The answer is yes, an Umbrian hill side town! Yesterday we explored the foothills, hillsides and hilltops covering two beautiful but very different towns in terms of scale.
Spello is a vision in pink stone from the bottom of the hills and Assisi resplendent and proud with its imposing and impressive buildings with a mixture of white pastel facades, including the Spello pink stone.
Spello – where as much care is taken with the rear entrance as the front
Our first stop is medieval Spello, seated on a spur of Monte which has an ancient history dating to Roman times and is numbered in one of Italy’s 100 prettiest villages.
Church of Santa Maria Maggiore
Pinturicchio fresco
Its jewel has to be the frescoes painted by Umbrian artist Pinturicchio in 1500 in the Capella dei Baglioni in the 13th century Church of Santa Maria Maggiore.
Entry to the church is free but the frescoes are protected by a low wall through which you can enter if you pay an attendant €2. This helps avoid overcrowding so the viewer can take in the beauty, detail and delicacy of the frescoes.
As if this isn’t enough there are two other Pinturicchio paintings and two by Perugino.
This artwork aside, there is an unbelievable amount of picture perfect scenes when doing the small lap it takes to walk a complete circle of Spello. The town is surrounded by a mix of Roman and medieval walls and has a number of Roman gateways, but much of the attraction lies in the winding back streets and stepped alleys where it seems the locals must vie with each other as to who has the prettiest facade decorated with flowering plants, olive trees and herb boxes.
Every pathway is prettier than the last
A multi award winner for finest balcony
One can barely imagine how Spello is further transformed during its Infiorata festival in spring when the alleys are brimming with even more flower boxes and detailed pictorial scenes created from millions of flower petals carpet the streets.
As we reluctantly drag ourselves away to head to our next stop, we are intermittently lured inside a small artisanal food products store. Ten minutes and a few tastings later we emerge with truffle polenta, artichoke and truffle creamy paste, truffle oil and a nice crisp white wine from Spello.
A taste of Assisi
We drive on for around 15 minutes and Assisi makes a major visual impression overlooking the Vale of Spoleto as we approach, on a much grander scale than the small but perfectly formed and peaceful Spello. Parking is blissfully a breeze with plenty of spaces at a new car park which conveniently has two escalators to take you to the Porta Nuova archway entrance into the old town.
Assisi looks proudly upon us
Apparently this is the third most visited pilgrimage site in Italy, but in autumnal October we are spared from the touristic crush and can leisurely enjoy wandering around. The first site we arrive at is the lovely Santa Chiara, but closed at lunchtime.
Around the corner is the entrance to Santa Chiara
We continue making our way down the town centre streets arriving at Piazza Dei Comune and the Foro Romano. But our mission today is to reach the resting place of St Francis of Assisi.
Basilica Di San Francesco
Reading guidebooks and the web sources can’t prepare you for the staggering beauty of the homage to St Francis at Basilica Di San Francesco where lies his tomb, only uncovered in the early 19th century. There is a wealth of art to admire but we focus on Giotto’s Life of St Francis breathtaking cycle of frescoes that go along both lengths of the upper church. The discreet headphone linked touch screens allow you to slowly walk through the story depicted in each panel.
If you visit don’t forget to go down to the crypt from the lower church to actually see the tomb of St Francis, which is what pilgrims flock to see.
On our return we avoid the busier Via San Francesco and take the lower and quieter back streets devoid of shops selling tourist stuff.
Closer to Porta Nuova we do stop to admire the machine embroidery handiwork of a lady at a linen store, and come away with a few decorated aprons to take back to Sydney.
Our last stop is at Gran Caffe which has the most tempting array of meringues and cream filled cannoli I have ever seen.
Later back home we have a feast of the selection of foods and wine we picked up during the day and relax over a couple of old James Bond movies.
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