Guided Tour in Cascia

Cascia and Roccaporena: walking the roads of sacred in Valnerina

Cascia is famous for Santa Rita’s sanctuary. After her canonisation in the 19th century a new Basilica was built, in 1937-1947, dedicated to her.
Every year thousands of pilgrims visit the Basilica of Saint Rita.
She was born in Roccaporena in 1381: she was married to a violent man who was killed by his enemies. After her husband’s death she persuaded their two children not to take revenge. Rita became an Augustian nun.

The tour: the arts and the sacred in Cascia

In the main square of Cascia there’s S. Francesco’s church built in 1424, it has a splendid portal and a rose window. At the other end of the square there’s the collegiate of Santa Maria founded in 856.
From Piazza Garibaldi steps lead down to the Church of S. Antonio Abate.
The museum Palazzo Santi, of the 17 C., houses a local archeological collection and wooden sculptures.
The most important annual festival of the town is on 22 May to celebrate Saint Rita.
Now we are coming to the end of our tour and we are going to visit the famous village of Roccaporena, the birthplace of Santa Rita.

Guided Tour of Spoleto

Spoleto: a town you’ll love

Spoletois a beautiful old town with roman and medieval monument, including the famous and spectacular tower Bridge locally known as the stone blade and the Rocca Albornoziana. The town has wonderful churches. Spoleto is surrounded by a lovely landscape and wooded brills.
This town is important since roman times. In 1354 the Ducky of Spoleto was incorporated in the states of the church by the papal cardinal Albornoz who built the castle to dominate the town.

Tour of Spoleto

Via dell’Arringo, a famous stepped road, takes down to the cathedral.
The dome was consecrated in 1998 and it has been restored after the earthquake in 1997. The façade is beautiful and it has an elegant Renaissance Porch (1491). Above it there are 8 rose windows and a splendid mosaic signed by “doctor” Solsternus in 1207. The hall tower is made from roman fragments. On the right of the façade there’s an elegant little chapel. The interior was transformed in 1633-44 by Urban VIII. In the 12 century apse there are frescoes of life of the Virgin by by Fra Filippo Lippi, one of the masterpiece of the Renaissance.
At the top of Via dell’ Arringo is Palazzo Arcivescovile which houses Museo Diocesano and San Eufemia. Via Saffi leads uphill to Piazza Campello, which was transformed in the XVIII century.
Here’s the entrance gate to the splendid Rocca Albornoziana which houses the Museo del Ducato Longobardo

Guided Tour of Montefalco

Tour of Montefalco

Montefalco is known as the balcony of Umbria for its panorama position. It is surrounded by extensive dive groves and this area is known for its excellent wines including the prestigious Sagrantino and Rosso di Montefalco. During the 12 C. the town was ruled by the town hall. In the middle ages the town was known as Coccorone and in 1249 Montefalco adopted its new name.

Arts and Wines

In the circular square there’s the town hall built during the 13 C. with a 15 C. portic. On the left is the church of S. Filippo Neri converted into a theatre in 1895, near there’s the oratory of S. Maria di Piazza.
The masterpiece of Montefalco is the church of S. Francesco which houses interesting frescoes, a civic museum, a Pinacoteca and an Archeological section. This church was built in 1335-1338 and it contains the greatest piece of work painted by Benozzo Gozzoli, by Perugino, by Tiberio D’Assisi, by Giovanni di Corraduccio and Nicolo’ Alunno.
The main street of the town is “Corso Mameli“ which leads down form the town hall square to a medieval square.

Guided tour of Bevagna

Bevagna, a tour between past and present

Bevagna has roman origins and it became a roman municipium by 90 B.C.

Bevagna testimony of the long history of Umbria

The centre of the town is piazza Filippo Silvestri, one of the most harmonious squares in Umbria. In this square there are Palazzo dei Consoli of the XIII C. and the Teatro Torti of the XIX C. with decorations by Domenico Bruschi and Mariano Piervittori. There’s an arch built in the 1560 which connects this palace to the Romanesque church of San Silvestro. Opposite there’s the parish church of S. Michele between the 12-13 century.
The wonderful façade has a central portal signed by the masters Rodolfo and Binello. In piazza Silvestri, beyond Palazzo dei Consoli, there’s the church of S. Domenico e Giacomo which preserues paintings from the XIV C.-to the XVI C. by local painters. Its XVII C. cloister is now part of a simple hotel.
The neoclassical Palazzo Lepri houses the city museum. The church of S. Francesco is in the highest point of the town.
In Garibaldi’s square there are remains of a roman temple later converted into a church. In porta Guelfa’s street there’s a wonderful roman mosaic with marine creatures.

Le Gaite: diving into the Medieval atmosphere

The most important festival of the town is called the Gaite.
During this period artisans’ workshops are reconstructed as they were in medieval times and the inhabitans produce local handcrafts which are sold in the street. Every evening taverns serve traditional local specialities.

Guided Tour of Spello

Spello: Olive trees and Flowered Alleys

Spellois a beautiful little medieval town and it’s located on the lower southern flank of Monte Subasio. Populated in ancient times by the umbri, it became a roman colony in the I Century B.C. Under the reign of Constantine the Great it was called Flavia Costans.

