HISTORY

Allerona's medieval origin is attested by the Castle of Lerona (12th century), bulwark of Orvieto, subject to the Monaldeschi and Filippeschi who had it built in 1275, later destroyed at the end of the 15th century by Charles V. Afterward the castle rose again, such that in 1585 the community wrote its own Statutes, and in 1595 freed itself from the rule of Orvieto and the Monaldeschi.

ART, CULTURE, ENVIRONMENT

Surrounded by hills covered with beech, ilex and juniper woods, Allerona has architectural traces from the ancient Roman period, with archeological remains in the immediate vicinity of the village, including a bridge at the Paglia river, stretches of the ancient Via Cassia (between Orvieto and Ficulle) and marker stones with Roman inscriptions regarding the Via Traiana Nova. Sights in the village include the feudal Castle of Lerona, destroyed by Charles VIII in 1495 – of which remain parts of the walls and of two gates, Porta del Sole and Porta della Luna – and the Church of Santa Maria della Stella (12th century), renovated at the end of the last century, with frescoes in the apse by the Sienese painter A. Viligiardi (1896). Nearby is the Church of the Madonna dell'Acqua, a small octagonal temple from the early 1700s attributed to Sangallo, built over an existing 15th-century votive chapel near a spring considered to be miraculous. Allerona offers a rich natural heritage: in the state-owned Selva di Meana Park there is Villa Cahen, the only example of Art Nouveau architecture in Umbria with an Italian garden; and Villalba Park, an inviting wooded area with facilities that covers over 20 hectares, is prized for both its flora (tall trees, maples, ash, beech, fraxinella, many species of rose and wild orchids) and fauna (wild boar, fallow deer and roe deer).