Spoleto--yet another great Umbrian town

October 30, Wednesday

Spent the day in the lovely town of Spoleto. The Valle Umbra (Umbrian valley), stretching from Assisi to Spoleto, consists of picture-perfect farmland with alternating crops: mostly olive groves, with some vineyards and hay fields creating a colorful palate. The hills that border the valley are crowned every so often by another amazingly well-preserved medieval hill-town. Our favorite view in this area is of the distant hills with their overlapping ridges.

Valle Umbra

Landscape views

After squeezing the Fiat Panda into an unbelievably tight space, we marched into town in search of the obligatory morning cappuccino, and the "mobile scala" (escalator) that would take us high up to the castle that over-looks the town. Of course finding the entrance to this amazing series of about 5 escalators was not easy, but after asking a few locals-and getting some funny answers-despite my great Italian, we finally found it! Next to the castle is an ancient Roman aqueduct spanning the 230 meter gorge, and we walked across it to the other side!

We walked across the aqueduct!

Looks tricky, but in all fairness, I have to admit to the easy walking bridge attached to the side of the aqueduct (Ponte delle Torre), making the walk across safe and easy--though still very high! Great views of the castle from the other side.

View looking back to Spoleto Castle

Gary checks out the artesian water source

We walked downhill into town to the Piazza Duomo. What a grand Piazza for such a little town! Spoleto was pretty quiet that day, but this town hosts a famous annual art/music festival that packs thousands into this little piazza.

Spoleto Piazza

Lunch on the Piazza-a recurring theme!

After a delightful frittata lunch on the piazza, while waiting for the afternoon opening time of the Cathedral, we ventured to checkout the ruins of a roman house (Casa Romano). We recognized the home's layout and floor tile decor from our previous trip to Pompeii.

Casa Romana water cistern

Roman floor mosaics from about 1AD

Back to the Cathedral for our grand art-viewing of the day: the series of Fra Filippo Lippi frescoes (1460's). We are constantly bewildered by the brilliant colors and preservation of these frescoes throughout Italy. These did not disappoint!  The subject material, "The Life of the Virgin", is a favorite for many church frescoes.

Apse (behind the altar) with frescoes

Fra Filippo Lippi's "Coronation of the Virgin"

We enjoyed our perfect day wandering through historical Spoleto, checking out the curvy cobblestone streets and noted the support arches between the buildings. Great camera angles everywhere we looked! Wandering and meandering, that's what we do on this endless vacation!

Meandering through town

Support arches between buildings