West
direction. Facing the War Memorial, at the beginning of Corso Mazzini, the main
street of the village, in the former Church of Saint Lawrence has its seat the
Tourist Office; here you will be informed about the attractions of
Costacciaro and the Park of Monte Cucco, which are also illustrated in brochures
of various subject: historic, naturalistic, etc.
Walking along Corso
Mazzini, on the left you will find the
Church of Saint Francis,
built on the middle of XIIIth century in Gothic style, with its facade adorned
by a rose window with fine columns.
In its interior, with
three naves in Baroque style due to a XVIIth century enlargement, you can admire
the altars on the side naves, with paintings of Eugubine school representing
some moments of the Passion of Jesus (Crucifixion, Deposition), images of Our
Lady and various Saints. On the left pillar of the triumph arch you will see a
fresco representing the martyrdom of Saint Sebastian, datable about XVth
century.
Recent restoration works
have discovered fragments of the previous church frescoes; in one of them, the
most interesting, can be recognized the figure of a Cistercian monk who
contemplates the image of Jesus and that probably has to be considered part of
the wall of the chapel in which “Beato Tommaso”, the Patron Saint of
Costacciaro, was buried. The chapel was demolished on the above
mentioned enlargement and the Patron Saint’s mortal remains were laid in a
gilded urn beneath the high altar.
Near the church, in a
wide stretch of Via Massarelli, you will find the
Public fountain
(end of XIXth century); here you can quench your thirst with the water coming
from the Scirca spring in the heart of Monte Cucco.
Contiguous to the church
are the
Town Hall and the
Library, both located in
an ancient palace of XIIIth century, enlarged in XVIth century and converted in
a convent by Bonaventura Pio Fauni, an eminent theologian born in Costacciaro,
as explained on the inscription in Latin on the architrave of the main entrance.
Facing the Tawn Hall, in
a palace of XIIIth century, until a few years ago had its seat the
“Università degli Uomini Originari di Costacciaro”, an ancient agrarian
community that had and has still right of pasturing and cutting firewood on
Monte Cucco; now it includes
a bar, a pub-restaurant and a hall for
meetings and conferences.
Along Corso Mazzini you
will find as well the former Church of Saint Marcus, which now is the seat of
the
Historical-naturalistic Museum of the Karst areas of the Park of Monte Cucco, which offers an interesting collection of materials and images of
the naturalistic, geologic and speleological environment of the Park that gives
a particular prominence to the area of Monte Cucco.
The museum also includes
a very interesting collection of fossils, most of which have been donated by
Luigi Galli, a teacher, whose passion and love for nature made him a forerunner
of naturalistic studies in the area of Monte Cucco.
At the end of Corso
Mazzini you will see a tower that guards one of the gates of the castle, known
as the
“Tower of the Clock”; recently, on occasion of restoration
works, one of the bells that strike the hours has been discovered to be much
older than the clock and probably may be dated about XIVth century. Interesting
as well is an
Anthropomorhic figure
set on the side of the tower
facing Corso Mazzini; this figure seems to be prior to the tower, probably
datable about Xth or XIth century.
Via Pietro Fauni is
another interesting street, at the end of which is placed a fortified rampart,
known as
"Rivellino" or “Torrione”, built in 1477 on the plan of
the architect Francesco di Giorgio Martini from Siena, on commission of Duke
Federico di Montefeltro; here you will enjoy a wide sight from South-East to
South-West, from Monte Cucco through the country till Gualdo Tadino.
In via Fauni you will
find as well an ancient palace, known as
“Palace of the Duke of Urbino”,
that first belonged to the family Fauni-Massarelli and later was
inhabited by the Captain of the castle.
Piazza Garibaldi,
embellished with a garden, is really suggestive; here you will find the
Church of the Mercy, the seat of the Company of the Good Death, a lay
confraternity which gave aid to sick people; here you can admire paintings
datable about XVIth century. In front of the church is the
School
entitled to Efrem Bartoletti, a worker poet persecuted because of
his political ideas and obliged to emigrate to the United States. In his
poetries he always defends human rights and never forgets the village where he
was born.
In the neighborhood, in
a in a wide stretch of via Spadini, various events, theater, concerts, etc. take
place on summer.
Walking along Via
Massarelli you will find the
Ancient oil mill
datable about 1700;
it is perfectly preserved and was in activity until the end of the fifties. Here
the olives were reduced to pulp and pressed to extract the oil.
In front of the oil
mill, in a house datable about XIIIth century and once used as a place for the
maturing of cheese and therefore known as “Caciara”, now has its seat the above
mentioned
Università degli Uomini Originari di Costacciaro
.
At the end of the street
you will find a church which in ancient times was part of a convent where now
CENS (Naturalistic Escursion Speleological Center) has
its seat; the Church of Our Lady of Assumption, also known as the
Church of the “Bianca”, center of the Confraternity of the
Gonfalone, which takes the name of “Bianca”(White) from the colour of the habit
of its members.
Walking around the wall
of the ancient castle along Via della Roccaccia, you will find a
Tower which has been recently restored; going on, at the foot of
the Rivellino you will see two
Vaulted fountains contemporary to
the fortification, that served for water supplying of the castle. Going up along
Via del Fosso, you will reach the Tower of the Clock, on the side that overlooks
the country; looking down, you can see the
Sports area, with a
swimming pool and tennis courts. It is also possibile to play five soccer and
beach volley.
Walking along Viale
Guglielmo Marconi you will be back at the foot of the hill; looking up, you will
see the
"Donjon", original nucleus of the ancient castle.
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