Villa Franchetti “La Montesca”;Once an aristocratic Summer Residence built by the Barons Leopoldo and Giulio Franchetti;in the second half of the 19th century;La Montesca stands on the slope of Mount Arnato.It was built on a design of the Florentine architect Giuseppe Bocccini.The Villa dominates;from its panoramic position;the upper course of the Tiber River and the town of Città di Castello.The typical landscape of the “Valtiberina”;with its sweet hills;cultivated flat and woods frame this example of a 19th century Residence;inspired by the Renaissance and Mannerism.;The Villa is divided into three bodies—the central one has three floors sided by two higher lateral tower-like wings—due to the insertion of a Florentine style covered Loggia on the roof.Today the design of the façade is punctuated by its arched portal entrance;the arches of the portico and the white stone rusticated-framed windows.The interior of the Villa is elegant;rich with sumptuous halls;paintings and sculptures of Clemente Marini;Giovanni Panti;Ernesto Bellanti and Antonio Passaglia.;The complex also includes the Warden House;the Lemon-house;the Guest-quarters and the Montessori school.It was in Villa Montesca where;in 1901;a free elementary school for peasants’ children was founded.This is the place where this educational experience led by Maria Montessori—called by Alice Franchetti Hallgarten;the American wife of Senator Leopoldo Franchetti;a cultured woman with a philanthropic spirit—accomplished its first steps.;The wide garden with a central pool opens in front of the house.The English Garden;a true botanical garden;is rich with a large variety of plants from America.;The Villa;property of the Umbria Region;has maintained its educative function.In fact;it hosts a Center for training and research.