Approaching Tuoro, one immediately realizes the intuition that the Carthaginian leader Hannibal had in identifying this place as the ideal place for an ambush to be launched against the troops of the Roman consul Caio Flaminio Nepote, in what has been called “The Battle of Trasimeno” , one of the bloodiest of the II Punic War. It is the dawn of 24 June 217 BC when Hannibal, taking advantage of the fog, launches a deadly ambush on the Roman troops. About ten thousand Romans died in the clash: most perished at the hands of the enemy, some killed each other to avoid falling prisoners, others drowned in the waters of the lake, many were captured. In Tuoro the memory of the battle is kept alive by a suggestive itinerary of great interest not only archaeological but also landscape.
The town of Castel Rigone, a hilly village in the Municipality of Passignano sul Trasimeno, is also linked to an episode of war. According to tradition, in 543 AD, the Ostrogoth Arrigo (or Rigone), lieutenant of Totila, placed here the base of operations to maintain the siege of the city of Perugia. Towards the end of the 13th century the castle was built to defend the town, of which the walls, the keep, three towers and the two access doors still remain today.
From the top of the hill of Castel Rigone, looking towards the opposite shore of the lake, it is possible to hear the echo of the trotting of a horse skilfully guided by a great captain of fortune who lived in the second half of the fourteenth century. This is Boldrino Paneri, born in Panicale in 1331. Thanks to the numerous victories achieved in defense of Perugia, he was given the keys to the city. The episode is “immortalized” by Mariano Piervittori on a canvas kept in the Caporali Theater, a small architectural jewel with a horseshoe-shaped wooden structure, entirely decorated with stucco. Walking through the streets of Panicale you can cross via Boldrino Paneri, where there is a thirteenth century building that was the birthplace of the leader: the family crests are still present on the façade.
Going south west, we meet Paciano, on the slopes of Mount Petrarvella and home to a hill castle with a thousand-year history. In 1509, for the loyalty shown to the Church, the Pope exempted all the inhabitants of his territory from paying taxes because in occasion of the fights between the Oddi families and the Baglioni, two important noble families of Perugia, the people of Paciano proved loyal to the Oddi family: it is said that Adriano Baglioni was poisoned in Paciano in 1502. Along the current panoramic road of Ceraseto that connects Paciano in Città della Pieve, the remains of the temple of Giano are still visible, from which it most likely leads to the name Paciano “Passage to the temple of Giano”.
Leaving Paciano to go up the Trasimeno from the south west, we meet Città della Pieve and Castiglione del Lago, villages of medieval origin linked to the mercenary captain Ascanio della Corgna. The Renaissance palaces linked to the Della Corgna family rise majestically from the walls of the two towns, both located in the historic center and designed by the architect Galeazzo Alessi.
Inside they preserve frescoes, made by Niccolò Circignani known as Il Pomarancio, which narrate the feats of the leader. Ascanio della Corgna (1514-1571) summed up the vehemence of the captain of fortune softened by that humanistic vein typical of the Renaissance. He was one of the most illustrious personalities of his time, distinguishing himself in many fields: from engineering studies to dexterity in the use of the sword; from the art of war to the humanist passions typical of the time. He took part in almost all the wars of the period, fighting under different and sometimes opposite flags, according to the style of the captains of fortune. The speed of his hand in wielding the sword was so well known that three thousand people set off to witness his duel against Giannetto Taddei, guilty of insubordination towards him. Of this dispute remains a valuable fresco in the Palazzo della Corgna in Castiglione del Lago. He died in 1571 after having fought in the battle of Lepanto. The body still rests in the Della Corgna Chapel inside the Church of San Francesco in Perugia.
Among the masters of arms and the captains of fortune, there is also Andrea Fortebraccio, known as Braccio da Montone, a town near Città di Castello (1368-1424). In a life, studded with wars and battles, he was able to perfect his military technique, based on the speed of maneuver and the speed of movements: this was the characteristic of a new school of arms, which was defined braccesca, similar to the technique of “Guerrilla” used by Hannibal to defeat the Romans in the Battle of Trasimeno.
Among the best students of Braccio is Niccolò Piccinino, born in Caligiana di Magione in 1386. Between the memorable clashes in which he took part include the battle of Anghiari, where his troops came out victorious. A fresco of this event is entrusted by the city of Florence to Leonardo da Vinci, whose copy by Peter Paul Rubens is kept at the Louvre Museum in Paris.
Also in Magione the often bloody history of the Italian Renaissance leaves important traces through the memoirs collected by Niccolò Machiavelli in “The Prince”, a very famous treatise on political doctrine. It is in this immortal book that the Castle of the Knights of Malta in Magione is recalled, where one of the most famous military conspiracies of the time took place against the powerful military man Cesare Borgia, known as Valentino. For Niccolò Machiavelli he was the image of the military leader and, above all, of the Italian prince who could have achieved the goal of unifying Italy. In 1502 Cesare Borgia escaped a conspiracy hatched against him by some lords of arms from various cities in central Italy. The conspirators found themselves at the Castle of the Knights of Malta, a fortified hospital built in the 12th century, with the intention of stopping the expansionist aims of Cesare Borgia. However, the conspiracy was discovered and the traitors killed or forced into exile.
