Seeking the Spoleto Hidden Wonders

Spoleto’s Piazza del Mercato (Market Square) was once site of the forum of Roman Spoletium.  A narrow street leading out the square is flanked by the medieval botteghe (shops) with arched doorways and stone display counters now holding flowering plants: In one of the shops at the end of the street, a sign on the wall lets  visitors know…

Sant’Eufemia: Splendid Transformation of a Lombard Ducal Palace

Spoleto’s Church of Sant’Eufemia has been aptly described as “a jewel of a church, situated inside the courtyard of archbishop’s palace and inspiring a profound sense of welcome, fascinating us with its sobriety and the purity of its unadulterated Romanesque style.” When you enter into the Church of Sant’Eufemia in Spoleto, you’re entering into the…

Spoleto’s Casa Romana: Imperial Splendor

Fortunately, some remains of the ancient world still stand proudly, like the 1st-century A.D. Roman theater of Spoleto….. ..and the  1st-century B.C. Temple to Minerva in Assisi ….……but others are hidden below ground for earthquakes, invasions, weather travesties such as flooding and re-utilization of ancient sites have resulted in the disappearance of ancient above-ground structures.…

In Spoleto, Noble Splendor in the Town Library

As you wander the labyrinthine medieval backstreets of Spoleto, you’ll pass many an imposing noble palazzo. And certainly the elegant seventeenth-century Palazzo Mauri should be a stop for bird-lovers and ornithologists.  The building was completely renovated in 2009 and is now the public library.  As I dropped in there recently, flowers were being unloaded in front of…

Spoleto’s Romanesque Sublimity: the Church of San Pietro

Rising behind the 12th-century Church of San Pietro extra moenia (outside the walls) is Monteluco, the sacred woods of the Romans, protected by the 3rd-2nd-century B.C. law, Lex Luci Spoletina which forbade the cutting of its trees. Still respected, this law is considered Italy’s first forestry law. And what a backdrop for one of the most stunning Romanesque churches in…

Spoleto’s Duomo: That Magnificent Backdrop

I remembering seeing as a child, the televised operetta, “Amahl and the Night Visitors” by Giancarlo Menotti  Many  years later, all in our family were enthralled by a New York City Ballet performance in Spoleto’s 1st c- A.D. Roman amphitheater, thanks to Menotti:  the ballet was one of many performances that year in Spoleto’s Festival dei…