Spoleto

The first stop on our recent trip to Italy was Spoleto in the hills of Umbria. I had chosen Spoleto after reading Michael Tucker’s book, “Living in a Foreign Language.” Tucker and his wife, Jill Eikenberry, starred on the hit TV series, L.A. Law. Their book describes their adventures in finding and renovating a home near Spoleto, and enjoying life there. (I highly recommend the book.)

While we enjoyed our Umbrian stay very much, if you were to ask me to choose between Tuscany and this part of Umbria for a first visit, I would choose central Tuscany, specifically Siena, the Chianti Classico area, Montalcino, Montepulciano,  San Gimigniano, Volterra, and Cortona - plus a compulsory stop in Florence. Why? - because of the Tuscan scenery, foods, wines, and attractions. After leaving Spoleto, we returned to revisit most of the aforementioned areas of Tuscany.

We were in Spoleto for about 3 & ½ days in late September. The weather was excellent, with high temperatures in the mid 70’s.

While we were there, we visited two other Umbrian towns - Gubbio and Norcia, as well as the Sibilline Mountains National Park near Norcia.

Spoleto (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoleto and http://www.spoletonews.it/storia.php) is a charming hill town of about 39,000 inhabitants. It has nice shops and restaurants, and appears to have a vibrant and youthful population. Its attractions include a massive 14^th Century fortress above the town; an impressive 14^th Century aqueduct; some Roman ruins; Monteluco - a mountain which offers beautiful views of the countryside; and a decent weekly outdoor market.

Outdoor Market, Cathedral, Fortress, Monteluco

(In upcoming blog postings, I will describe our wonderful hotel in Spoleto, the restaurants we tried, other Spoleto experiences, and our visits to Gubbio, Norcia, and the national park.)

We were not in Spoleto for its most interesting attraction - The Festival of Two Worlds (Festival dei Due Mondi). This huge annual festival of the arts - art, theater, music, opera, and cinema - lasts for over 2 weeks. This year, it was held from June 18 to July 4. You can see the extensive schedule of events at http://www.festivaldispoleto.com/interno.asp?id=115&lang=eng  and http://www.festivaldispoleto.com/interno.asp?id=121&lang=eng.

Charleston, South Carolina has a similar festival called the Spoleto Festival.

Spoleto is at least 2,500 years old. It was settled by Umbrian tribes. Two kilometers of walls from the 5^th Century BC still survive. It is 1,300 feet above sea level.

 From Our Hotel Room

The town was conquered by the Romans in 295 BC. The town proved to be an important ally of Rome. When the Carthaginian general Hannibal’s army defeated the Roman garrisons at nearby Lake Trasimeno, the Spoletans engaged the Carthaginians in battle and inflicted heavy casualties on them, forcing Hannibal to divert his army toward Piceno and Puglia rather than moving on Rome.

During the period of the Roman Empire, Spoleto was used as a vacation retreat by wealthy Romans, who built villas there.

The city was subsequently conquered by the Lombards and ruled by them for several centuries.

In 1155 AD, the city was destroyed by Frederick I Barbarossa, King of Germany, King of Italy, Holy Roman Emperor, etc. At the time of its destruction, Spoleto had been a very rich, prosperous city. Needless to say, its destruction had a disastrous affect on every aspect of its life.

In 1231 AD, Frederick II gave control of the city to the church under Pope Gregory IX.

In the middle of the 14^th Century, the Catholic Church decided to use Spoleto as a strategic base for the reconquest of lands for the Church. In 1362, Cardinal Albornoz, who had been entrusted with heading this endeavor, commissioned the building of the massive fortification to be named after him - the Rocca Albornoziana.

Spoleto from the Fortress

During the Napoleonic occupation of Italy (1809 - 1815), Spoleto played an important role as the capital of the Department of Trasimeno. There was a great renewal of political and social activity, accompanied by a building boom. That all came to an end with the return of control to the Papacy.

Side Street off Via del Municipio

With the reunification of Italy, progress returned to the city. However, the impact of World War II and a 1958 crisis related to lignite mining caused severe economic and demographic damage to the city.

Several subsequent events led to the revival of the city. First, was the A1 expressway, which connected Umbria to Rome. Second, was the establishment of the National Experimental Theater and the Italian Center for Medieval Studies. Third, was the establishment in 1958 of the annual Festival of the Two Worlds