Overview Tour of Montebello.
The town of Montebello is located 21 kilometres from Rimini.
The Montebello Castle is a magnificent medieval structure located in Poggio Torriana, a small town in the province of Rimini. There are countless legends associated with this place, some of them quite amusing, such as the one about the hidden treasure. Others are more macabre, such as the famous legend of the Adzurrina.
Montebello, built on the highest point of Mons Belli Mountain around the 11th century. The elegant palace next door, built during the Renaissance, is still the residence of the Guidi di Bagno family, who became masters of the territory back in 1463.
In the “Gallery of the Adzurrina” you can hear the story of Gwendalina and her ghost, which is said to still roam the castle. Gwendalina, the daughter of Ugolinuccio Malatesta, was born albino.
In the Middle Ages, this fact aroused suspicion and fear, because according to the beliefs of the time, only witches could have such an appearance and so the girl was hidden from the eyes of others. One night during a terrible thunderstorm the girl was playing with a rag ball. A gust of wind carried the ball down the stairs all the way to the ice storehouse in the castle underground. The girl ran after it and fell. When the guards went to look for her, there was no trace of her. It was the summer solstice, and with the girl’s disappearance, the storm subsided. According to legend, her spirit is still in the castle and every five years it returns and can be heard on the summer solstice.
Montebello Castle is one of three castles that form part of a vast system of defensive fortifications in Switzerland.
It was built in the early 14th century and originally belonged to the powerful Rusca family of Como, among others. The Rusca’s ruled the city in those years and wanted to protect it from raids by the Milanese military. There were many sieges, and the fortress withstood most of them, but in the mid-14th century it was taken over by the Visconti dynasty of the Duchy of Milan.
In the 15th century, Montebello Castle became one of the most powerful fortresses in Switzerland and Italy. It was surrounded by a moat and a drawbridge was built to the east. After several centuries of relative quiescence, the fortress was restored at the end of the 19th century. Since then, it has not changed much, and in this form it has survived to this day.
Today the castle houses the Civic Museum, where you can see various archaeological finds that were discovered in this area – jewellery, crockery, household items, etc.,
The ghost legend has been capitalised on by the museum staff: you can listen to recordings of the eerie sounds made by the dead girl, but there is no way to verify their authenticity – it is forbidden to stay overnight.
