A ribbon of shade, light and stone that slips between houses, bends, rises and—come spring—blooms with colour: Vicolo Brutto is one of Montecchio’s most intimate, atmospheric passages. You’re in the oldest part of the castle, right by the first ring of 12th-century walls: stairs, tiny landings, relieving arches and tight-knit stone houses compose a small urban landscape of rare charm.
The name hints at a “rough” past, but the experience today is quite different. When Montecchio was a fortified castle, upper floors were reached by retractable wooden walkways pulled inside during sieges; in peaceful times they were replaced by sturdy external stone stairs, still visible along the façades.
Look closely and everyday traces emerge: worn lintels, marks of old beams, bricked-up arrow slits. In the warm season, pots and window boxes dot steps and sills, turning the lane into a quiet stage set—pedsteps, thresholds and little landings that invite you to slow down.
Today Vicolo Brutto is a short stretch where light glides over the masonry and, step by step, returns the living image of the medieval town. In spring, it’s among Montecchio’s most photographed corners.
If you’re following the urban trek, step into the lane, notice the stairs and landings, capture a few photos, then continue towards Piazza San Bernardino. Or pause and let silence and colour wrap around you: here, “Brutto”—“ugly”—is only a memory and a name.
Umbro-Etruscan frontier land, land of contested castles, land of a landscape shaped by silent hamlets and rolling hills of olive, oak and chestnut trees.
Fondo Europeo Agricolo per lo Sviluppo Rurale: L’Europa investe nelle zone rurali
The European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development: Europe investing in rural areas
