Known as the green heart of Italy, Umbria is popular for its medieval cities, rolling hills, rich cultural heritage and delicious food. The region lies right next to Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna, but remains largely anonymous. But the country’s best-kept secret may not remain around for long, as Umbria’s Castello Antognolla is being transformed into a Six Senses luxury resort, CNN reported.
Six Senses Antognolla will include an initial 71-room hotel (16 of which are suites located within the original castle), a 3,000 square meter wellness center, and 17 custom residences. The resort, which features vineyards, olive groves and numerous cypress trees, is scheduled to open in late 2026.
The property offers panoramic views of the 18-hole golf course, the crown jewel of this location, aimed at challenging the dominance of the Spanish and Portuguese golf hotspots on the continent.
Formerly the burial place of Saint Herculanus, the patron saint of Perugia, the capital of Umbria, the castle was embroiled in a long-running power struggle between several aristocratic families in one of Italy’s few landlocked regions. . Pope Boniface IX granted the fortress to Ruggero di Antognolla in 1399, but the Baglioni family took control of it before the Antognolla family brutally recaptured it in the early 16th century.
The nobleman Cornelio Oddi purchased the estate in 1628 with the intention of turning it into a holiday destination. Even though ownership has changed hands many times since then, recent events show that Oddi’s goal lives on.
