History
The Palace takes the name from the noble and unlucky countess Muti   who was the   owner of the Palace at the end of 1800. She never got married and was also the owner of almost all the houses and of  the woody and agricultural  estates of the village. In those times it was extremely difficult  for a single woman  to run lands and business and after a sequence of negative circumstances (mostly due to the high expenses for the renovation of the Palace) she started to have severe financial problems. At that time  a representative of the wealthy family Gigli arrived from Città di Castello to carry over an important job for the municipality of Pergola. He supported financially the countess, but at the same time he acquired all her properties, including the Palace. The countess was left with just a miserable small house in front of the palace where she died in poverty. The properties remained in the hands of the Giglis and passed from one generation to the next one. At the beginning of 1900 a General of the army and his brother, notary  in Pergola, lived in the Palace. All his young  and graduated sons   didn’t want to stay there and went to northern Italy coming to the Palace just during summer until our family bought it in 1980. During the Second World War because of their huge wooden boards the cellars of the  Palazzo  had an important role  as anti-aircraft bunker for the country population during the bombings.

The Structure
When we bought it, the Palace was extremely damaged but its historical structure was intact. The renovation which lasted a few years got us involved  on many fronts in order to recover all the authentic left in the building:  the huge wooden boards, the terracotta floors, the furniture, the small objects used daily by the owners. The structure is very old and can be dated back to the fourteenth   century while the left side of the doorway and the rooms’ false ceilings in liberty style has been restored some years later.

 

Historic and architectonic curiosities of the Palazzo

On the right side of the northern main entrance you can see a walled up bow door  named the Dead’s Door, a  typical sign of the religious   culture of Gubbio (the inhabitants of  Gubbio  were the founders of  Pergola) which didn’t want  the corpse of the relative passing through the main door but through a small opening at its  side, which was walled  up after the passage of the corpse.

 

Mezzanotte of Pergola

Mezzanotte is  a  small village of  about ten houses built around the  historic  small church of S. Anna, saint patron  of the village. Almost all inhabitants  are farmers and  even the oldest ones are still working the land, breeding chickens, pigs, cows for their own families and some friends. They also sell  biological fruits and vegetables. Palazzo Muti is  situated in the middle of the  village near the church, in a safe and peaceful place. It seems that the name  Mezzanotte  was given to the  village  because in  the  past it  was surrounded by a  thick  wood which didn’t let pass the sunlight.

 

Palazzo Muti Bed & Breakfast - Località Mezzanotte, 5 Pergola (PU) Italy