Porano

Porano is a village with about 2000 inhabitants, located in the southern part of the Umbria region, in central Italy. It is surrounded by medieval walls and it has a parish church with some frescoes of great artistic value, including an Annunciation from the 15th century and a marble stoup from the early 17th century. In the historical center, some valuable residential buildings were built at the beginning of the modern age (16th century). In particular, Villa del Corgnolo (also called del Cornaro or Corniolo) is immersed in one of the most important historical parks in Umbria. Starting from a pre-existing medieval monastery structure, the noble Orvieto family of the Gualterio family, in 1706, transformed the property into a summer holiday destination for prelates. For this reason, the villa was also called the 'villa of the seven cardinals' and still preserves an external space called the' cardinals' roundabout '. A plaque on the rear facade testifies that in the villa, by virtue of the close ties that Cardinal Filippo Antonio Gualterio had with the British royal house, the Gualterio hosted James III of England in June 1723. Later, in the nineteenth century, the princess of Savoy was also a guest. This, together with what can be deduced from the long inventories of the furnishings drawn up in 1741, which revealed the presence of rich furniture, statues and libraries, suggests what great splendor this elegant leisure place must have known. In 1874, Senator Filippo Antonio Gualterio, descendant of the cardinal of the same name and leading exponent of the Risorgimento, as well as minister of the Kingdom of Italy, was forced to sell the property because of the large expenses incurred for political purposes. Following the purchase by the Viti Mariani family, the villa changed its name to Villa Paolina, from the name of the new owner Paolina Viti. The villa is now the headquarters of the Institute of Research on Terrestrial Ecosystems (IRET) of the National Research Council (CNR).