There are country houses in Italy, and then there is Le Torri di Bagnara. Spanning 1,500 hectares of olive groves, sunflower fields and green-gold woods in the heart of Umbria, this is one of the most extraordinary medieval castles in Italy — an aristocratic estate that has been in the same family for over a century and is now available for exclusive villa buyouts for groups who want to experience what it actually feels like to live inside one.
Le Torri di Bagnara
The property was built between the 11th and 15th centuries and has been the private residence of the Giunta Tremi family since 1901. Its current owner and hostess, Zenaide Giunta Tremi, restructured the estate together with her late mother Adela and runs it today with the kind of warmth and personal attention that no hotel can manufacture.
Zenaide has fascinating stories to share about her family line — which descends, she’ll tell you, from Napoleon Bonaparte — and a genuine passion for the land she has inherited. She is very much the soul of the place.
The estate is available exclusively for private groups: family holidays, intimate weddings, wellness retreats. It sleeps up to 30 guests across two historic structures. The first, Castello di Pieve San Quirico, is an elegant castle-villa with an intimate courtyard that functions as the heart of the property.
The second, La Torre di Bagnara, has apartments styled in a medieval fashion. A recently refurbished watchtower, perched on a hilltop with its own three floors and eight bedrooms, adds a third option for larger groups. Between them all lies a panoramic saltwater pool, blessed with sunshine all day.
The setting is extraordinary. Overlooking Umbria’s heartland, with Assisi, Perugia, Gubbio, Spoleto and Orvieto all within easy reach, the estate sits in a landscape that feels untouched and unhurried. The only sounds are the breeze, the cicadas and the bees moving between the estate’s rosebushes. Zenaide is a committed animal lover who has ensured the property is protected from hunters, and roe deer and hares have quietly repopulated the surrounding woods as a result.
The experience of staying here is built around that connection to the land. There are five walking and biking trails on the property for those who want to explore on their own, and a range of experiences that can be arranged for groups.
- Truffle hunting is the one not to miss: accompanied by a professional hunter and his dog, you move through the woods and past the olive groves in search of black truffles before reaching a panoramic viewpoint for a truffle picnic with sparkling wines.
- Cooking classes in the castle’s kitchen draw on herbs and seasonal vegetables from the estate’s own garden.
- Private wine tastings, hosted by a Lungarotti sommelier, can be arranged in the courtyard.
- For something more unusual, guests can take to the skies above Umbria on one of Italy’s largest hot air balloons, or opt for a helicopter tour of the surrounding countryside.
Food at Le Torri di Bagnara is seasonal, fresh and locally sourced — a reflection of the way life has always been lived in this part of Italy. The estate’s kitchen team can cater for events of up to 60 people, and the outdoor pergola, with its long table shaded from the Umbrian sun, is a particularly beautiful place to eat.
The estate also has an 18th-century parish church on site, available for both religious and civil wedding ceremonies, making it one of the more atmospheric and genuinely historic venues in the region for those planning an Italian wedding. The hedge-lined Italian garden provides a natural backdrop that requires very little in the way of additional decoration.
Sustainability is woven into the fabric of daily life here. Rainwater irrigates the fields, the pool is cleaned with sea salt, energy comes from solar panels and the estate’s food supply is seasonal and local. It is, in that sense, a place that has always operated in harmony with its landscape — long before sustainability became something to market.
Le Torri di Bagnara is not for everyone, and it doesn’t try to be. It’s for those who want space, privacy and the particular pleasure of inhabiting a place with genuine history rather than simply visiting it. The kind of trip you spend years thinking about afterward.
This post was produced in partnership with Le Torri di Bagnara.
