San Giustino

Land of Freedom and Smuggling. A labyrinth of boxwood hedges that frame the castle. The park full of fountains and rose flower beds introduces the Vasarian lodge that opens onto a casket of artistic masterpieces. From the Madonna col Bambino e Santi, realised by Signorelli, to frescoes attributed to Cristoforo Ghepardi, a favourite pupil of the Vasari, from the Madonna by Andrea del Sarto to the works of Guido Reni, without forgetting the furnishings such as the Culla Bufalini and the throne room. The Bufalini Castle is San Giustino's business card, now owned by the Superintendency.

The ancient Umbrian village of San Giustino extends to the far north of Valtiberina, bordering on Tuscany. Its history contains a gesture of freedom, independence and boundaries in places once used for tobacco a protagonist of local smuggling.

The chronicles tell that the Republic of Cospaia, the smallest republican state of Italy and probably also Europe, it existed in the valley hills for about four hundred years. Everything arose from a mapping error between the Papal State borders and the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, which excluded a small strip of ground just seven hundred meters wide and about four kilometres long from the maps: the Republic of Cospaia, which remained a territory from 1440 to 1826.

The historic centre of San Giustino is dominated by the profile of Castello Bufalini, an ancient military fortress erected at the end of the 15th century, today a rare example of a historic manor house which has remained virtually untouched. The structure underwent a first transformation into a fortified manor palace in the early 1500s, with large lounges of late Renaissance style. The surrounding park was  conceived as an "Italian garden" alongside lemon trees, fountains, a rose garden and a maze.

In the landscape that extends around the historical core along the itinerary called "Feudi, castles and villas", we find remains of ancient Roman houses, neoclassical palaces like Villa Cappelletti, surrounded by gardens and late Renaissance and buildings such as Villa Margherini Graziani of Celalba. It seems that Pliny the Younger stayed in the resort that still has his name, Colle Plinio, embellished with archaeological artefacts kept in the museum of the same name. There are several museums in San Giustino: the Historical and Scientific Museum of Tobacco, the first in Umbria and one of few in Italy, born with the aim of preserving and enhancing the historical and cultural heritage linked to the cultivation of this plant, The Plinian Museum,and recently there is a new and bizarre Museum of Boxes and Memories.