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The castle building rises above the perimeter walls of an ancient parish church from the year one thousand, belonging to the monks of the Fonte Avellana hermitage.
Once owned by the Duke of Urbino, it passed on to the College of the Jesuit Fathers, to whom the present shape of the palace is owed, built in the early 1700’s to the designs of the architect Luigi Vanvitelli. Preserved from the period are the Jesuit style chapel, the immense cellars, some of the monastic cells and the crest of Pope Gregory XIII over the entrance door.
During Napoleonic occupation, the Castle and lands became an appanage of the viceroy of Italy, son of Giuseppina Beauharnais wife of the emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, Prince Eugène, who remained in possession of it even after the Congress of Vienna.
In 1824, it was inherited by his son Maximilian who, charmed by the place, turned it into a princely residence, having the nobility floor decorated with mythological frescoes, nearly all of which are preserved.
In 1846 the assets were acquired by the Papal State and then sold. Monterado was acquired by Count Cerasi, who arranged the park as it is still today. During World War II, the building was bombed and occupied by both of the warring parties.
The present owners have seen to careful restoration and reinstatement of the structure.
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