Enologica in Montefalco: More Than Wines

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…

Monumental Splendor in Spoleto’s Monumental Cemetery

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…

Spoleto’s Roman Theater: Then and Now

From the 1st-century B.C. to the 4th-century, A.D., the citizens of Spoletium gathered in their teatro for evening pleasures Theatrical, dance and musical presentations again animate the teatro romano which often backdrops Spoleto’s Two Worlds Festival ….and not only. Our family saw the New York City Ballet perform in the Roman theater at the Spoleto Festival some years ago:  an unforgettable…

San Gregorio Maggiore: In Spoleto, Splendor Underground

When you arrive by train to Spoleto, take the short walk to the nearby 12th-century Romanesque splendor, Basilica di San Gregorio Maggiore, dedicated to Spoleto’s San Gregorio, priest martyred in 304 A.D. during the reign of Diocletian. The passio (story of a saint’s martyrdom) recounts that after the Saint’s decapitation, Gregorio was buried by a pious spoletina, Abbondanza, close…

San Salvatore: Lombard Majesty in Spoleto

Renowned historian and archaeologist, Giuseppe Sordini has deemed Spoleto’s Basilica di San Salvatore “maggiore monumento spoletino dell’antichità,” that is, Spoleto’s greatest monument to antiquity. In fact, although its exact origins are unknown, the Basilica is clearly a stunning building of the Early Christian period, and one of Umbria’s  rarest and most important testimonies of ecclesiastical architecture…