Tower of Parisina -in Villa Navarra- (Torre di Parisina -in Villa Navarra)

It seems that the tower of Gualdo, later incorporated into a villa, was one of the dowry assets of Parisina Malatesta, daughter of Andrea, lord of Cesena, who married Marquis Nicolò III d’Este in 1418 at the age of fourteen. According to Malagù, the tower was returned to the Malatesta family in 1425, after the unfortunate marquise had been beheaded together with her lover Ugo, eldest son of Nicolò III and of his favourite, Stella dei Tolomei. Popular tradition has it that the tower was one of the places of their clandestine meetings. It is in the subsequent history of the complex, which gradually expanded. In the 19th century, it belonged to the brothers Alessandro and Francesco Navarra, whose family, from Gualdo, had grown rich from trade. Thanks to the wealth they had accumulated, the two started large-scale agricultural enterprises. They also proceeded with a restoration of the complex, giving it its current appearance with a neo-eclectic taste. The last of the Navarras, Francesco, who died in 1916, lacked a son to whom to leave the conspicuous inheritance. He therefore left his assets, including the villa, to set up the «Brothers Navarra Foundation» for young farmers.