As is well known, artisanal crafts are the star players throughout Umbria, but within this very rich regional context, some towns and cities stand out even more due to the peculiarity of the craft activities they dedicate themselves to and safeguard. Città di Castello is one such example because it has managed to preserve traditions, in their original forms, from the ravages of time and modernity. Examples of this custodianship can be found in the Laboratori di “Tela Umbra” (Umbrian textile workshops) and in the Tipografia Grifani Donati (printing works). In the first, in the same premises used a hundred years ago, where about forty weavers worked under Baroness Alice Franchetti, prestigious pure linen fabrics such as tablecloths, curtains, towels and blankets are still produced today. In the second, it is possible to rediscover the ancient artisanal techniques of typographic art. The owner, a descendant of the Donati family, in addition to dedicating himself to the promotion and enhancement of the city’s typographic heritage, continues the family tradition of lithography (working exclusively on stone), and of the binding and restoration of books. Today, the workshop-museum is still a benchmark for all the artists who work with traditional engraving and who need equipment suitable for printing lithographs, woodcuts, etchings, dry-point or linoleum etchings. Age-old, fully-functioning pieces of machinery render the creations made within Città di Castello’s workshops unique examples of their kind.
There are also few comparisons to be found in another field of craftsmanship in which Città di Castello artisans take the lead and stand out for the finesse of their products: the creation of period-style reproduction furniture. This ancient tradition was successfully transformed in the early 20th century thanks to two major figures: the antique dealer and merchant Elia Volpi, who donated his collection of antique furniture to Città di Castello and Cesare Sisi, antique dealer and artisan who, several years later, developed the idea of using old furniture to reproduce new pieces in period style. The mastery of Città di Castello’s native craftsmen lies in their inimitable ability to harmoniously blend together ancient and new wood to create wholly original pieces. The recently created “Vero mobile in stile Altotiberino” brand or ‘trade mark’ is both a confirmation and a guarantee of the authenticity of this timeless art.
Another artisanal activity that should be mentioned, even if it has undergone a less fortunate fate, is Tobacco drying, which represented one of the main productive activities in Città di Castello for several decades until it was completely abandoned in the 1970s. What remains today of the large artisanal plant dedicated to the drying of Tobacco are the large warehouses, which have definitely changed their function, having been repurposed and transformed into exhibition pavilions for the works of Alberto Burri.