I Borghi più Belli d’Italia Il fascino dell’Italia nascosta UUmmbbrriiaa MAGICAL VILLAGE ENERGIZE FOR LIFE Tour of the villages and festivals Fireworks, Folklore, Art, Music and Fine Tasting I BORGHI PIÙ BELLI D’ITALIA is an BORGHI ITALIA TOUR NETWORK is the exclusive club that contains the Citerna exclusive TOUR OPERATOR of the Club of most beautiful villages of Italy. This Montone the Most Beautiful Villages of Italy - Anci Castiglione Corciano initiative arose from the need to del Lago S. Antonio and responsible of tourism activity and Torgiano Bettona Paciano Panicale Spello promote the great heritage of His - Deruta strategy. It turns the hudge Heritage of Monte Castello Bevagna di Vibio tory, Art, Culture, Environment and Montefalco Trevi art, culture, traditions, fine food and wine Traditions of small Italian towns Massa Martana Norcia and the beauties of natural environment Acquasparta Vallo di Nera which are, for the large part, ex - in a unique Italian tourist product, full of Lugnano San Gemini Arrone cluded from the flows of visitors in Teverina charm and rich in contents. Emotional and tourists. Giove Stroncone tourism and relationship tourism. UMBRIA, near Rome and Florence, is the region with the largest number of most beautiful villages of Italy: 24! It’s land of grapes and olives, that pro - duces, from ancient Roman times, fine wine and oil; it’s land of mystical abbeys: between St. Benedict, patron of Europe and St. Francis, patron of Italy. Umbria is land of peace. THE BORGO… The most beautiful “borghi” of Italy are enchanted places whose beauty, consolidated over the centuries, tran - scends our lives, whose squares, fortresses, castles, churches, palaces, towers, bell towers, landscapes, festivals, typical products, stories allows us to understand what really Italy is, beyond the rhetoric, the most beautiful country in the world. The borgo is the expression of beauty and its power of leading. Little-known worlds which are an alternative of life because, as Pound said, “slowly proceeding is beauty”. The borghi are small clusters of houses built around a castle and often protected by walls. Borghi Italy Tour Network has transformed this philosophy in a unique tourist product offering the opportunity to spend a truly “exotic” holiday, far from the stereotypes of mass tourism. 5 ROUTES AND 24 BORGHI IN EXCITING UMBRIA REGION Umbria…a way to heaven… Montefalco The precious village of Montefalco is a tribute to Frederick II, a great lover of the falcon hunting tradition. Montefalco has always find the perfection, as demonstrated by its urban radio centric structure, with all the main roads that converge on the large circular square, “Piazza dei Cavalieri”. Montefalco is known in the world for its famous “Sagrantino”, the precious nectar red DOCG perfect with roasts and desserts. But Montefalco is not just wine. The olive groves around the hills produce a valuable extra virgin olive oil, with a fresh and intense flavor that recalls herbs and fruity fragrances. Spello Spello lies on the extreme southern foothills of Mount Subasio and is built with pink limestone of the same mountain. The Romans called it “Hispellum”; It seems that the name derivates from its legendary founder, Ispeo Pelisio, one of the companions of Aeneas, lost during the trip. Spello is like a valuable book composed of many pages to be read slowly desiring the beauty. Starting from the south (the area of “borgo”) to climb to the Porta dell’Arce (the “Belvedere”), you can visually cover the history of a place where you can breathe the ancient Umbrian, Roman, Medieval and Renaissance atmosphere. Bevagna Cut off from the industrial development in the region, Bevagna has preserved virtually intact its medieval urban structure, which for the most part follows the plan of the ancient Roman town. This pure solitude has made it a tangible symbol of a city on a human scale. One need only go to Piazza Silvestri, sublime in its irregularity, to understand how harmony can be created from an apparent chaos of styles, histories, and periods mixed together. This is one of the most magnificent piazzas in Italy. It is the square of sleeping memories, because the perennial changing of powers, which still confront each other here with their symbols, seems to subside in the supreme synthesis of beauty. What has historically characterized the area is the processing of hemp. Bevagna is also appreciated for the truffle dishes and Umbrian cuisine, for theextra virgin olive oil and wines, including Sagrantino DOCG. Norcia Norcia was founded by the Sabines, set against the Sibylline Mountains. According to historians the area was inhabited right from the Neolithic age but the first records of continuous settlement date back to the 8th century BC. It really developed at the end of the 5th century BC and its name came from the Etr - Vallo