Spoleto

Spoleto is an elegant, layered town that rewards a day trip from Perugia. It sits at the foot of Monte Luco in southern Umbria, with a long history that includes a Roman municipality, a Lombard duchy and a papal stronghold. The skyline is dominated by the Rocca Albornoziana, a fortress built by Cardinal Albornoz in the fourteenth century, later a prison and now a museum of the Duchy of Spoleto. A covered walkway and escalators link the fortress to the town, and the view from the terrace takes in the valley and the ridge. Behind the fortress, the Ponte delle Torri is one of the great sights of Umbria: a tall stone aqueduct bridge, around 230 meters long and 80 meters high, spanning the gorge between the fortress and Monte Luco. Its pointed arches and tower-like piers have drawn artists for centuries. Visitors can walk across it, a mild thrill with views down the gorge, and continue on wooded trails on Monte Luco.

The Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, at the top of a broad stepped piazza, is Spoleto's artistic heart. Its Romanesque facade carries a large mosaic, and inside the apse holds frescoes of the life of the Virgin by Filippo Lippi, painted in the 1460s. Lippi died in Spoleto while working on the cycle and is buried in the cathedral, with a tomb designed by his son Filippino. The scene is quietly moving. Also look for the Roman theatre, the Arch of Drusus and Germanicus and the medieval lanes.

Spoleto is known to music and theater lovers for the Festival dei Due Mondi, founded in 1958 by the composer Gian Carlo Menotti, a summer festival of opera, dance, theater and music held for about two weeks from late June into July. The festival fills the town's squares and theaters and gives the place a cosmopolitan feel. If you visit then, book rooms months ahead.

A private tour covering medieval art and the views is a good way to link the highlights, and the town is walkable in two to three hours, though some streets are steep. The cuisine leans toward black truffle, Norcia pork and lentils, and a visit pairs well with lunch at a local trattoria.

Combine Spoleto with a day trip to Montefalco, Trevi's olive groves or Todi, or use it as a stopover on the way from Rome. Spoleto feels a bit more elegant and a bit less rustic than its neighbors, an urban town with a cultured side, and it makes a rewarding contrast to Assisi and Gubbio.

Because of the festival, hotel prices peak in summer, so winter and spring are good for bargains and quiet streets. Early evening is a lovely time to cross the bridge, when the gorge fills with shadow and swifts circle the towers.