In the heart of the small town of Montone are the Biblioteca Comunale and the Archivio Storico (city library and town history archives) in the ex-Santa Caterina D’Alessandria Benedictine convent that has been restored.
It appears that the fortified mountaintop village of Montone was destroyed in a punitive attack ordered by Pope Sixtus IV to punish Carlo, son of Braccio. Only the tower remains today. The town was replaced in later centuries by the St. Catherine Benedictine convent as a statement of the power and position that the Church retained in opposition to the Fortebracci family. The convent rooms became public in modern times and today they are where local culture and history are proudly preserved.
The library, opened in 1999, is divided into two rooms – one for consulting and one for reading – and is equipped with modern multimedia technology.
The city history archives are one of the best in Umbria due to the valuable documents they contain. The “Acta Consilii,” very old papers from the judiciary and notaries offices and two papal seals with the crest of Pope Martin V, were documents that excommunicated Braccio Fortebracci.