Side view of a stone building located on a grassy hill, with a blue sky and light clouds in the background.
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Cesi

Perched among the green folds of Umbria, Cesi is a small gem nestled between Terni and San Gemini, lying on the slopes of Mount Torre Maggiore - one of the last and highest peaks of the Martani Mountains, known as Mount Aeolus, home to the god of winds.

Admired for centuries for its unique location, Cesi enchants visitors from the very first step: walking among churches and palaces, narrow alleys and grandly named squares - such as the one dedicated to Federico Cesi, a prominent member of the ducal house of Acquasparta and founder of the National Academy of the Lincei - you can breathe in the atmosphere of a place whose millennia-old history, merges with legend.

 

From refuge of the exiles of lost Carsulae to capital of the Terre Arnolfe

Cesi’s origins date back to the Umbrians, as evidenced by the presence of a necropolis, temples on Mount Torre Maggiore, and remains of imposing polygonal walls, considered proof that the site was once an Umbrian-Roman city, identified as Clusiolum.

With the Roman conquest, by the end of the 3rd century BC, the territory came under the control of Carsulae. Only after Carsulae was abandoned, around the 4th–5th century AD, Cesi was founded — its name likely deriving from the Latin caesa, meaning “cleared land.”

After the Lombard domination, in 962 Emperor Otto I of Saxony transformed the area into a feudal domain, entrusting it to Arnolfo, his advisor and imperial vicar. From that moment until the 18th century, Cesi became the heart of the Terre Arnolfe, a fortified territory that included many castles, such as those of San Gemini, Acquasparta, and Montecastrilli.

The Rocca di Cesi, located on Mount Sant’Erasmo, housed the castellan or governor appointed by the Pope, who held jurisdiction over the Terre Arnolfe. Cesi’s strategic importance was such that it was long contested by Terni, Todi, and Spoleto. In 1525, Pope Clement VII granted lordship of the town to Paolo Cesi, who later commissioned the construction of the palace that dominates the historic centre of Acquasparta.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, Cesi reached its peak, as shown by the construction of many noble palaces. Under the control of the Papal States, it retained its role as capital of the Terre Arnolfe until the early 18th century.

Cesi remained an autonomous municipality from 1861 to 1927, when it was annexed to the municipality of Terni, of which it is now one of the most fascinating historical hamlets.

Ancient stone church with a central bell tower, located in a medieval village on a square and uphill street, under a cloudy sky.

Cesi – Church of San Michele and Auditorium

Stone façade of an ancient church with a wooden portal and walled-up windows, surrounded by buildings and plants

Cesi – Church of Santa Maria Assunta

Stone building with arched windows in a village backed by tall mountains, with autumn trees and a partly cloudy sky.

Cesi – Former Church of Sant’Andrea

Dark wooden door set in a stone wall with reused materials and carved Roman reliefs.

Cesi – Former Church of Sant’Andrea

Ancient stone building with a large arched portal and upper loggia, surrounded by plastered walls and a grassy garden

Cesi – Palazzo Eustachi

Facade of an abandoned church with partially plastered and partially stone walls, surrounded by vegetation.

Cesi – Church of Sant’Onofrio

Ancient stone building, surrounded by vegetation and hills, under a blue sky with scattered clouds.

Cesi – Church of Sant’Erasmo

Ancient stone church nestled in autumn greenery, with rustic architecture and a bell gable.

Cesi – Church of Santa Maria di Fuori

The historic center: a walk through churches and palaces

The village of Cesi, enclosed between two medieval gates - Porta Terni and Porta Todi - features numerous places of worship:

