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 Contact Information
Antica Fattoria Del Colle
Address - Strada Colle delleForche 6, 06053, Deruta
General Information
In the heart of Umbria, only four kilometres from Deruta, reached by a road through the woods, the ANTICA FATTORIA DEL COLLE rises on a little hill surrounded by the green of olive groves, vineyards, fields of wheat and sunflowers, with its two stone and brick Perugian farmhouses dating from last century, which have been fully and skillfully restored.
In this oasis of peace and quiet , guests can discover the rhythms of the countryside, together with that memory of smells, tastes and mental images hidden within each of us, only awaiting the right moment to spring to mind.
Great care has been taken to bring back to life what was once a typical farmhouse of last century, preserving its architectural features, with its ceilings of beam and tiles, and providing furniture of the period, thus allowing guests to take a step backward in time while enjoying all the essential comforts of modern living.
The city is situated 15 kilometres south of Perugia on a hill that overlooks the valley of the Tiber; the new part extends along the Via Tiberina, parallel to the E45 Road which goes towards Rome. Of the ancient castle remain some tracts of wall, the arches of the three doors to the city and the characteristic medieval streets which lead into the Piazza dei Consoli. At the Piazza is the Palazzo dei Consoli, today the town hall, whose l4th century tower is adorned by Romanesque mullioned windows. Opposite the town hall rises the Romanesque-Gothic Church of S. Francesco with the adjacent convent where Pope Urban IV died on October 2, 1264. The l4th century bell-tower has ogival mullioned windows. The interior, made up of one nave with polygonal apse, contains numerous l4th century frescoes by the Sienese school. Especially notable on the left side of the altar is the martyrdrom of St. Catherine of Alexandria (1339), protectress of Deruta's ceramicists who is celebrated every year on the 25th of November, and another fresco with the Madonna, Child and Saints by Domenico Alfani. In the nearby Piazza Benincasa stands the Church of S. Antonio Abate, in which one may admire a Madonna of Mercy with St. Francis and St. Bernard by Bartolomeo Caporali.
In the close Regional Ceramics Museum, dated from 1998, situated in the ex Convent of S.Francesco where beautiful local antique majolicas are exhibited, and the picture gallery with priceless paintings of various periods: a painting by Niccolò Alunno from 1458; a banner of S. Antonio Abate by the same artist; a Madonna with Child and Saints by the School of Pietro Vannucci, known as Perugino; paintings by Amorosi; by Gaulli, known as Baciccio; by Reni; by Graziani, known as Ciccio Napoletano; an illuminated missal of the l4th century; altar-cloths of the l5th century. Furthermore, there is a fresco of the Saints Rocco and Romano with a view of the town (1476) recently attributed to Perugino.
The city is world-famous for its ceramic art, which dates back to the Middle Ages. The oldest and most important commissioned works date back to the l3th century. But the greatest development was reached by the masters of Deruta beginning from the early 16th century. Thanks to the ever-growing fame of Deruta's ceramicists, tbeir workshops were entrusted with the execution of the floorings of the Chapel of the Palazzo dei Priori and of the Sacristy of the Basilica of S. Pietro in Perugia, and of the Baglioni Chapel in Spello.
Since then Deruta's ceramics have become famous for their decorative patterns and shapes. These vases, plates and other objects are exhibited in some of the world's greatest museums as examples of remarkable pictorial quality.
Among the best known ceramic masters from Deruta are: Giacomo Mancini, known as "EI Frate" (1545); Andrea di Cecco (1584), Lazzaro di Battista Faentino, Francesco Urbini, Gregorio Caselli (1770) and a certain "Paolo da Deruta" wbo in 1516 worked under the great ceramicist Mastro Giorgio Andreoli from Gubbio.
A unique documentation of Deruta's ceramics is kept in the Church of Madonna dei Bagni, which is 2 kilometres south of Deruta along the E45 Road. The walls of the cburch are covered with votive ceramic tiles offered by believers from the 17th century until the present.
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