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Caresto and its Castle: The Gubbio outpost on the Chiascio River
Caresto Castle is located in the heart of Umbria, centrally positioned between the cities of Assisi, Gubbio and Perugia, from which it lies 16, 16 and 20 kilometres away respectively, as the crow flies.
Built between the 12th and 13th centuries on a hill in the Central Apennines, from its height of 684 metres above sea level it commands a strategic stretch of the upper valley of the Chiascio River, a tributary of the Tiber.
Along this river stretch, between the 6th and 9th centuries, a complex system of armed fortifications was established against the Lombards to protect the borders of the so-called Byzantine Corridor. This system ensured a secure connection between Rome and Ravenna, via key thoroughfares such as the Via Amerina.
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The Georgi Map, 1573
In 1568, Bishop Savelli authorised the cleric Georgi to collect any information from parish priests regarding their respective parishes. Thus, between 1571 and 1574, by cartographically processing the data, Georgi created a famous topographic map that became the oldest in the Diocese of Gubbio. Caresto Castle, integrated into a complex landscape system, is reproduced with the perimeter of its curtain walls, the location of the entrance, and the positions of the keep and the church. A few hovels scattered inside the walled enclosure complete the scene: in total, 39 dwellings can be counted within the Villa of Caresto.
Shelfmark: State Archives of Perugia, Gubbio Section, Diocese della città di Ugubbio, descritta dal R.mo Don Vbaldo Georgii Clerico Evugubino, 1573.
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1768: The Castle System and its Lands
The details of the land registry map reveal the complexity of the main settlement
In this cartographic detail, plot 58 of the Villa of Caresto is highlighted, corresponding to the Castle and the immediately adjacent lands under the domain of the Church of San Bartolomeo. This estate includes the keep, the church, the curate’s house, the well surrounded by the vegetable garden, and a defensive wall. This configuration must have been consolidated following the reconstruction in the first half of the 15th century. To the north lies a plot of bare arable land of approximately 21,800 square metres, and to the south an uncultivated pasture with an oak grove of approximately 26,600 square metres, for a total of nearly 5 hectares.
Shelfmark: State Archives of Perugia, Gubbio Section, Cancellerie del Censo di Gubbio, Catasti antichi, 1760-1768.
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Planimetric Graphic Layouts
(Drawn by Giorgio Uberti)
Representation of historical civil and religious settlements in the surroundings of Caresto and along the Upper Chiascio Valley, based on studies by Menichetti, indicating the main road axes of the area.
This network of once closely connected places encompasses a significant part of the Municipality of Gubbio’s territory, bordering Valfabbrica.
Territory under the jurisdiction of the Villa of Caresto, featuring the historically most relevant locations and connecting paths, represented according to the maps of the Ghelli Land Registry (1768–1770).
The names of the neighbouring Ville are also recorded here.
Planimetric reconstruction of Caresto Castle, showing the buildings, defensive walls and morphological features of the terrain, based on the surveys by the land surveyor Ghelli (1768–1770).
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