Spoleto, a tiny hill town, nestled in the heart of Italy, was made famous by the arts and theater festival, Festival dei Due Mondi di Spoleto (or the Festival of Two Worlds), that takes place there every summer. Being that it was fall, we knew there were loads of food-centered festivals going on and we found one focused on olive oil to plan our trip around. We went to Spoleto with a quest. A quest for a great olive oil. While we didn't discover it where we intended, we did, however, discover Spoleto.

Umbria might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you're planning a trip to Italy. It doesn't have some canonical work of art, sparkling beaches, or a city that's been romanticized time and time again in the cinema. My first trip to Umbria was through the eyes of 15th century artist, Perugino. And I wondered about the lush green hills, dotted with trees and castles, with birds fluttering by that were the backdrops for his repetitive religious scenes. My second trip to Umbria brought me to Perugia for a day trip to, well, see more paintings by Perugino. I was so busy stuffing my eyes with his works of art in the dead of winter that I didn't experience the same feeling. I remember walking up hills, not admiring them. I remember getting hopelessly lost and my only experience with nature was pausing briefly to admire a carousel at sunset.

On my last trip to Italy this past fall, some friends and I decided that Umbria would be a good excursion and we decided on a town that none of us had ever been to, Spoleto. This time I got to admire the countryside in the height of the fall, complete with the palette of changing leaves. We walked up a lot of hills, saw castles and churches, ate delicious food and admired the beauty of nature that is Umbria. They call it the "green heart" of Italy for a reason.

City Center

Roman ruins, Etruscan relics, and a castle were some of the highlights of our wandering tour of Spoleto. Spoleto is a very dense, walkable city, that is if you're capable of scaling hills. We spent most of our time on foot, but there are buses that will help you in, around, and up Spoleto.

Spoleto is full of reminders of it's Roman past, including the Casa Romana, a nobel home from 1st Century BC. The house, itself, didn't excite me when I was visiting. It's dark, underground, and while you can read all about how it was a dwelling, it didn't come to life for me. Not until, I visited the archaeological museum, which houses various household items found there during excavations. Only then, could I imagine it as a home. (Cost: 5 euro.)

We spied a Roman theatre and realized the only way we could wander through it, was to enter the Museo Archeologico Nazionale. As with many of the other places we visited in Spoleto, it was deserted, so we had the place to ourselves. Surprisingly, we probably learned the most history of Spoleto through the glass cases than anywhere else we visited. The sordid history of the theatre itself, and imagining it housing prisoners as it had in the past, haunted us throughout our visit. But that didn't stop us from giggling when we saw the word vomitorium. (Cost: 4 euro.)

I wasn't exactly estatic about visiting the Rocca Albornaziana, it is a castle. And to me castles mean towers, exhibits of armor, and a few period pieces of furniture. It proved, however, to be a great place to explore and enjoy the views in solitude. The Rocca towers over Spoleto, gives you a great view of the surrounding landscape, and in the fall, front row seats for the changing leaves. But, what I really enjoyed was the frescoed rooms in various states of restoration or lack there of. The Rocca is undergoing a huge restoration project (some parts were closed while we were there.) Instead of seeing things in pristine and bright restoration (i.e. painted over), you were able to view things in various states of decay and repair. This photo below is curious to me and I'm not sure if the holes are examples of neglect or repair. (Cost: 5 euro.)

The Spoleto Tipica Festival, what drew us to Spoleto last November proved to be a bit of a dissapointment. Perhaps we chose the wrong day to visit or should have checked out one of the seminars. Instead, we wandered the rooms of the Palazzo Leti Sansi filled with booths from local food producers. We were struck by the less-than-thrilled attitudes on many of the booth attendees faces, which felt a little offputting and left us less than thrilled. We discovered as we left and noticed a group congregating for a smoke break outside the door that they were students from the local culinary school. And, it was Saturday night, after all. We forgave them. But we did get to watch ladies make the local pasta specialty, strengozzi. And that alone, was worth the trip. (Cost: Free, 1 euro to buy a wine tasting glass.)

