
Spoleto is a city in the province of Perugia. Located in the southern part of the Valle Umbra, Spoleto is situated on an alluvial plain, created in prehistoric times because of the presence of a large lake, the Lacus Umber, which dried up permanently in the Middle Ages. The name
Spoleto derives from the conjunction of the Greek words
spao and
lithos (detached stone): the St. Elias hill (
the hill of the sun), where the city originally developed, would be the residue of a landslide, detached from Monteluco. Originally inhabited by the Umbrians, the city became a Roman colony under the name
Spoletium.
A list of the most interesting places to visit when you are in Spoleto:
- Duomo (or Cathedral) of St. Maria dell'Assunzione - It was built in 1067 on the remains of a IX century church, features frescoes by Pinturicchio and Filippo Lippi
- Church of San Salvatore - Dating back to the IV-V century - It is one of the oldest early-Christian basilicas in Italy
- Church of Santa Eufemia, of the XII century - Rare case of Italian Romanesque church with galleries
- Monastery of St. Agata
- Church of St. Pietro
- Church of Sant'Ansano - Dating from the early Middle Ages, built on the site of a Roman temple dedicated to Jupiter
- The Romanesque churches of San Gregorio Maggiore, St. Domenico, St. Ponziano, San Giuliano and San Paolo inter vineas
- Church of San Nicolò
- Church of the Golden Manna
- Church of Santa Maria della Consolazione
- Church of SS. Giovanni and Paolo
- Rocca of Albornoz - Located on the hill of Sant'Elia
- Sanguinary Bridge - Built around the Roman times, currently below the roadway, only rediscovered in the XIX century
- Arch of Druso - Roman arch, built along the Via Flaminia
- Palazzo Spada - Home to the Textile and Costume Museum
- Palazzo Racani Arroni - It contains graffiti which are dating back to the '500
- Ponte delle Torri (Bridge of the Towers) - The symbolic monument of the city, unique in its height of 82 m. It was celebrated by Wolfgang Goethe
- Casa Romana (Roman House), I century A.D. - Belonged to the mother of Emperor Vespasian
- Tower of Oil, dating back to the XIII century, and the Porta Fuga - The first so called because boiling oil was thrown on enemies from the tower (it is said that many enemies, the most famous Hannibal and Frederick Barbarossa, suffered heavy losses from this defense strategy)
- Town Hall - Dating back to the III century
- Palazzo Collicola - Headquarters of the Municipal Gallery of Modern Art
- Palazzo Campello
- Palazzo Ancaiani - Seat of the Italian Centre for Studies on the high Middle Ages
- Roman Theatre
- Caio Melisso Theatre
- Gian Carlo Menotti's new Theatre
- Laboratory of Earth Sciences
- National Archaeological Museum
- Diocesan Museum
- National Museum of the Duchy of Spoleto - It contains evidence of the early medieval Lombard domination
- Piazza del Duomo and its staircase
- Market Square
- Via di Fontesecca and Via dei Duchi - With medieval workshops
- Boundary walls of the city - The first of pre-Roman origin, the second of the Middle Ages
- Teodelapio - Monumental sculpture of the American sculptor Alexander Calder
- Bosco Sacro (The Sacred Wood, Monteluco) - Forest of holm oaks covering the slopes and the top of Monteluco. Inside the forest there are several Franciscan monasteries while on the mountain's top is located a Franciscan monastery dating back to the XII century