The first sufficiently well-established information on the village of Villa Burgi Novi (the original name of Borghetto), which was not yet well fortified at the time, dates back to the end of the 13th century, a period in which the territory on which the new settlement stood was the subject of dispute due to the struggle to expand the borders of its territory between the Communes of Perugia, Cortona and Arezzo, as well as the intervention of the Florentines and the exiled Perugian nobles.

Instead, the previous, ancient boundary ran between Tuoro and Passignano, tracing the linguistic boundary (the dialects of Tuoro and, even more so, of Borghetto are closer to the Cortonese Chianino than the dialect of Passignano, which tends strongly towards Perugian). In order to defend the north-western borders of the municipality, which, territorially, meant defending the true gateway to Lake of Perugia (i.e. to Lake Trasimeno, the historic defile Malpasso is located in the immediate vicinity), Borgo Nuovo was fortified by the Perugian magistrates at the end of the 14th century.

The castle was, on several occasions, lost and re-conquered, damaged and rebuilt, and was the scene of memorable clashes, such as the one in 1501 between the noble Perugian families of the Oddi and Baglioni, as well as raids by opposing factions, until it became almost uninhabitable. This forced the Perugian authorities to donate two “mine” of land (almost a hectare) to anyone who wished to settle in Borghetto.

Of the old castle, in addition to the parish church of St Martin, whose origin coincides with the fortification of Borgo Nuovo, the tower in the south-east corner, symbol of the hamlet, as well as sections of the walls and smaller corner towers, remain.

Around 1570, the military architect Cipriano Piccolpasso drew the first visual representation of the castle, sketching its plan. It appears to be rectangular in shape, with four towers at the corners connected by crenellated walls at the top of which the patrol walkway develops. In the middle of the walls are drawn two semicircular outlying towers, from whose embrasures, in the event of an attack, flanking shots were made, which was very advantageous for the defenders. Finally, inside the courtyard, various dwellings are placed, but without a precise location in blocks. Neither the two gates, one east and the other west, can be seen in the drawing, nor is the ancient church of St. Martin indicated.

In 1479, the castle was taken by the Florentine army led by Roberto Malatesta, lord of Rimini, during the war against the Pope. In 1643, the castle suffered its final destruction at the hands of Ferdinand II of Tuscany.

Borghetto was for centuries a frontier land (and, in a certain sense, still is today: this territory is divided, from an administrative point of view, between two regions: Umbria and Tuscany; between two provinces: Perugia and Arezzo; and it belongs to three municipalities: Tuoro sul Trasimeno, Cortona and Castiglione del Lago), it became an inhospitable land due to constant raids and prone to smuggling and banditry.

This sense of insecurity and precariousness, exacerbated by the numerous fluctuations and flooding of the lake (a chronicle of 1756 recounts that one entered the castle by boat through a door garnished with two towers), had repercussions on the life and work and even fishing activity of the Borghigiani: the port of Borghetto is cited among the eight on Lake Trasimeno in the Cedola (or Law on Lake Trasimeno) of Pope Pius V. Yet fishing activity for long periods did not turn out to be the main occupation of the inhabitants of Borghetto. The poet Matteo dall’Isola Maggiore (16th cent.), for example, recalls the Borghigiani (inhabitants of Borghetto) as charcoal burners. But unlike understanding fishing as a ‘cultural universe’ in the manner of the inhabitants of Isola Maggiore or San Feliciano, the Borghigiani favoured a fishing practice based on individuality rather than on collectivity. This is why the fishermen of Borghetto, whose fishing techniques were considered poor and less fruitful than those of the ‘professionals’, were ironically called ‘land fishermen’.

But what distinguishes Borghetto and its inhabitants, despite their turbulent history, is a strong, very strong collective identity that, for better or worse, makes them say ‘Borghetto does it itself’.