There’s no better place to start your visit to Montefalco than in the Church of San Francesco, a synthesis of history, culture and traditions. Built by the frati minori (Friars Minor) between 1335 and 1338, the Gothic church was the third Franciscan site in Montefalco and the first inside the medieval walls. In 1863 – three…
Medieval hill town Montefalco, – often called “the balcony of Umbria” – is noted for stunning views surrounding the town seen from every medieval alleyway.,… …… the splendid frescoes of the Church of San Francesco (now a museum), textiles and wine. The loom-woven textiles in shop windows along the main street show off grape motifs…
“How far my people have traveled! And not for pleasure….” exclaimed in an interview Elena Servi, over ninety, last Jewish woman (she has two sons) of Pitigliano and protagonist of the 2007 film of Luigi Faccini, “Il Pane della Memoria” (“The Bread of Memory”). Founder of the Jewish cultural center, La Piccola Gerusalemme, in Pitigliano in 1996, the…
Palazzo Orsini is a defensive complex constructed by the Aldobrandeschi counts of nearby Sovana in the 12th-century, probably built on site of a pre-existing convent or monastery. In the early 14th-century, the palazzo becomes property of the Orsini family – a powerful Roman Guelf (pro-Papacy) family – as a result of the marriage between Anastasia Aldobrandeschi…
Pitigliano, the town of Roman thieves? Well, only according to a legend that traces the name of this southern Tuscan town to two thieves, Petililo and Celiano, fleeing Rome after theft of a golden crown from a Jupiter statue on the Capitoline hill. Legends always bear a thread of truth and at the end of…
What is a cimitero monumentale? As you might imagine, notable funerary monuments highlight a monumental cemetery. Just steps away (literally) from that Lombard architectural splendor, the Basilica di San Salvatore, Spoleto’s mid-19th-cebtury cimitero monumentale merits a stroll. Designed by Spoleto architect Ireneo Aleandri, the cemetery respects his neoclassical style and seems to be stupendous theatrical scenography to highlight the…