Castello di Giove, Medieval castle in Giove, Italy

Castello di Giove is a stone fortress perched atop a hill at 627 meters elevation, marking the boundary between former territories of Orvieto and Perugia. The structure includes a chapel and 16th-century cellars that run beneath the main building.

The first documented mention of the fortress dates to 1191, when Orvieto, Todi and Amelia contested it for its strategic position. In 1328 Pope Urban IV granted the fief to Count Pietro di Anguillara; in 1465 Amelia occupied it before it passed to the Farnese. On 14 July 1597 Matteo Farnese sold the fief to the Mattei brothers for 65,000 scudi.

The castle's name comes from a temple to Zeus once on the site, and the building is also called palazzo ducale or palazzo Mattei. Girolamo Mattei, son of Asdrubale and Costanza Gonzaga-Novellara, became first Duke of Giove on 10 October 1643, a title his descendants still hold.

The castle stands in the village of Giove, in the province of Terni. Inside, a large ramp allowed carriages to reach the piano nobile, and the building has 365 windows, one for each day of the year. The property has changed owners many times up to the present day.

The castle has 365 windows, one for each day of the year, a detail visible across its facades. Inside, a large ramp let carriages climb to the piano nobile. Asdrubale Mattei, who bought the fief with his brother Ciriaco in 1597, was an art collector and patron of Caravaggio.