Giove: Pino’s Restoration in Jupiter’s Town

The population of Giove today is roughly 1800.

This southern Umbria town near Amelia hides many a mystery…and the origin of the name is not the only mystifying aspect.

One theory links the name of the town to the father of the gods, Jupiter (“Giove” in italiano) and to a probable temple deicated to him. Might the temple have been on the site of the town’s 17th-century parish church, dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, Santa Maria Assunta?

Not unlikely as all over Italy, cathedrals and basilicas often rise on the sites of pre-existing Etruscan and Roman temples.

Another theory ties the name of the town to “Juvo” or “Jugo,” cited in a late 12th-century document.

Rooted in the Latin “jugum” signifying “connecting ridge or projection,” the name would suit Giove, perched on an outcropping overlooking the Tiber Valley:

In the Middle Ages, in fact, Giove was often contested by Amelia, Todi and Orvieto due to its strategic position. For centuries, towns dominated by Guelfs (those suppporting the Papacy) sought control, battling the Ghilbellines (those supporting feudal authority)

The castello of the fown – also called il palazzo ducale (“ducal palace”) – originates from medieval fortification architecture, though greatly enlarged and restored by the ruling Farnese feudal lord in the early 16th century, then passing to the Mattei family in the late 16th-century and ruled until 1800 by the Mattei dukes.

Paul Bril – Flemish artist working in Rome who painted commissions for the Mattei family as of 1601 – painted the grandiose castello dominating the small borgo of Giove:

And in an old print, the dominating immensity of the castle dwarfs Giove:

Purchased in 2015 by a Roman woman, that castle is now undergoing extensive restoration:

Across the street from the castello (with a crane stretched out above) and just in front of the shell-pink town church, my husband Pino’s restoration crew – Trexxa Costruzioni – is restoring the castle cantina (also crowned with a crane):

In the massive (about 5000 sq.m.) cantina, the grapes of the noble Mattei family’s vineyards were transformed into wines, the olives into oil and the grains grown on the ducal terrains were ground into flour (the wheat) and animal fodders (the sorghum, barley, corn).

Pino told me that the landholdings of the Mattei dukes encompassed over 50 farms in the Giove area and that the wines, olive oils, grains and other foods grown on these lands were not only for the castle lords, guests and staff but also for all the coloni (serf farmers) working the lands.

Clearly, therefore, the ambience needed for the transformation of all the crops was immense – as you can see in these photos:

Pino’s crew used wired mesh to support the vaults (eventually to be plastered over):

I was curious to see where the stairs headed below a wire-netted vault in one area of the cantina:

I looked down the stairs crowned by the netted vault and saw wooden wine barrels as well as iron rings and wood remnants of other barrels amassed in a corner…

….and wondered if in centuries passed, wines had been aged there?

Pino’s crew has worked on the restoration for about a year now and the project is nearing completion:

One of his workers was sweeping up after a day’s work just as we too were leaving. Across the street behind a yellow school bus the castello stood staunchly: