Caprese Michelangelo

Caprese Michelangelo owes its name to Michelangelo Buonarroti who was born here on the 6th of March, 1475, at a time when his father Ludovico was the town’s authoritative figure. It is on the Apennine ridge, in the greenest area of the Tuscan Val Tiberina.

 

The territory, that reaches a height of 1415m above sea level on the Catenaria Alps (M. Castello), is crossed by numerous water courses that converge in the Singerna River that is united to the Tiber by the Montedoglio Lake.

In 1731, the Medici’s century-long era having ended, the territory passed under administration of the Asburgo-Lorena, interrupted by the brief, but important, French domination (1799-1814). With the plebiscite of 1860, Caprese, like all of Tuscany, became part of the Kingdom of Sardinia and then of Italy.

In this period, new splendour came to Caprese in the form and works of Giovanni Santini (Caprese 1787 – Noventa Padovana 1877), astronomer and mathematician, distinguished in teaching and research. With the Royal Decree of the 9th February 1913, the name Michelangelo was added to the old one, referring to the Great Artist’s birthplace.

The memory of Buonarroti still lives today in the Church of St. John, and inside the castle walls that hosted the Michelangelo Museum: the Birth House, Palazzo Clusini, today the seat of the Municipality, the Stronghold Rooms, in which old plaster moulds from the Florentine galleries can be found, and the striking open-air Sculpture Museum. The traces of this intense history can still be admired today in Caprese’s most significant monuments: the medieval stronghold, built in the 10th century; the Camaldolite Abbey of Tifi; the Parish of St. Cassian, exalted by the expressive power of its atmosphere; the romantic church of St. Christopher and the Sanctuary of the Madonna della Selva.

The places that show the passing of St. Francis during his travels, from Assisi to the Sacred Mount Verna, stir up both admiration and respect: the Church of St. Polo, the Chapel of Zenzano, the Monastery of the Casella.

History, art and environment melt together in Caprese’s reality: from which the main events take life: art meetings, fresco courses, exhibitions and conventions, concerts, folklore, the Festival of the Chestnut, recreation and sport activities, trekking in the woods and ancient places.