Monterenzio
Subject: Dispersed buildings
Toponym: Scaruglio
Type: House with a porch
Municipality: Monterenzio
Locality: Villa di Cassano
Description
An interesting building, in proximity to the one called Dogana, is Scaruglio, a noteworthy example of 15th- or 16th-century mountain construction featuring a large porch with pillars supporting the eaves of the roof.
The walls flare out at the bottom and a door with stone jambs and architrave leads out onto the porch.
On the side facing the mountain slope there are traces of a doorway on the first floor which, except for a small window, has been filled in with masonry; it cannot be ruled out, therefore, that it was originally a tower house that was later lowered.
The name seems to derive from the Late Latin scarium, diminutive scariulum, or small construction site or staging area; a goods yard, perhaps, and if that were the case it may be deduced - also given the presence of a building called Dogana (customs house) - that this was a transport hub of considerable importance for this part of the territory.