I said nothing about Spoleto. It was said in a guide book to be the most beautiful Italian hill town. We went there a few times. It certainly was beautiful but I found it hard to see it as a whole. Like a lot of typical Italian hill towns it is on a hill, and it's a steep hill. The streets, often just steps, are narrow and the buildings are very tall so as you walk up or down you don't see out. Every so often they will cross and open out into a piazza. The town felt to me like a series of lots of little bits and I never got the impression of it as a whole.
All the piazze are pretty small, even the one with the duomo, which to me, with its piazza, was was Spoleto's crowning glory. There were no cars and a great clear space in front of the duomo (was it paved in a reddish colour and did it slope? Forgotten.) I think it did slope gently towards the duomo but the best thing was the long wide staircase sloping down to this piazza. You couldn't fail to get a splendid view and it's floodlit at night - a picture-book sight.
A lovely thing about it is that it isn't hemmed in by other buildings, but by hills and trees which is so unique.
The town reminded me of Aosta with its Roman remains and amphitheatre, except Aosta is flat. High above the town is the Rocca, a papal fortress housing a museum and some weird art of the sort you might see in the Baltic Art Gallery, Gateshead. I think it's the influence of Spoleto's Festival di Due Monde which they say attracts more avant garde stuff every time. Some say the Rocca was where the person who shot the Pope in the '70's was imprisoned but others say that's not true. Then there is this huuuuge Roman (or is it medieval? Let me check...) viaduct. I overheard someone say it was an aqueduct but I don't think I read that it ever carried any water.
Cafes and restaurants abound. The only one we tried in Spoleto was Trattoria del Festival and I think it was the best meal of the holiday. It's family run and they use as much produce from their own farm as they can. It was all so fresh and tasty and just grrrreat. The decor was cosy and colourful and there was a lovely ambience with locals popping in and sitting at this bigger table, just maybe having one course and doing a lot of chatting. That table seemed to be there just for them and staff.
There are lots and lots of wine shops and specialist food shops throwing truffles at you but despite that it wasn't trinkety and didn't feel nearly as touristy as I might have expected.
All the piazze are pretty small, even the one with the duomo, which to me, with its piazza, was was Spoleto's crowning glory. There were no cars and a great clear space in front of the duomo (was it paved in a reddish colour and did it slope? Forgotten.) I think it did slope gently towards the duomo but the best thing was the long wide staircase sloping down to this piazza. You couldn't fail to get a splendid view and it's floodlit at night - a picture-book sight.
A lovely thing about it is that it isn't hemmed in by other buildings, but by hills and trees which is so unique.
The town reminded me of Aosta with its Roman remains and amphitheatre, except Aosta is flat. High above the town is the Rocca, a papal fortress housing a museum and some weird art of the sort you might see in the Baltic Art Gallery, Gateshead. I think it's the influence of Spoleto's Festival di Due Monde which they say attracts more avant garde stuff every time. Some say the Rocca was where the person who shot the Pope in the '70's was imprisoned but others say that's not true. Then there is this huuuuge Roman (or is it medieval? Let me check...) viaduct. I overheard someone say it was an aqueduct but I don't think I read that it ever carried any water.
Cafes and restaurants abound. The only one we tried in Spoleto was Trattoria del Festival and I think it was the best meal of the holiday. It's family run and they use as much produce from their own farm as they can. It was all so fresh and tasty and just grrrreat. The decor was cosy and colourful and there was a lovely ambience with locals popping in and sitting at this bigger table, just maybe having one course and doing a lot of chatting. That table seemed to be there just for them and staff.
There are lots and lots of wine shops and specialist food shops throwing truffles at you but despite that it wasn't trinkety and didn't feel nearly as touristy as I might have expected.
What can I say? Sounds great.
ReplyDeleteI don't know how you got about (hire car?) but if you visit small villages where the coaches can't get, you will rarely find shops selling dross and trinkets.
Yes, we did have a hire car. Visited plenty of places where there was no dross. Stayed in one for the fortnight, actually. I just haven't mentioned them - yet. Sometimes they were not even big enough to be villages and sometimes they weren't habitations. But places like Assisi, Norcia, Spoleto and Rome (and Orvieto and Perugia, had we got there) - well you can't go to the area and not visit and you have to just enjoy what you enjoy and not let the trinket shops interfere and become your memories.
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