Guided tour of Spello

The town is enclosed in a circuit of medieval walls on roman foundations, including three roman gates: Porta Consolare, Porta di Venere and the Arch of Augustus.
There are many important churches, many of which dating back to medieval times. Santa M. Maggiore probably was built over an ancient temple dedicated to Juno and Vesta. The façade has a Romanesque portal and 13th century bell tower, while the pilasters next to the apse have some frescoes by Perugino (1512).
The most striking feature is the Baglioni chapel, frescoed by Pintoricchio.
The Umbrian artist was asked to paint it around 1500 C. by Troilo Baglioni, after he had just finished the Borgia apartament’s decoration. His masterpieces include: The Annunciation, the Nativity, the Dispute with the doctors and four sibyls in the vault.
The Palazzo dei canonici, annexed to the Churc, houses the town’s art gallery. We can continue the tour visiting the church of S.Andrea, built in 1025, with a lot of frescoes from the XIV to the XVI century. In the right arm there’s a splendid altar piece of the Madonna and child with Saints by Pintoricchio and Eusebio and S.Giorgio.
In front of S.Andrea, the roads via Torri di Properzio, descends to porta Venere, the best preserved of roman gateways. At the end we can see the main square with the town hall which houses in the hall an archeological collection. In the upper part of Spello there’s a splendid panoramic view.

The “Infiorata” of Corpus Domini

The most important festival of Spello is “The Infiorata”, ruled during the day before corpus domini: streets are carpeted with fresh flowers which look like floreal paintings.

Guided Tour of Foligno

Foligno: touring through art and history

Foligno is located on a place in the centre of Umbria on the valley of the Topino river.

Guided tour: historical palaces and squares in Foligno

The main square is Piazza della Repubblica, with a neoclassical town hall, next to it there are the Palazzo Orfini and the Palazzo del Podestà.
Foligno has a lot of museums: Museum of Contemporary art, Diocesan Museum, Museum of Printing, and th City Museum. The last one is Palazzo Trinci which is the most important.
Palazzo Trinci houses 3 exhibitions: the picture gallery, the Archeological museum and the Multimedia museum with the history of the “Quintana”.
Palazzo Trinci has a gothic architecture and Ugolino Trinci in the 15th century commisioned frescoes to Gentile da Fabriano.
The old part is the gothic staircase built in 1390-1400 which preserves fragments of frescoes. Another staircase leads up to the public floor where there are the loggia, the chapel, the liberal arts room, and the giants room. We can continue the tour visiting the Dome with its beautiful carved portal and its suggestive crypt. Walking around via Gramsci we can admire a lot of palaces of the Renaissance. In Piazza San Domenico we can visit the Romanesque church of Santa Maria Infraportas and the auditorium S.Domenico.
To conclude we visit the church of S. Francesco which houses the body of Saint Angela da Foligno and the oratoty of Nunziatella with a wonderful fresco of Perugino.

La giostra della Quintana

The most important festival of the town is the Giostra Quintana a tournament which takes place twice a year in June and in September. Ten horsemen race to get three rings all of different sizes, using a lance.
There are three different tournament rounds and the ring becomes smaller and smaller at each round.

Guided Tour of Gubbio

Gubbio, enchanted traditions

Gubbio was founded by the umbri in the III century B.C. and its political and religious importance is attested by the famous iguvine tables, which are fundamental documents for umbrian language..

Guided Tour in Gubbio

In the big square there are the medievals Palazzo dei Consoli, the Palazzo del Podestà and the neoclassical facade of Palazzo Ranghiasci. On the hillside we can visit the dome and opposite we can see the Palazzo Ducale, erected in 1476-80 by Francesco di Giorgio Martini for the Duke Federico da Montefeltro.
In the lower part of the town there’s Piazza Quaranta Martiri with the Loggia dei Tiratori, built in 1603, and the church of Santa Maria dei Laici. On the opposite side of the square we can visit the church of Saint Francis.
In the western part of the town there’s the Largo del Bargello with a pretty circular fountain. “The Fontana dei Pazzi” and a typical medieval palace.
Outside the walls there’s a roman mausoleo and the church named “della Vittorina, built in the place where St. Francis tamed the wolf of Gubbio.
Above the town on Monte Ingino (817m), from which there’s a superb panorama, there’s the church of San Ubaldo.
This church was rebuilt in 1514, houses the three “Ceri” used on 15 may during the festa dei Ceri

Diving in the ancient traditions of Gubbio

In Gubbio takes place one of the most interesting annual festivals: the “Festa dei Ceri”. This event has pagan origins and it’s held every 15th May to celebrate the patron saint and bishop Ubaldo.

Guided Tour of Perugia

My Guided Tour of Perugia

Perugia is located on the west of Iber River. It was one of the most important twelve cities of the etruscan confederation. The tour starts from the Piazza IV Novembre where we will see the main mountain, a masterpiece of the romanesque time, by Nicola and Giovanni Pisano.

Guided Tour

The tour starts from the Piazza IV Novembre where we will see the main mountain, a masterpiece of the romanesque time, by Nicola and Giovanni Pisano. Beyond there’s the gothic basilica of San Lorenzo. It’s dark interior houses a Madonna delle Grazie, and the chapel of San Bernardino with a magnificent “Descent from the Cross” of Barocci.
The reliquary of the Virgin’s marriage ring is located in the (Ring’s Chapel or) Saint Joseph’s Chapel.

One of the most important historical palace is “Palazzo dei Priori” which dominates the area between Piazza IV Novembre and Corso Vannucci. Now this palace houses the town hall and the National Gallery. On its ground floor, between 1452-57, there used to bea an important guild of money changers. Inside the “Sala delle Udienze “ there are frescoes by Perugino.
In 1540 the Pope Paolo III Farnese built an impressive fortress above the medieval Baglioni’s quarter.
Perugia was dominated by the power of this Pope. Towards in 1860 when the town became part of the Kingdom of Italy, the Rocca was demolished.

A living city

The most important events in Perugia are: in July the International festival of Jazz “Umbria Jazz”. In September an International music festival and from the first of November a large fair.
The most known event takes place in October: the “Euro Chocolate Festival”.