di Nera uscan name “Norsia” (the name of the Etruscan goddess of fortune). Norcia is a destination far removed Vallo di Nera is a monument-houses of light-Thus it presents itself as i terrupted only by the steep alley - from the commonplace that, to be appreciated, needs to be discovered and experienced. That is the ways, arches symmetrical village brasures, less tower village. It barely emerges from the woods, with its only way of making your trip a truly unique, unforgettable experience. Here nature, mysticism, gastron - colored stone, amazingly preserved since 1217, when the town of Spoleto granted the men of Vallo per - omy, sport, art and silence merge in aharmonious combination. mission to construct a castle on the hillwhere a fortress had previously risen, in order to defend the valley. A medieval fortress with an elliptic urban layout, erected on a hill along the left side of the Nera river. The imposing city walls and the ancient towers encircle the stone houses, set one against the other and inches and underpasses. Two symmetrical gates, Portella and Portaranne, permit access to the village-castle, where only pedestrians are admitted. Once inside it is more medieval than ever: embrasures, corbels, narrow passageways, dark and serried alleyways, the priceless Romanesque churches and the stone por - tals, the tower-house of the proud Petrone who led the revolt of the castles in the valley against Spoleto. Trevi Trevi is a very ancient town but the origin of Its name is uncertain. Cited by Pliny as Trebia, the name may refer to the goddess Diana, called Trivia, or it may conceal an even more archaic meaning of Osco-Umbrian origin alluding to a specific place. The conical and curled configuration of this village is unique and unmis - takable. Conforming itself to the contours of the hill on which it stands, it has filled past travellers with won - der, the poet Leopardi among them. Trevi's extra-virgin olive oil is superb, one of the best in Italy. Another delicacy from the area is the savoury black celery of Trevi, With its soft pulpy heart. Finally, there is the Trebbiano with its unmistakable aroma, a wine of limited production which may take its name from Trevi. A journey as a daydream Stroncone Stroncone stands on the side of a hill a few kilometres from Terni. You enter the village from Piazza della Libertà, with its beautiful fountain built in 1559. After Porta Principale, with its municipal coat-of-arms, you are in a small square with a beautiful well, that is similar to the courtyard of a castle. On the corner you will find the Oratory of San Giovanni Decollato, which dates back to the first half of the fifteenth century. Inside there are frescoes depicting episodes from the life of John the Baptist and an altar piece that represents his martyrdom, both were made by Giuseppe Bastiani da Macerata; the vault, which is decorated with stuccos is a skilfull work by Cristoforo and Gregorio Grimani from Stroncone. Acquasparta The name comes from the Latin Partas waters (waters scattered), which since ancient times indicated the water wealth of its territory, located between the sources of Amerino and Furapane. The historical center preserves the ancient medieval structure with evocative walls. The town revolves around the Palazzo Cesi, monumental complex of Renaissance of the late sixteenth century, enclosed within the historic city walls. You can enter in the village by two main entrances: one leads to the oldest part of the city through the feature “Old Port”, halls for “cords”, steep and winding road up to the top of the old town; the second is “Corso dei Lincei” the main street that leads to the heart of Acquasparta, Piazza Federico Cesi (natural sci - entist, who founded in Rome in 1603, the Accademia dei Lincei), which overlooks the majestic Palazzo Cesi. San Gemini Medieval village, nestled in the beautiful Umbrian landscape, San Gemini is not easily forgettable. The visit can start from Piazza San Francesco, the heart of the country, connecting the more modern , Renaissance and later, the old center, perched on the hilltop. On the square facing the Church of San Francesco and the eighteenth-century Palazzo Comunale which replaced Palazzo Vecchio is the Town Hall. The church, ded - icated to St. Francis here effected An exorcism in 1213, dates back to that period and has a beautiful Gothic portal with ancient wooden door, and indoor, you can admire some Gothic frescoes by Umbrian school. Giove The village was originally a Roman settlement on the Tiber River that probably owes its name to the ex - istence of a temple dedicated to Zeus, god to whom were consecrated many hills. Another hypothesis Is that the name derivates from the popularization of Latin jugum (“yoke mount”, “Necessary steps”, “summit” within two valleys) that recalls the geographical characteristics of the place.