Cortona Tuscany, Umbria border
Cortona and Tuscany are the subject of several highly readable books by Frances Mayes wrote about renovating a house in the area where she still lives for part of the year.These books give a highly authentic impression of life in this part of Italy. One of her books, Under the Tuscan Sun was made into a popular movie.
Despite Frances's present continuous, creative writing course style - Cortona is an attractive place to spend half a day - great art, great atmosphere, stupendous views to Lake Trasimeno and beyond.
Cortona, is a town famed for its art and antiques market in a magnificent natural setting, where to visit the Church of the Madonna del Calcinaio (Francesco di Giorgio Martini, 1485-1513), and then go up to the Piazza della Repubblica to see the Palazzo Comunale and Palazzo Pretorio (housing the Museo dell'Accademia Etrusca, and the Museo Diocesano (with works by Signorelli, Fra Angelico, Sassetta, Lorenzetti, etc.).
Driving down into Castiglione del Lago on the banks of Lake Trasimeno, we reach Chiusi (well endowed Museo Nazionale Etrusco, and a large Etruscan Necropolis with some of the finest extant Etruscan tombs), and Citta` della Pieve (works by Perugino, who was born here).
Città di Castello
Our trip states from Sansepolcro, entering the upper Tiber Valley through the tree-covered hillsides topped by ancient churches, villages and ruined castles until we reach Città di Castello.The stark Gothic Palazzo Comunale stands in the mediaeval Piazza del Duomo. The Municipal Picture Gallery houses some fine mediaeval and Renaissance paintings.
Gubbio
Driving up Umbertide and the Assino Valley, we reach Gubbio, one of Europe's most perfectly preserved mediaeval towns where two major traditional events take place each year with the enthusiastic participation of the local people: on May 15 is the Corsa dei Ceri race, and on the last Sunday in May in the Palio della Balestra tournament. Walking past the austere façade of the ancient feudal palaces in Via dei Consoli, including the Gothic Bargello Palace, we reach Piazza della Signoria, which over hangs the lower town and the surrounding plain, supported on massive arches. Facing the Gothic Palazzo Pretorio the magnificent 14th c. Palazzo dei Consoli is the setting for the municipal museum and painting gallery with the famous 'Eugubine Tablets' dating back to the 2nd century B.C. It is a fairly steep climb up Via Ducale to the 14th c. Cathedral (with some fine primitive paintings) and the 16th c. Ducal Palace. We can then walk down to the Church S. Domenico which is near the Roman theatre built under Augustus. The churches of S. Francesco, S. Pietro and S. Ubaldo are well worth a visit.Montone
Located between Città di Castello and Umbertide in the Upper Tiber Valley in northern Umbria, Montone is an enchanting village perched on top of a hill that has preserved its fascinating medieval origins.Because of its remarkable environmental, cultural and art heritage it was included in the club of “The Most Beautiful Villages in Italy.”The building of greatest artistic interest in Montone is the Gothic Church of San Francesco (14th century) with a single nave and polygonal apse. Inside are numerous Umbrian frescoes, some attributed to the master Bartolomeo Caporali, and interesting wooden sculptures. The church is also the home of the Municipal Museum, which holds paintings, silver, and sacred vestments of great artistic value and, on the ground floor, the Ethnographic Museum, with over 600 items from Eastern Africa. www.tamburoparlante.com.
Another important religious building is the Parish Church of San Gregorio, Montone’s oldest church, built in about 1000 AD in the Romanesque-Byzantine style: it has an unusual round apse with frescoes from the Umbrian school. Also worthy of a visit is the Collegiate Church, built in 1310 and restored during the 17th century; on Easter Monday the relic of the Holy Thorn is put on display. Just outside the center one finds the Rocca d’Aries, an imposing castle which has been returned to its ancient splendor by painstaking restoration work.
In the piazza, lively little Montone there are two caffes, some nice restaurants and shops to buy Mushrooms, Truffles and Wild Berries.
How to get there from your italian villa:
From Rome: A1 motorway, Orte exit. E45 expressway toward Cesena, Montone exit.
From Bologna-Florence: A1 motorway, Arezzo exit. Expressway 73 toward Città di Castello, then E45 expressway toward Perugia, Montone exit.
Perugia
From Gubbio we will go to Perugia, a city with much to offer the art lover and the casual visitor alike. Its typical steep streets offer unexpected glimpses of ancient houses and the surrounding distant green hills. We will begin our visit in Piazza IV Novembre; in the center is the 13th century Fontana Maggiore fountain decorated with reliefs by Nicola and Giovanni Pisano, and in front of us towers the Gothic Cathedral, with the 'Museo dell'Opera del Duomo' museum.Let us now visit the austere Palazzo Comunale (or Palazzo dei Priori) with two tiers of mullioned windows and a battlemented roof. It was built between 1293 and 1443, and inside is the Umbrian National Art Gallery that traces the history of the region's painting from the 13th to the 18th centuries (Duccio, Fra Angelico, Piero della Francesca, Perugino, Pinturicchio, etc.). On the ground floor is the Gothic 'Collegio della Mercanzia' Hall; we can then see the 'Collegio del Cambio', built in 1455 with superbly frescoed walls by Perugino (Sala dell'Udienza) for the city'smoney-changers. We can either walk along Via delle Volte or Corso Vannucci to reach Piazza Italia and see the wonderful view from the Carducci gardens at the end of the street.
