Monteleone d'Orvieto
Monteleone d'Orvieto: a municipality in the province of Terni
Monteleone d'Orvieto is a municipality in Umbria with around 1362 inhabitants. It is located on the extreme hills of northern province of Terni, precisely in the sub-division of Alto Orvietano. It borders two municipalities of the province of Perugia (Piegaro and Città della Pieve) to the west and north, while to the south and east the neighboring municipalities are Fabro and Montegabbione.
Physical Geography
From the town, one can admire a splendid view of the long and narrow Val di Chiana, which was once the Valdichiana Romana, and the Tuscany and Latium Mountains. The town is traversed by the Strada statale 71 Umbro Casentinese Romagnola, which used to be part of the state management. The town is divided into different places and fractions located at different heights: the Capoluogo is located at 500 meters above sea level, while Santa Maria and Spiazzolino are respectively at 251 and 300 meters above sea level. There are also two other fractions called Colle which are respectively located at 340 and 352 meters above sea level, and finally San Lorenzo at 409 meters above sea level.
Monteleone was part of the Comunità Montana Monte Peglia e Selva di Meana and is part of the Comunità del dell'Orvietano-Narnese-Amerino-Tuderte (ONAT); it also belongs to the territorial pact VATO (Val di Chiana-Monte Amiata-Lago Trasimeno-Orvietano) and the local action group trasimeno-orvietano. Moreover, it is located within the STINA, the territorial system of naturalistic interest of Monte Peglia.
The Territory of Monteleone d'Orvieto
The municipality is crossed by several water bodies, including the rivers Chiani and Nestore and the streams Ripignolo and Fossalta. In particular, the Nestore river has a particular importance, as it is a right tributary of the Tiber river.
Monteleone d'Orvieto is located within the Roman Val di Chiana, which refers to the part of the valley that, in the Middle Ages, belonged to the Papal State. This part of the valley is distinguished from the Aretina and Senese Valdichiana which, in the past, belonged to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. Monteleone d'Orvieto is one of the last two municipalities in the long and narrow valley of the Chiani river, which runs through the province of Arezzo, that of Siena and ends in the Umbrian ones of Perugia and Terni.
The geological structure of the territory of Monteleone d'Orvieto dates back to the tectonic events that affected the area between the Miocene and the Pliocene-Pleistocene. In particular, Cattuto's study in 1988 showed that during the middle-upper Pliocene, the coastline of the sea occupied the current valleys of the Chiani and Paglia rivers. In this sea, large areas of sediments were deposited, then transported by the paleo Nestore, which carried its solid load corresponding to the ancient coastline.
In summary, Monteleone d'Orvieto is a municipality in Umbria of suggestive beauty and ancient origins, whose geographic location and morphology make it an ideal place for nature lovers and scenic beauty.
