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…
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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…
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…
On Spoleto’s Cinciano Hill, the Church of San Ponziano, built between the 11th and 13th centuries on an early Christian cemetery site, is dedicated to San Ponziano of Roman Spoletium said to have been…
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…
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.…
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…
When the 28-year-old Lord Byron was in Spoleto in 1816, he was captivated by the Fonti del Clitunno “the purest God of gentle waters! And most serene of aspect, and most clear,..,” Byron’s lauded the Clitunno…
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…
As she opened the cloister door so that we could return into the church, I asked Suora Giacinta how many sisters lived in her Montefalco Augustinian cloistered convent, “Ten,” she told me,”…