Castello dei Conti Oliva, Piandimeleto

The castle was transformed in the fifteenth century by Count Carlo Oliva, a cultured lord who had been trained at the court of Sigismondo Malatesta and later at that of Federico da Montefeltro. He started from an older fortress on the River Foglia, whose origins are unknown.

From outside it retains the appearance of a fortress: Ghibelline merlons, corbels, the patrol walkway and few small windows. But the south façade, facing the square, has two rows of large windows with sandstone frames, and inside the rooms with vaulted ceilings and decorations recall the Ducal Palace in Urbino, which the count took as his model.

Carlo Oliva employed the duke's artists: the Fiesole sculptor Francesco di Simone Ferrucci created for him the tombs of his parents in the family chapel of the nearby convent of Montefiorentino, in Frontino.

Today the castle houses the Civic Museums of Piandimeleto, with the Earth Sciences Museum and the Museum of Peasant Life. It makes a good stop between Sassocorvaro and Carpegna, in the heart of the Marche Montefeltro.