Gualdo Cattaneo

Gualdo Cattaneo is a little village in the heart of the Martani Mountains, surrounded by forests and olive groves, hence the name Gualdo (from the German Wald = forest). The town was founded in 975 by Edoardo Cattaneo, vassal of the emperor Ottone II of Sassonia, who was given the town as a prize from a feud and decided to build a Rocca there . The village is situated near Spoleto and it had always been contended by Foligno and Spoleto who wanted to have control over it for its strategic position in the Tiber valley. After a long period of political instability, in 1493, Pope Alessandro VI Borgia gave the village to Foligno which decided to enlarge the Rocca making it the heart of the future town. After the Restoration, in 1816, Gualdo  again became part of the Papal state and in 1860 it became part of the Reign of Italy.