Villa San Carlo and the village of Montorio

Facing the sunset, from the top of Mount Martinelli, the Villa San Carlo Estate looks out onto the village of Montorio. Located just a few kilometres east of Verona, Montorio Veronese is a pre-Roman village that features the ruins of an imposing castle and a real treasure, i.e. water. The Romans had realised how important water was and channelled it into an aqueduct that served the entire settlement of Verona. Today, the springs and “ditches” are still its most valuable and remarkable feature.

It would not be implausible to think that Dante, in more recent times, who was likely staying at the summer residence of the Scaligeri family in Montorio, drew inspiration from the Montorio springs when he wrote:

We crossed the circle to the other bank near
to a fount that boils, and pours itself
along a gully that runs out of it

canto VII of the Inferno, The Divine Comedy (vv. 100-102).

The most recent remnants of a prosperous past – in which man and nature had established a mutually respectful and supportive relationship – are the canals, mills and factories.

The Location, why a historical industrial site?

The location is an integral part of an industrial archaeological site dating back to the 1920s, which will soon be functionally converted and enhanced as part of several redevelopment projects.

The project involves the restoration of some of the buildings in the “Ex Sapel” area, a valuable industrial archaeology site built in the mid-19th century on the original mill sites, which housed a major manufacturing complex for spinning wool. It was the ideal location for this type of business due to its abundance of running water. Its “production centre” status is the reason why the village of Montorio is known as the “Manchester of Italy”.

In the early 1900s, the Montorio plant was the old headquarters of one of the leading spinning mills in Italy in the 20th century.
In the 1940s, it was taken over by the Sapel company of the Lanerossi group. The plants remained in operation until 1985, when it was finally closed down.

The Wine Shop

In September 2020, knowing that we wanted to be active locally, we opened our wine shop in order to be able to reconnect with the urban fabric as part of a broader social project.

Opening hours: Monday to Friday 9 a.m.-1 p.m. 2-5 p.m.

For information: tel. 045 9237753 info@villasancarlo.wine