Tavoleto

For every respectable village there is a castle that defends it. In Tavoleto, there is a strategic fortress of the Dukes of Urbino, the impressive castle with tower dominates the narrow ridge between the Marche and Romagna regions and is the product of a patient reconstruction work desired by the Petrangolini family.

An artisan restoration that is a challenge thrown into a story marked by clashes and battles that embody the name and morphology of the place. The cruel conflicts, which in the years have opposed the Montefeltro of Urbino and the Malatesta di Rimini, the inhabitants earned the name of "burnt" referring to the devastation suffered and the fires that had happened  during the wars.

The most recent destruction was by Napoleonic troops in 1797 and there was a tragic battle during the Second World War, which saw man to man conflict in the night between the 3rd and 4th of September 1944, when the Nepalese Gurkhas of the Allied Army and the German troops met. Due to these terrible events a monument was erected to the fallen in memory of the soldiers who freed the municipality from the German siege.

The 1300 chronicles tell of Tabuletum, an agglomeration of forty fires (families). The site took on importance as a fortified village when the Malatesta family from Rimini in 1371 built one of the largest castles in the area to defend the underlying Conca river valley. The fortress was attacked several times and the village came under fire from the Duke of Urbino. It was at this time that Federico da Montefeltro decided to commission the Sienese architect Francesco di Giorgio Martini to restore the ancient fortress under Renaissance architectural influences. In 1865, it was rebuilt by the Petrangolini family and transformed into a summer residence. Of the ancient fortress today, only the foundations and a portion of the walls that remain standing are preserved.

The name of Tavoleto derives from the precious timber, obtained from its thick woods and cut into planks for the construction sites of Rome. An acclaimed story tells that Tavoleto's wood was the scaffold on which Michelangelo climbed to draw the wonderful Giudizio Universale fresco in the Sistine Chapel.

Due to its longitudinal position on the edge of a steep hill, Tavoleto enjoys an enviable climate and unspoilt nature whose silent charm attracts travellers from nearby cities. In Monte San Giovanni there are still the ruins of the castle called "La Trappola", a pine forest and some unexplored caves.

Among the places of interest are the churches of San Lorenzo and Sant'Ercolano in Ripamassana, the garden of Raffaello Sanzio and the ancient fortress and panoramic view called Monte Osteriaccia.