  • Church of San Michele Arcangelo: A Benedictine church from the 11th century, located in the lower part of the medieval walls, incorporating sections of ancient bastions. Now used as an auditorium, it houses numerous archaeological finds from the surrounding area and the archaeological site of Carsulae.
  • Church of Santa Maria Assunta: Built in the 16th century at the request of the Cesi’s community n the site of former oratory. The main portal is flanked by a side portal, with a lunette still showing traces of the fresco Madonna between Saints Sebastian and Roch, now almost illegible. The interior features a single nave with chapels decorated with stucco altars and 16th–17th-century paintings. A room adjacent to the church holds artworks from the area, including a 1308 altarpiece depicting a Madonna with Child Enthroned Between Saints, attributed to the Master of Cesi.
  • Oratory of the Most Holy Sacrament: Once the seat of two confraternities of Cesi, as shown by a rare double-sided altarpiece: on one side, the Apparition of the Holy Sacrament to the Confraternity, and on the other, the Assumption of the Virgin with Saint Onuphrius, the patron saint of Cesi. The interior, with a single nave, supports an upper floor, once used as the local grain bank.
  • Former Church of Sant’Andrea: Built in the 12th century, its current appearance reflects renovations made in 1560. Deconsecrated at the end of the 19th century, it is now a theatre named after Titta Ruffo, the renowned Italian baritone who performed there in 1917. The wall facing Piazza Federico Cesi features many reused materials, likely originating from Carsulae.
  • Church of Sant’Agnese: Located on the eastern edge of the village, it was once part of a Benedictine convent. Its Baroque façade, with three portals, leads to a single nave interior with a central altar, featuring a 17th-century painting of The Martyrdom of Saint Agnes.

Noble Palaces

  • Palazzo Contelori: Built in the 17th century near the Church of San Michele Arcangelo by the family of Mons. Felice Contelori, a notable historian who lived between the 16th and 17th centuries and author of Memoirs of the Land of Cesi. The building consists of a main, taller building with a monumental coat-of-arms portal.
  • Palazzo Cesi: Constructed in the early 16th century by Gian Giacomo Cesi, Count of the Terre Arnolfe, on the remains of a 14th-century fortress. It consists of two main wings connected by a suspended corridor. The older part, likely dating to the 15th century, lies uphill from the road, while the more recent wing overlooks the Terni valley.
  • Palazzo Eustachi: Built by the Pressio-Colonnese Counts in the early 17th century in the highest point of the village. It features a double-arched loggia surrounding a small inner courtyard. Adjacent to the palace is the Church of Santa Caterina.

 

Outside the walls: places of worship from the foot of the village to the mountain peak

A walk through the countryside around Cesi leads to numerous sacred buildings, each steeped in history and charm:

  • Church of Madonna della Pittura: Built along the “Corta di Cesi” in the 17th century on a 15th-century votive shrine. It features a three-pillar portico and a 17th-century fresco by Bartolomeo Barbiani depicting an angel presenting a model of the Church of Sant’Angelo.
  • Chapel of Santa Caterina: Commissioned by Evaristo Gonnella in the 17th century along the road to Poggio Azzuano, which leads to Carsulae and San Gemini. A modest structure with a small bell gable and a now-faded fresco, reinforced at the rear with a buttress.
  • Church of Santa Maria di Fuori: One of the oldest churches in Cesi, its name refers to its location “più di un miglio in circa fuori dalla terra“ (more than a mile outside the village). Although no ancient features survive, it was likely built on the site of Cesi’s first settlement after the fall of Carsulae. The now-asymmetrical façade originally had a single-pitched roof; two Roman boundary stones from Carsulae flank the entrance.
  • Church of San Biagio: Nestled in a dense forest to the east of the territory, it was built by the Contelori family on the site of an earlier oratory. Inside is the 1638 fresco Madonna with Child in Glory Between Saint Blaise and Saint Charles Borromeo by Bartolomeo Barbiani, with the village of Cesi visible between the saints.
  • Convent of the Hermit: Built in the 13th century on the site of a Benedictine hermitage where Saint Francis once retreated in prayer and, inspired by Cesi’s landscape, composed the “Exhortatio ad laudem Dei”. The complex includes religious buildings (like the Church of the Most Holy Annunciation and Chapel of Saint Bernardino) and monastic structures (such as the novices’ hall and friars’ cells). Nearby lies the cave where Saint Francis, according to tradition, withdrew.
  • Church of Sant’Onofrio: Dedicated to the patron saint of Cesi, it stands in the forest of the same name above the village. Built in 1675 on an old hermitage, it once housed the statue of the saint but is now abandoned.
  • Church of Sant’Erasmo: Built on the slopes of Mount Torre Maggiore in the 12th century and once part of a Benedictine abbey. The Romanesque structure was later altered with two buttresses on the façade, which also features a tympanum—the building’s only decorative element. The interior, now bare, has a single nave. On the altar stands a marble bust of Saint Erasmus, a replica of a 17th-century original.
Explore the surroundings
Main attractions in the vicinity