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Umbria

RISTORAZIONE:
PERUGIA
The characteristic feature of all the area's cuisine is the extraordinary olive oil used in every dish. The recipes reflect the rural, mountainous features of the land, with particular reference to the black truffles used with spaghetti, eggs, sauce for ringdoves, stews and roasted meats. Another rare but typical specialty are the tiny, delicate lentils of Castelluccio.
ASSISI
Typical dishes are ringdoves "alla ghiotta", macaroni with nuts, "rocciata di Assisi", "torta sul testo" and Easter cake.
ORVIETO
Famous for its sausages, "mazzafegati", salamis and lean hams. Typical dishes include game fowl (quail, partridge, doves) cooked en croûte.
SPOLETO
Here the simplicity of the cuisine reflects the wholesomeness of local products. Olive oil enhances legumes (lentils, chick peas, fava beans); turrini mushrooms enrich homemade spaghetti or tagliatelle. Special dishes include spaghetti "alla spoletina", omelet with truffles, truffled trout, truffled toast, truffles "al cartoccio" (baked in paper), grilled "pajata", roast dove, potted game. Excellent meat products: sausages, "ciasculi", "mazzafegati", mountain hams, "finochelle".
INFORMAZIONE :
UMBRIA
Region consisting of two provinces: Perugia and Terni.
Regional capital: Perugia
Surface area: 3,265 square miles (29% mountains, 71% hills).
PERUGIA
An important, highly interesting city located on a rugged hill offering a breathtaking view of the Tiber river valley. The structure of its old quarter is an expression of the two periods in which the city achieved prominence: an original Etruscan nucleus, with the city walls well preserved, and the mediaeval expansion (13th-14th centuries) with a second circle of wall partly coincident with the Etruscan wall.
Piazza IV Novembre, artistic centre of the city, boasts the most impressive monuments: the Fontana Maggiore, one of the finest mediaeval fountains in Italy, with beautiful reliefs by Nicola and Giovanni Pisano mirrored in the lower pool; the Cathedral, built in Gothic style between 1345 and 1490, with its rough facade and a lateral wall partly of white and red marble; the Municipal (or Priori) Palace, one of the grandest, most imposing public buildings in Italy, built in stages over the period 1293-1443 in severe Gothic forms, houses the National Gallery of Umbria, which documents the evolution of Umbrian painting from 13th to the 18th centuries, with works of particular value including the Madonna with Child, Angels and Saints by Beato Angelico and the Madonna with Child and Saints by Piero della Francesca.
Next to the Municipal Palace stands the Collegio del Cambio, once the house of the money-changers, built in 1452-57. The walls and vault of the Hall of Audiences are covered with frescoes by Perugino and his school, including perhaps Raphael (1496-1500). Other important monuments in the city include the church of Saint Peter, dating from the 10th century, with its structure intact and containing various works of art, and the church of Saint Bernardino, a gem of Renaissance architecture and sculpture attributed to Agostino di Duccio (1457-61) with a Gothic interior.
The Carducci gardens offer a panoramic view of the heart of Umbria.
ASSISI
A famed city panoramically situated on a mountain spur, one of Italy's major religious centres and the goal of many pilgrims and tourists attracted by its serenely peaceful atmosphere and its magnificent artistic monuments. Its period of greatest historical importance was in the 12th and 13th centuries, dominated by the figure of Saint Francis (1181-1226), who was also responsible for the cultural flowering of the city.
The ultimate monument of the city is the Basilica of Saint Francis, one of the world's most prominent sanctuaries of faith and art, begun in 1228 and solemnly consecrated in 1253. It consists of two superimposed churches: the Lower Church, the actual sanctuary, decorated in frescoes by the greatest Tuscan artists of the 14th century (including the Madonna, Angels and Saint Francis by Cimabue; Crucifixion, Last Supper, Deposition from the Cross, Resurrection of Christ, Deposition in the Sepulchre and two Madonna and Saints by Pietro Lorenzetti; Life of Saint Martin by Simone Martini). The Upper Church, Gothic, decorated with the famed cycle of frescoes by Giotto, begun in 1296 and portraying episodes in the life of Saint Francis.
Another celebrated monument is the church of Santa Clara, dedicated to the faithful disciple of Saint Francis. It was built in pure Gothic style between 1257 and 1265.
Near the city stands San Damiano, a perfectly preserved Franciscan monastery, and the basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli, built between 1579 and 1679 to a design by Alessi. It is one of Italy's most important sanctuaries and houses the chapel of the Porziuncola, a rustic structure decorated externally with frescoes of the 14th and 15th centuries.
