Umbria & Le Marche

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Umbria & Le Marche

Includes  Why Go? Perugia...... 577 For years Italophiles have waxed lyrical about Tuscany’s nat- Assisi ...... 593 ural, artistic and culinary wonders, without so much as a Gubbio...... 601 passing nod to its neighbours, Umbria and Le Marche. How Spoleto...... 604 they have missed out! This phenomenally beautiful yet un- sung region is Italy in microcosm: olive groves, vineyards, Orvieto...... 610 sun-ripened wheat fields stippled with wildflowers and Ancona...... 616 hills plumed with cypress trees rolling gently west to the Urbino ...... 622 snow-dusted Apennines and east to the glittering Adriatic. Macerata...... 626 In between, castle-topped medieval hill towns await, glow- ing like honey in the fading light of sundown. The region scores highly on the artistic front, too, as the birthplace of Renaissance masters Raphael and Perug- Best Places ino, and sprightly composer Rossini. St Francis of Assisi, to Eat St Benedict and St Valentine all hail from here and make a spiritual pilgrimage to this area a profound one. So next ¨ ¨Vespasia (p609) time you glance at the map and your eyes alight on old fa- ¨¨Il Lampone (p608) vourite Tuscany, why not press on east? You won’t regret it. ¨¨DivinPeccato (p590) ¨¨Antica Osteria da la Stella (p624) When to Go ¨¨Osteria La Piazzetta Perugia dell’Erba (p599) °C/°F Temp Rainfall inches/mm 30/86 8/200

20/68 6/150 Best Places to Sleep 10/50 4/100 0/32 2/50 ¨¨Castello di Monterone

(p584) -10/14 0 J FDM A M J J A S O N ¨¨Agriturismo il Bastione (p600) Feb Celebrate all May Hit Le Jun & Jul Get lost ¨¨La Cuccagna (p601) things truffle at Marche’s beaches, in music at the ¨¨Misia Resort (p613) Norcia’s Mostra as wildflowers Spoleto Festival Mercato del Tar- bloom on the and Perugia’s ¨¨Alla Madonna del Piatto tufo Nero festival. Piano Grande. Umbria Jazz. (p598) 577 Umbria & Le Marche UGePermttbriugingaia Around

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Perugia is Umbria’s petiteimme and is Umbria’s Perugia Getting Around Getting 8 (http://bikeinumbria.it). uses head from Perugia to most towns in the Back in the 21st century, Perugia is a Perugia Back in the 21st century, USEFUL WEBSITES WEBSITES USEFUL ON UMBRIA (www.bellaumbria.net) Umbria (www.bellaumbria.net) Bella listings restaurant and Accommodation and festivals for Search Umbria. for or date. location by events Umbria (www.umbriatourism. Regione website. tourist Umbrian The official it) (www.sistemamuseo. Museo Sistema Umbria’s on the inside scoop it) Get events. and upcoming museums (www.umbriaonline. Umbria Online - on accommoda Find information com) and itineraries. events tion, (www.fsbusitalia.it) fills in the blanks with bus B firstYour port of call for mountain biking and POP 162,100 (historic centre) rises in a helter-skelter of(historic centre) rises in a helter-skelter cobbled alleys,stairwaysarched piazzasand palazzi by magnificent framed party-loving, pleasure-seeking university with students pepping up the nightlife city, The cafe terraces. and filling hopping sum mer event of Europe’s line-up includes one best festivals. jazz com) sparsely criss-crosses Umbria, but Busita but Umbria, criss-crosses sparsely com) bria Perugia with Lifted a valley patterned by a hill above Tiber runs swift where the River andfields, clear, storico centro capital. Its likeable diately History seeps through every shadowy cor ner of these streets and an aimless wander time travel. through them can feel like Università per Stranieri (University for For for (University Stranieri per Università artteaches Italian, eigners; p583), which and culture to thousands of students from around the world. 8 While having your own wheels certainly makes it easier to reach those off-the-radar hill towns and rural corners of Umbria, it is possible to get to many places by public transport with a little pre-planning. area; check at the tourist office or the bus sta tion for exact details. Trenitalia lia services. ferry and road-cycling itineraries should be Bike in Um ------(truffle), fine (truffle), Perugia has a strong artistic In tradition. Perugia Eventually the region became one of the the region became one of Eventually Following the collapse of the Western the collapse of the Western Following Foodies are in their element here, with the Foodies Separated from Le Marche by the jag Le from Marche Separated UMBRIA ers Bernardino Pinturicchio and his masterhis and Pinturicchio Bernardino ers who (known as Perugino), Pietro Vannucci cultural teach Raphael. Its tra later would in the form ofdition continues to this day and the famous of Perugia the University Papal States, though this was not to its long- to its this was not though States, Papal to say historians like Indeed, term benefit. in 1540 when time stopped in Umbria that Thesalt tax. a imposed pope the resulting culture to a standstill,war brought Umbrian which is partly the medieval hearts why of preserved. towns are so well Umbrian the 15th century it was home to fresco paint inence in Assisi. ingly, it was during this turbulent period ingly, came to prom peace-loving St Francis that Roman Empire, the region spent much of by Holy being fought over Ages the Middle (Ghibellines) andRoman Empire advocates Intrigu (Guelphs). supportersPope the of History in first is named in honour of its Umbria east tribe, who settled habitants, the Umbri BC, establishing around 1000 of the Tiber the towns of Spoleto, and Assisi. Gubbio Theysupremacyregional for jockeyed with – the of the river the Etruscans to the west and Orvieto – until the founders of Perugia 3rd centurywhen the Romans came BC, marching through, conquering them both. der of Orvieto to Assisi’s saintly calling.der of Orvieto to Assisi’s rich earthinessthe tartufo of onto menus. their way cal wines finding ged spine of the Monti Sibillini, it contrasts Sibillini, Monti spine of the ged with the gentle beauty wild, in-your-face hills and wild fall and rise of overlapping The meadows. Etruscans, flower-flecked Romans and medieval feuding families have hillleft their indelible imprint on its pretty towns, where history on seems to creep up everyat you from the Gothic – corner won lo and full-bodied cured from Norcia meats Umbria is a land unto it is a land unto heart, green Umbria Italy’s nei borders that region Italian the only self, Removed country. nor another sea the ther alive influences, it has kept from outside You’ll traditions. old-world of Italy’s many pasta in aprons making see grandmothers been haven’t front doors that by hand and in a century. locked