Torre Almonte is a significant example of construction suitable for satisfying in the Middle Ages both specifically military needs and purely housing needs and still today it is one of the most representative castles in the territory
of Todi.
The history of the building is still uncertain.
However, the castle must have belonged to the eminent Atti family, as it is proved by a considerable volume of documentary evidence starting from 15th Century,
and by the walled stone crest high up on the façade – a date palm with a rampant standing lion, on both sides – The building is composed by two different parts.
The first one is an imposing squared tower which was built
in the late 12th century and the beginning of the 13th, just like many others scattered in the territory of Todi.
The second tower is a regular extension of the first one and it seems to date back to the final years of the 14th
century or the beginning of the 15th century.
The interior preserves the primitive entrance door of the first part; the subdivision of the spaces of the five levels of the building is otherwise uniform.
As mentioned earlier, Torre Almonte belonged to the well-known and powerful Atti family from Todi, which owned many fortresses around the city. The name “Almonte” originates from Almonte di Bartolomeo – who was born in
the late 14th century – to whom we owe the enlargement of the primitive sighting tower.
It was Ludovico, son of Almonte di Giovan Bernardino and husband of Elena Matalucci, to give as a dowry the fortress of Frontignano,
with all the relevant funds and related buildings, to the daughter Barbara married to Felice Tobioli. After the marriage, the memory of the Atti family is vague.
The tower and all the properties are associated to the Tobioli
family for at least two centuries. In the second half of the 19th century, the tower passed into the hands of the Mazzocchi-Alemanni family.
In 1909 the tower was bought by Emilia Macciò in Fani of Perugia.
Since 1990 it
has been owned by Enrico Menestò and Raffaella Gabetta.
Barbara Atti remains a poetic memory in the sonnet Todi by Gabriele D'Annunzio who in all probability visited the tower during one of his stays in Todi, hosted by Annibale
Tenneroni.
