Spello, che bello!
Yes, a medieval hilltown gem, famous for the area olive oil, the famed wine cellar there and the splendid Renaissance fresco…..
What a view of Spello as you approach up a side road from Assisi:
And on a recent tour, a new discovery for me as well as tour guests Sue and John: outside of the medeival walls of Spello, the coat-of-arms of Pope Paul III (16th-century!) surmounts a fountain where many a local fills water bottle with this fresh and cold spring water.
After our stop at the fountain, we headed up the mountain road winding out of Spello for a visit to one of Umbria’s last “castle-villages,” Collepino.
Olive groves spread out below us and Foligno was off in the distance:
As we neared Collepino, we pulled off the road for photos of the tiny walled medieval castle-village:
Entering the medieval protective walls in local pink limestone of Collepino, the tribute to the Collepino boys who died in World War I greets the visitor, each name inscribed in the local pink limestone plaque, the laurel wreath of victory beneath the plaque:
The war monument is affixed to one of the four remaining medieval guard towers of the village: there were once seven.
You’ll spot others as you stroll the winding alleyways of this gem of a medieval fortress-village:
The slit-like opening, il feretoio (“embrasure”) at the base of the tower was for the shooting out of crossbows.
Another embrasure survives in a section of the wall near Collepino’s medieval entry and not far away an abundant rosemary bush hangs off the medieval wall, its deep green accenting the local pink limestone:
Another medeival tower – embrasure at its base – towers over the medieval wall and a plaque with the griffin (part eagle, part lion), symbol of Perugia is on the wall, indicating the subjection of the fortified village to Perugia centuries ago:
You’ll enter Collepino through a medieval arch:
Just inside the medieval arch, we stopped at the drinking fountain, a red cross inscribed in the pink limestone plaque over the date of its construction, 1548:
Another 16th-century fountain is around the corner – not built for drinking water and for thirsty animals but for the wash area for the local women:
As you walk Collepino, winding narrow alleyways in the rosy pink limestone are flanked by medieval homes of the same stone.
These pink limestone streets – each one an artisanal masterpiece – loop around the tiny Collepino church:
Pointed arches over the entryways are testament to Collepiino’s medieval past….
Outside of an ancient wooden door of a stall, a rusty ladder and a cane-seated chair mended with rope flanked a broom – made of broom.
I had showed Sue and John a broom plant growing on the edge of town….
In May and June, the plants are abundant with perfumed yellow flowers…
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but at the end of summer, the dried bloom bushes are cut and bound by the farmers for use as brooms to clean out the stalls.
As you leave Collepino, a frescoed Madonna holding the Christ Child – always fresh flowers before her – seems to bid “arrivederci.”
The Christ Child’s hand is raised in blessing:
…..perhaps to wish the visitor a buon viaggio…..and a return soon to Collepino?