EREMO DELLE CARCERI
The hermitage was the retreat of Saint Francis, set in a thick wood of oak-trees and holm oaks. Particularly enchanting is the walk through the wood, where a number of hermit's caves can the seen.
GUBBIO
One of the most characteristic cities of Umbria, captivating with its mediaeval aura and noble monuments. Its urban structure is simple, probably reflecting the Roman layout, with the principal streets level and almost parallel, crisscrossing the face of the hill and connected by stairways and alleyways. This creates a magnificent scene.
Among the monuments of greatest interest is the Palace of the Consuls, one of the finest public buildings in Italy, built between 1332 and 1337 and attributed to Matteo Gattapone, with the assistance of Angelo da Orvieto. It houses the city museum and art gallery. Another is the Ducal Palace, built by the Montefeltros beginning in 1476, including various rooms with antique floors and fine fireplaces and a magnificent internal courtyard with elegant Renaissance forms.
ORVIETO
A characteristic, picturesque city with a mediaeval flavour perched atop a tufa cliff, universally known for its Duomo and its wine. The city preserves much of the typical town plan of the mediaeval citadels, formed of silent, irregular streets flanked by small tufa and basalt buildings.
At the centre of the old city stands the splendid, universally famous white Duomo, a significant example of Gothic architecture begun in 1290 and continued by Lorenzo Maitani (1305-30), its facade decorated by a splendid rose window by Orcagna (14th century). The interior conserves delicate reliefs depicting scenes from the Old and New Testaments, the work of Maitani and his apprentices, and the grand Renaissance frescoes of Luca Signorelli (1499-1504). Near the altar, a Gothic marble tabernacle houses the famed relics of 1263.
Another important monument is the Palace of the People, a majestic tufa structure built in the 12th century, in Romanesque-Gothic style.
SPELLO
An ancient-looking city situated on the southern slope of Mount Subasio, at the eastern edge of the Umbrian plain, interesting for its Roman ruins. Of note is the church of Santa Maria Maggiore, containing the Baglioni chapel admirably frescoed by Pinturicchio (1501) and with a majolica floor by Deruta (1566).
MONTEFALCO
Picturesque, serene city of mediaeval aspect with a towered wall and gates, offering a magnificent view of the Umbrian plain and thus known as the "balcony of Umbria". In the Renaissance it was an art centre, important especially for the history of Umbrian painting. The Gothic church of Saint Francis, today an art gallery, is richly frescoed by various Umbrian artists of the 14th-16th centuries that decorated the city's churches (of particular interest is the fresco cycle of Benozzo Gozzoli).
TODI
A typical mediaeval-looking city located on a hill overlooking the Tiber river valley. An important art centre, it was first Etruscan, then Roman and a florid city-state during the Middle Ages.
It still offers highly interesting, engaging environmental values: the Piazza del Popolo, centre of city life since Roman antiquity, evokes the atmosphere of a mediaeval city-state; the narrow, winding streets, the darkened buildings, the arches, the small mediaeval wells and sudden glimpses of the surrounding hills create a highly characteristic urban ambience.
The interesting monumental buildings include the Duomo, begun in the 12th century and restored between the 13th and the 16th, the church of San Fortunato (1292-late 15th century), entirely frescoed by Masolino da Panicale and, outside the mediaeval walls, Santa Maria della Consolazione, one of the most impressive Renaissance works in Umbria, begun in 1504 to a design attributed to Bramante and completed in 1617.
LAKE TRASIMENO
This is the largest lake in peninsular Italy and one of the country's largest. Its name is linked to one of the most famous battles of antiquity. Its peaceful shores are lightly populated. There are three islands in its fish-rich, reed- embroidered waters: Maggiore and Minore (near the north shore) and Polvese, the largest.
SPOLETO
A picturesque, austere city finely positioned on a hilltop, an important artistic centre because of its Roman, mediaeval and Renaissance monuments and as the venue of important cultural events (opera, theatre, music and ballet). The city's foremost monument is the Duomo, built in Romanesque style in the 12th century then altered in the 1600s. It houses lovely frescoes painted by Filippo Lippi in 1467-69 (Manger, Annunciation, Assumption of Maria, Coronation).
The area offers other interesting sights such as the church of Saint Peter, dating from the 5th century, enlarged in the 13th century and later modified, and San Salvatore, an interesting early-Christian basilica of the 4th century.
MARMORE FALLS
These falls were created artificially by the Romans in 271 B.C. to reclaim the Reatine plain and are formed by the waters of the Velino river cascading into the Nera. The mass of water tumbling 530 feet through three levels, its roar and the magnificent setting offer a truly breathtaking spectacle.

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