The MeCC: Ethnographic Museum of Rural Life
In the heart of Campello sul Clitunno, at the foot of the sanctuary of the Madonna della Bianca, stands Palazzo Casagrande, an elegant 18th-century residence that today houses the MECC – Ethnographic Museum of Rural Life.
Palazzo Casagrande–Chillotti
The building, purchased by the Municipality on 6 June 1980, has a history that reflects more than two centuries of changing ownership and taste. Originally belonging to the Fratellini family of Sellano, who had it built at the end of the 18th century and enlarged the surrounding structures, the palace later passed to botanist Francesco Francolini, who transformed the garden into a small botanical park with exotic species—Lebanese cedars, palms, Atlas pines and even a sequoia—adding an unexpected touch of wonder to the Umbrian landscape.
The palace, imposing yet harmonious, is arranged over three floors. On the ground floor, a large entrance hall paved with local stone and terracotta welcomes visitors with sober elegance; the staircase leads to the main floor, where a large cross-vaulted hall stands out, decorated with neoclassical faux-coffer motifs. The side rooms, embellished with floral decorations and musical instruments, testify to the refined life of a small provincial aristocracy. The paintings, attributed to the Coccia brothers of Norcia, recall those of the nearby municipal palace, created in the same years.
On the lower floor is the kitchen, which still preserves the large 1798 fireplace—the domestic heart of the house—flanked by cellars and cisterns for water collection. In the walled garden stands the structure once used as a lemon house.
