Category: Attrazioni Gualdo

Located in the center and on top of the ancient castle, the Church of Santi martiri Antonio e Antonino houses the relics of Martyred Antonio and Antonino and Beato Ugolino..

The Mother Church of Santi martiri Antonio e Antonino was built between 1260 and 1262 by the Gualdese community, under the direction of master builder Clemente Ferradino. It was built on the ruins of an earlier structure, of which little remains. Over the centuries it has undergone many reconstructions and all that remains of the original construction are the crypt, some bas-reliefs on the façade and the apse.

The façade is characterised by the symbols of the four Evangelists and the Paschal Angel, carved in bas-relief on stone and set like gems.

In 1905, the church was flanked by a bell tower and a plaque commemorates the event.

In 1898, in a religious procession, the first stone of this bell tower was blessed; this is placed on the west side of the bell tower, marked with the letter A.

The interior has a single nave, with three altars and a chapel on the left. In the rear altar are two roundels, inside which are two late Renaissance frescoes recalling the battles of Gualdo, which can be clearly recognised in the fortified structure depicted.

Below the presbytery is the 13th-century Gothic-style crypt. The room is rectangular, with a cross-vaulted ceiling. There are two columns supporting the vault, surmounted by capitals with leaf motifs. The crypt of the church houses the relics of the Santi martiri Antonio e Antonino and Beato Ugolino..

Regarding the provenance of the two saints after whom the church is named, the information is intertwined between history and legend. Martyred under the empire of Diocleziano, of St Antonino it is known that his body was buried in a church erected in his honor in Gualdo, where later the remains of Beato Ugolino were also preserved. While for Sant’Antonio, historian Jacobilli links his placement in this church to a dispute between Gualdo and Bevagna. Beato Ugolino, of the Augustinian order, spent much of his life in the nearby convent of San Niccolò della Torre in Bevagna, and became the patron saint of Gualdo, celebrated on 3rd of September.The medieval commemoration that animates the streets of the village between August and September ends in his honor.

The Gualdo Cattaneo territory is characterised by a system of medieval castles and buildings that represent a true defensive complex, developed according to the "castrum".

Among the best-preserved is the Castle of Barattano, a few kilometers from Gualdo Cattaneo: characterised by a wall with a medieval entrance gate, the central keep, i.e. the main tower, small alleys and towers, it is a valid example of compact military architecture with a purely defensive purpose. The church of S. Bartolomeo (13th century) stands just outside the walls . The oldest name of this castrum was Sant'Angelo in Piscina, which changed to Barattano, probably due to the practice of trade that made this valley very lively.

The Castle of San Terenziano is also part of the circuit of the Castles of Gualdo Cattaneo. The origins of the place are very ancient (1st century A.D.), suffice it to say that it was called “loco petroso” by the Romans for its quarries rich in limestone and travertine. It was built following the traditional square plan, using the local white and pink limestone. The name derives from the martyred bishop of Todi who was martyred in this very area. During the Renaissance, the castle became the residence of the Cesi family of Acquasparta, who built a palace here that is still visible among the medieval houses of the castle. Legend has it that Galileo Galilei stayed in Gualdo Cattaneo not only in the Rocca, but also in the palace of Federico Cesi, founder of the Accademia dei Lincei, whose friend he was.

Not to be missed is the extraordinary open-air museum, consisting of the magnificent defensive complex of more than ten castles that earned Gualdo the nickname “Borgo dei Castelli” (Village of Castles). These include the castles of: San Terenziano, Saragano, Pozzo, Cisterna, Marcellano, Ceralto, Torri, Grutti, Speltara, Pomonte, Simigni, Forte Sorgnano and, of course, the center of Gualdo Cattaneo.

Around Gualdo Cattaneo one comes across stones with inscriptions from every era, from Roman times onwards. These are used because brick was missing, to decorate or to mark the memory of an event, such as the first stone of the construction of the bell tower of the Church of Saints Antonio and Antonino which was blessed and marked with the inscription 'A' and placed on the west side of the bell tower.

Other examples are the stones in Via Sant'Agostino that lead to the Church of Sant’Agostino where the cell of Beato Ugolino, Gualdo's patron saint, is preserved and where the beautiful fresco depicting "The Crucifixion" by the Foligno school of Niccolò Liberatore, known as L’Alunnowas also painted in the chapel. In this street you can glimpse, in fact, pointed arches characteristic of the village. Halfway down the street, on the right, there is a wall that protrudes from a house and is what remains of an old fence wall.

The most significant stones are to be found in Piazza Umberto I, on the façade of the Town Hall, in Piazza del Beato Ugolino... they are all to be discovered and observed to relive the past of this village.