Other important monuments are the churches of S. Bernardino (15th c.), S. Pietro (10th c.), S. Domenico (l4th-l7th century), S. Angelo (an unusual 5th-6th century. Paleo-Christian church), S. Giuliana (Church and Convent), Porta S. Pietro (also known as Porta Romana), the Arco Etrusco (Arco di Augusto), and Porta Marzia. The 'Museo Archeologico dell'Umbria', and the famous Foreigner's University building - Palazzo Gallenga Stuart (18th century) - are well worth a visit, and 5 kilometers outside the city is the Ipogeo dei Volumni, a wonderful example of an Etruscan aristocratic tomb with seven splendid funeral urns.
Assisi
On the other side of the Tiber Valley facing Perugia stands Assisi, nestling on a spur of Mount Subasio. Our first call is to the Basilica of S. Francis and the adjacent Friary. The basilica comprises two churches, one above the other, and was begun in 1228, just two years after the Saint's death. See the frescoes by Cimabue, Pietro Lorenzetti, Simone Martini and Giotto.All the great painters of the day had a hand in decorating the walls of both churches. It would take days to study all the details of this unique painting anthology.
Walking along Via S. Francesco past the medieval houses and palaces, we come to Piazza del Comune standing on the site of the ancient Roman Forum. It is framed by Palazzo dei Priori, Palazzo del Capitano del Popolo and the Roman Temple of Minerva, now a church. In Palazzo dei Priori is the municipal art gallery. Nearby is the Cathedral of S. Rufino with its imposing façade, and the Gothic white and pink Stone Basilica of S. Clare (Gothic frescoes and primitive painting).
Let's go up to the Rocca Maggiore castle and 4 kilometers away, the Eremo delle Carceri (Hermitage of the Carceri), an oasis of Franciscan peace; in the plain is the imposing Basilica of S. Maria degli Angeli (built in various periods to enclose the Porziuncola chapel, the Franciscan Order's first house) and the restful Friary of S. Damiano.
On the last spur of Mount Subasio is Spello, with its two Roman gates, S. Maria Maggiore (frescoed by Pinturicchio), and the belvedere on the walls of the ancient castle. Other towns with a wealth of art treasures are Foligno, with its Romanesque cathedral, mediaeval churches and picture gallery, Bevagna, with its Gothic Palazzo dei Consoli and the Romanesque churches of S. Silvestro and S. Michele, Montefalco with its stout, battlemented town wall and churches with exceptionally fine frescoes of the Umbrian school, and the mediaeval town of Trevi with Gothic and Romanesque churches overlooking the valley from the top of the hill. On the way to Spoleto are the Clitunno Springs one of Italy's most romantic sites and the Temple of Clitunno, an ancient Roman shrine.
Spello
Spello rises up between Assisi and Foligno, situated on a spur of the Subasio Mountain above a fertile and well-irrigated plain.Among the neighbouring cities, this is surely the one which preserves the major number of monuments testifying to the Roman era; for example, the town walls, which later became the foundations for the medieval walls, the ruins of the theatre and the amphitheatre, the thermal baths and the splendid town portals Porta Consolare, Porta Urbica and Porta Venere dating back to the Augustean era. In ascent, you'll arrive at the church of St. Mary Maggiore built Between the 11th and 12th centuries, which, even if it can boast a beautiful facade reconstructed with antique materials in 1644 at the same time as other architectonic modification were undertaken, guards its most precious treasure inside. In fact, the marvellous Baglioni Chapel is to be found on the left-hand side of the nave. With its paintings by Pinturicchio showing the "Annunciation", the "Nativity" scene and the "Dispute at the Temple", among other frescoes by the same painter which are to be found the chapels under the cross vaults and paintings by Perugino on the pilasters of the entrance to the presbytery.
Close by, it is possible to visit the church of St. Andrew (13th century), which contains the painting of the "Madonna and the Saints" by Pinturicchio. Don't forget to take a look at the Town Hall in Piazza della Repubblica with its beautiful ogival portico, and the church of St. Laurence with the remains of the older building dating back to the 12th century. Looking out from the ruins of the Castle (14th century) which is situated on top of the hill, one dominates the valley of the Topino river and all of the surrounding hillside. Just outside of the inhabited area you'll find the Romanic church of St. Claudius and the "Chiesa Tonda" which was built during the Renaissance period in the form of a Greek cross with an octagonal cupola.