Longhi Castle

We decided on a whim to do a tour and hand to wait a while. It was TOTALLY worth it! This castle is owned by the Longhi family, some of whom still live there today - the first guy that let us in the doors was apparently one of them.

The castle was prison to Pope Celestine V. He was a simple priest who was elevated to pope as they thought he would be easy to control. There was a schism at the time, and the other pope (the anti-pope) had him overthrown and imprisoned. He lived in a tiny cell for years before dying.

WARNING: somewhat creepy stuff ahead

A custom of the time was to create keepsakes from the body parts of various people. There were small boxes and curios with what looks like quilling and various organs and teeth. The close ups are bits of Celestine's heart and a tooth.

One of the later Longhis had seven daughters and then finally had a son, Francesco. He died at three, and his oldest sister confessed on her death bed that she had poisoned him. The mother, Amelia, never got over it and had tiny versions of him painted into all of her portraits, as well as changing her clothes to mourning black. Oh, and she also preserved his body in wax and kept it displayed with all of his clothes and toys. (FYI, the guide strongly encourage us to take pictures).Read more