The Castle of Coppe

Historical accounts

The Castle, part of the medieval village of Coppe, an outlying part of Stroncone, is a building of notable size (more than 10,000 m³) the original structure of which dates back to the XI century. Around 1500 it was enlarged, and was later restructured and modified towards the end of the XVIII century.

The building once belonged to the Cardoli counts, and since the beginning of the last century has been owned by the Malvetani family.

With regard to the history of the Castle and its court, it is known that in 1100, under the Emperor Enrico IV, Beraldo di Rolando, a nobleman from the Narnese county and his wife Maria made a permanent donation to the monastery of Farfa del Poggio delle Coppe with its pertinences, mountains and plains, houses and farmhouses.
From an ancient writing of 1155, at the time of Federico I, we know that Bibbieno Cardoli divided the castle between his children.
In 1225, during the interdict that Narni and the places in the diocese suffered, Onorio III took it under his protection, together with the other Narnese castles, including that of Coppe, in order that they would not be overwhelmingly burdened by collections and tolls by the town.
In 1300 the Coppe castle, together with Finocchieto and Stroncone, was under the dominion of Narni; in 1439, together with Narni, Terni and the subordinate castles, it was under the jurisdiction of the Patrimonio di S. Pietro, the rector of which, Bartolomeo Vitelleschi, resided in Montefiascone.

The structure and restoration

The Castle is built on three floors, as well as the attic, with a total volume of approximately 10,300 metres cubed. The surface area covered is 800 m² while the total of the floors is approximately 2,800 m².

The Malvetani family during the 1970s and 1980s has already completed conservative interventions many times in order to check the damage caused to the structure by the passing of the centuries, but it is since the beginning of 2004 that real restoration work has been started, with the aim of making the inside of the building newly fit for use and enjoyable.

The work so far underway has seen the strengthening of the structures, the entire reconstruction of the roof (largely using original recovered material) and of the outer plastering as well as of the frames in style.

After this stage, by this point near completion, an appropriate arrangement of the park that surrounds the castle with a surface area of approximately 13.000 m² is planned.

The final aim

The Malvetani family has decided to proceed with the restoration of the castle, first of all with the intention of preserving and valuing a structure that the passing of time was relentlessly deteriorating, and then with the prospect of carrying out, during the next few years, a receptive high level structure within an integrated agricultural tourism centre.

In recent months, moreover, they have been in contact with some Italian and foreign companies and with some universities that might be interested in using the castle and it is not therefore ruled out that the final aim may be different.

If you would like further information about the castle you can directly contact the owners.