History

Surrounded by its ancient village in Umbria, nestled between Umbria and Lazio regions, the castle dominates the green valley of the Tiber with a view that extends 360 degrees from the Cimini mountains to the Argentario mountain and the Amiata mountain up to the Amerini and Soratte.

A castle/palace that recalls a glorious past and which has seen its splendid salons frequented by illustrious people with the numerous noble families who have succeeded one another over the centuries and who have made the history of Italy. Celebrations, dances but also disputes and conflicts with the secret underground prisons and tunnels that crossed the village.

The ancient castle was probably built on the ruins of a temple dedicated to Jupiter Elicius. The first traces date back to 1191, in a document it was called Castel di Juvo, and it appeared as a well-fortified agglomeration to protect the Tiber valley.

Throughout the 13th century the castle was always at the center of violent disputes between Orvieto and Todi, until the latter in 1256, after the agreement between Orvieto and Perugia, regained possession of it, placing Count Raniero dei Baschi, head of the Ghibellines, who, after having allied themselves with Spoleto, besieged Camerino in 1259.

Raniero's hatred towards Camerino dated back to a few years earlier, when in his absence Camerino troops under the command of Crescio dei Monaldi had caused damage to the castle of Giove, raging against some of his relatives. The Basques, faithful Ghibellines, always found themselves in harmony with Todi who demonstrated friendship and solidarity towards them on several occasions.

In 1308 Giove was occupied by the Guelphs of Amelia led by Carolus Nicolai and Offreduccio II of Alviano.

In 1320, Sciarra I Colonna (podestà of Narni in 1297, captain of the Todine militias in 1310) took possession of it; in January 1328 Sciarra I, senior captain of the people in Rome, crowned Louis IV the Bavarian (1286-1347) emperor; Colonna was driven out of Rome and died in exile in 1329.

In  1333 Giovanni Orsini, cardinal legate in Tuscany, besieged Giove and after committing brutal crimes, destroyed a good part of the fortress. Pope John XXII (1316-1334), angry at the serious episode, had Orsini imprisoned in the prisons of Amelia on 20 March 1333.

From 1359 it became a fiefdom of Tommaso d'Alviano, son of Ugolino, belonging to the Guelph branch of the family; in 1364 it became the stronghold of the Black Company of Anichino Bongardo which for over three years devastated the entire area up to Terni. The ferocious mercenary company, called from Perugia in 1364, camped in Pila where they reached an agreement with the White Company of Giovanni Acuto.

In 1378 the area witnessed the passage of the ferocious Bretons, followers of the antipope Clemente VII (1378-1394), sent by the French cardinals to aid Francesco di Vico, lord of Viterbo.

After the mid-15th century, Giove fell into the hands of Everso d'Anguillara, lord of vast domains and a man of arms at the service of the papacy and the rebels; his sons, Francesco († 1473) and Deifobo († 1490), after the death of their father (4 September 1464), continued to occupy fiefdoms and castles, thanks to the friendship of the new Pope Paolo II (Pietro Barbo, 1464-1471 ), their godfather. The pope, however, tired of the numerous warnings due to the brutality of their behavior, excommunicated them and with the help of Federico II da Montefeltro and Nicolò II Orsini took Giove back under the dominion of Rome in 1465.

The fight undertaken against the Anguillara family ended with their annihilation and the dismemberment of the properties they had acquired (Caprarola, Ronciglione and Capranica).

In 1503 the ancient fortress fell under the attack of Cesare Borgia who also dismantled all its defensive works.

In 1515, Ottavio Farnese, duke of Castro and Ronciglione and lord of Attigliano, took office as governor and sent his daughter Contarina Farnese there.

On 4 July 1597 Matteo Farnese sold the fiefdom to the brothers Ciriaco and Asdrubale Mattei, relatives of the Orsini and Colonna families, who built the splendid Renaissance palace, which was later transformed into a noble residence.

Pope Urban VIII (1623-1644) finally granted the title of duke in 1643 to Girolamo Mattei, marquis of Giove.

From the Mattei, a Roman family that gave the Church eight cardinals (Alessandro Mattei, an illustrious cardinal, was the owner of the palace in 1816), it passed to the Mattei-Canoni. Later Caterina Mattei, the last heir, passed it on to her son, Marquis Carlo Canonici.

When Carlo died without heirs, the palace was inherited by the Duchess Maria Anna Mattei who married the Marquis Carlo Teodoro Antici of Recanati, whose son Matteo, senator in 1859, took the surname Antici-Mattei. The Marquise Adelaide Antici, mother of Giacomo Leopardi, was a guest in the palace and in 1910 King Vittorio Emanuele III, who was visiting the area.

From the Antici family it passed to the Ricciardi family, to General Mario Nicolis Robilant (1855-1943) and in 1936 it was purchased by Count Pietro d'Acquarone who carried out important restoration works on the castle following the extensive damage suffered in 1915 with the Avezzano earthquake.

The main body of the building is divided into five floors, with three corner towers, one of which has partially collapsed; 365 windows open on the facades, one for each day of the year. One of the towers derives from the incorporation of the ancient tower of the fortress which can be seen in the painting by Paul Bril preserved in the Palazzo Barberini Museum in Rome.

The internal halls are decorated with paintings of mythological themes, attributed to Domenico Zampieri (1581-1641) known as Domenichino.

Between 1985 and 2014 it was owned by the American director and producer of fantasy-horror films Charles Robert Band.

In December 2014 it was purchased by the current owner who completely restored it thanks to the reconstruction funds provided following the 2016 earthquake which caused enormous damage, making the castle completely unusable.