Montebello Castle (also known as Azzurrina Castle) stands on a 436 meter high hill in the province of Rimini. From this elevated position the manor dominates the village of Montebello di Torriana and allows a wide view over the whole plain.

In 1186 the castle passed under the ownership of the Malatesta family who carried out an extensive renovation creating a well-fortified military fortress. Subsequently, in 1463 it was given by the will of Pope Pius II to the Guidi di Bagno family, to which it still belongs today.
Following the damage suffered during the Second World War, the Guidi di Bagno family restored the castle in 1989. To this day, the tower, the feudal jails, the secret passages, and the defensive pitfalls, as well as the safe, remain from the medieval period.
Inside the Montebello castle you can still find original furnishings and some of the ancient walls.

Connected to this castle, there is a legend about a little girl (Guendalina). Legend has it as follows:
Guendalina, daughter of a feudal lord of Montebello, on 21 June 1375 disappeared in the gravel of the old fortress and was never found. In some 17th century tales, Guendalina was described as follows: “… she had sky-colored eyes and light hair with blue reflections …”; and this is where the nickname “Azzurrina” (“Light-blue”) comes from. Guendalina was actually born albino, a condition that at the time was associated with a diabolical nature. To defend the child from other prejudices, her father closed her insisw the Fortress walls under the close supervision of two guards. On June 21, while her father was in combat away from the Castle, Azzurrina was playing in the Fortress with a ball of rags during a severe storm. At one point, the ball fell into the icebox of the Castle and Guendolina went inside to retrieve the ball. At this point, the guards would have heard a scream coming from the gravel, but entering the only way in they found neither the ball nor the child.
Legend has it that the ghost of Azzurrina is still present in the Fortress and that it makes itself heard every 5 years, during the summer solstice.

During recent years, several studies and recordings have been made in the castle, detecting different sounds. Visiting the castle, you will be able to walk along the last corridor where Azzurrina was playing ball before disappearing into the icebox and listening to the recordings, the interpretation of which, of course, will be linked to the thoughts of those who listen to them.