Story of a Rural Farmhouse

Advices:

• Remember to bring a pen or a pencil, the cache does not contain one.

Description:

Already present in the cadastral maps of the Papal States, the rural farmhouse of Cà Bartoccio di sotto presented its first original square-shaped plant, as if to make us understand that its first nature was a sighting tower.
This is very probable, given that its location controls two valleys: the valley of the Metauro River and the valley of the Candigliano River where the Flaminian Way passed, which from Rome crossed central Italy to finally reach Rimini.
So Cà Bartoccio di sotto took on a strategic role in controlling enemy activities given its wide angle of view over the territory.

Plunging into these memories, looking at the view we are facing, listening to the sounds of nature, it is easy to dive into the past and identify with the Roman soldier who, in an infinite silence, observed the territory, watching over any unusual movement, to give alarm in the case of enemy activities, to protect the Consular road.
That same soldier, who communicated the positions and movements of the army of Hasdrubal Barca, and finally heard the agony of the Battle of the Metaurus which took place in front of him even if in the distance, who heard the screams and the crying of women in the homonymous mountain visible to him, they wept sons, husbands, brothers, died in battle, and who rejoiced to know that the Roman troops led by Marcus Livius Salinator and Gaius Claudius Nero, came out victorious from the terrible battle.

The Roman era ends and in the tranquillity of the domination of the Duchy of Urbino and the Papal States, Cà Bartoccio di sotto changes shape, history and planimetry.
New needs make it necessary to have a stable, a barn, a cellar, and accommodation for the family of farmers who decided to settle here.
Descending now into the clothes of those peasants engaged in their hard work in a land that is not very productive, at an height where the snow, the wind and the scorching sun are the true masters, that in building their simple dwelling with local stones (the "Bisciaro"), some wedges of a stone arch recycled from the previous structure and now used as cornerstones, using the trunks of the strong oak trees as beams, they looked at the regal and majestic Ducal Palace of Urbino.

Who knows what thoughts, who knows what scenario they imagined of the life of that court so different from them.
Who knows what reactions when they descended to the valley, and they listened to the village chatter that spoke of a duchy full of artists and a fellow countryman of theirs, Donato Bramante, born on a farm not far from here, and who became an illustrious artist and architect, whom he worked first in Milan and then even for the Pope.
Who knows how the voice came to their ears and their minds that Giovanni Santi's son, Raphael, had become famous as a painter.
Who knows what their thoughts were when they heard that the cheese produced in these areas, the "Casciotta d' Urbino", and that perhaps they too produced, pleased Michelangelo so much.

Perhaps the influence that art had in this area also infected them. Unfortunately, their reality was very different from those who could afford an illustrious artist at home, but the good taste and the desire to make their simple home pleasant did not lack, and that is why the shutters that protected the windows were coloured blue of the coppery water used to protect the vine and grapes.

Now this story is preserved by the conservative restructuring of this rural farmhouse, and can still be handed down.
Not to forget that history is made up of many people, various social states, historic buildings, monuments, but also simple architectures like this.

Podium:

🥇 FTF - Nordicante

🥈 STF - assurancetourix

🥉 TTF - N/A

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