Monteleone di Spoleto, the Umbrian village with the golden chariot

Everyone is talking about a couple of lovers who decided to get married in the heart of its medieval historic center , “renting” the entire village to make it available in all its splendor to the guests who came to celebrate them: Monteleone di Spoleto is a hidden gem to discover, explore, experience… and much more.

Lost among the green hills and the suggestive mountains of Umbria, the small village of Monteleone di Spoleto is a treasure chest of history and culture, traditions and splendid buildings waiting to be discovered. Here it seems like taking a real dive back in time: walking along its medieval streets is a magnificent experience. And it is precisely the rich and flourishing past that the village has experienced that has given us a very precious testimony dating back to the 6th century BC. It is none other than a golden chariot , an incredible treasure discovered many years ago.

Included in the circuit of the most beautiful villages in Italy , the village of Monteleone di Spoleto is immersed in a magnificent panorama. It is the highest municipality in all of Umbria , at almost 1,000 meters above sea level: all around, the mountains offer a frame dominated by uncontaminated nature. It is precisely among the rocks of these mountains that experts have found some mollusc fossils, a sign of a landscape that at the time was decidedly very different from what we know today. But the most precious finds discovered in the territory of Monteleone are more recent – ​​and much more surprising.

In 1901, archaeologists discovered Etruscan remains : in the Colle del Capitano area, a short distance from the village, an ancient necropolis used since the Bronze Age was brought to light. Here is the tomb that belonged to a local prince, embellished with a particularly rich funerary set. And it is precisely to the set that a wooden chariot belongs, covered with gilded bronze sheets and decorated with scenes depicting the Greek hero Achilles.

The chariot, dating back to 540 BC, has had a rather troubled history: it was stolen and taken across the border by an antiquities dealer, who then sold it to the Metropolitan Museum in New York , where it is still kept today. They call it the “Golden Chariot,” and it is a treasure of inestimable value. Monteleone di Spoleto boasts a life-size reproduction of it that can be admired in the basement of the monumental complex of San Francesco , one of the most evocative buildings in the historic center.

The village of Monteleone di Spoleto, which is located in the province of Perugia , is protected by three walls that in the past must have been truly imposing: some parts are still visible, and clearly show the castle-like structure that the village originally had. In the historic center there are many religious buildings, including the Church of San Francesco and its adjacent convent, both dating back to the 14th century.

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