Spoleto's duomo is a beautiful Romaneque church with a curious campanille. We were confused by the bell tower's stones which seemed random and much older than the church's facade. A little digging and we learned that the campanille was constructed from recycled stones from the original church, which would explain the mis-matched ornament. We didn't make it inside, but it apparently has lots of Filippo Lippi to satisfy you inner Renaissance art historian. (Cost: Free.)

When perusing some of the tourist pamphlets in our hotel, I noticed that one of the buildings in the city center had decaying exterior decoration by Giulio Romano, the 16th century Renaissance artist and pupil of Raphael. When I spied the Palazzo Ràcani-Arroni next door to the duomo, I realized that it must be it. While it's a bit hard to see with the naked eye, bring your zoom lens and snap some shots like I did. Not often do you get to see 500 year old graffiti. (Cost: Free.)

We didn't realize it when we headed here, but you can't get inside the Roman amphitheater (I read on the internet, that it's now part of military barracks.) What we lacked to discover in ancient culture, we made up for with modern. The broken bottles, poorly drawn grafitti, and angsty stares we drew, let us know we had entered into another world. Can you imagine, "hey let's skip algebra today..meet me down by the Roman ampitheater and we'll drink some beers?"

Just Outside

There's more to see than just the city itself. Here are a few places that we visited that you can reach by bus or car.

The facade of the Basilica San Pietro alone, could entertain you for hours. We spent a good half hour trying to decipher the array of animals that decorate the exterior. That is after we played with a yard full of kittens, first. If you go, be sure to give Red a pat on the head from all of us. He has not been forgotten. (Cost: Free.) How To Get There: Take Line 54.

We decided to drive past the church and up the winding road to see Monteluco, which is home to a monastery, park, and sacred woods. In the summer, I'm sure this is a popular tourist destination with hiking trails, lodges and plenty of time to enjoy the open air. In the fall, however, the place is deserted and gives you a great view of the Umbrian hills. You don't have to be a hiker to enjoy the view, it's a short walk to the view points or belvedere. Do what we did, and go at sunset. (Cost: Free.)
How To Get There: Take Line 54. Explore Monteluco on foot.

I'd never been inside a working monastery before, and felt a bit out of place at the Convento di San Francesco. Here, old meets new with the modern day building peppered with remnants of its past. Wander down one hallway, and you pass by the cells used by monks in the 13th century. These tiny, austere homes of Franciscan monks take you into another world. And just as you finish peeking into this world, you get snapped back into the reality of modern day life, as a modern day monk walks past you.

I'd also never been inside "sacred woods" before, in fact my non-believing self laughed at the silly idea. There are apparently lots of sacred woods around Spoleto and in pagan times there were penalties for cutting down these trees. An ox sacrificed to Jupiter, plus a monetary fine, depending on your intention. Once we stepped inside the canopy of trees, it felt other-worldly. Perfectly spaced trees, a sea of cool blacks and blues with just a tiny bit of light permeating through. Ok, I'll admit, my brain first went to the scene in the Princess Bride when they're in the woods and have to kill that ginormous rat. But once I let my movie associations go, this really was a magical, calm, reflective place. I can see why those with a religious slant saw it that way.

If you keep wandering through the woods, you'll get to see some gorgeous vistas. Wander the paths far enough and you'll come across the Grotto of San Antonio of Padova. Here, Padova's patron saint came to reflect in nature. At sunset, this view was magical and we watched the sun tuck behind the mountains and put on a show of golden hues.

I've already waxed poetic on finding olive oil at Frantoio Feliziani. If you're in Umbria, you should see the olive oil where it's made or join up with a local and make some of your own. At the very least, get some of the stuff to take back to your hotel or home to try. It's worth it. (Cost: We bought 5 liters of olive oil for around 30 euro.)
How To Get There: Any bus route that runs towards La Bruna di Castel Ritaldi (including Circolare AC, Circolare C, Line 15, Line 17.)

Spoleto (and Umbria itself) offers the best of both worlds. In the city you get to experience, history, culture and a bit of exercise, while being arm's reach of nature at all times. Our serendipitious tour of Spoleto proved to be enough for it to win a special place in my heart and I can't wait to return. And what we saw was only half of the fun. Next up, I'll talk about where we ate, stayed and reasons why I want to go back.