Umbrian Hill Towns

The valley in southern Umbria that connects Perugia and Spoleto is appropriately called Valle Umbra. It runs roughly north-south, and at around 60 kilometres long and 10 kilometres wide, is really more of a plain than a valley.

The main transportation corridor – road and rail – tracks along the eastern side of Valle Umbra near the base of the Apennine Mountains. The whole trip, from top to bottom, takes only about an hour and a half.

It’s a route we travelled often as we made our way around central Italy, so the names of the towns along the valley became very familiar. Passing each one was another step further from, or closer to, home: Perugia – Assisi – Spello – Foligno – Trevi – Spoleto.

But far from being just a series of helpful waymarkers, each of these is a wonderful destination in its own right. History, art, architecture, culture. If your goal is to explore and enjoy Italian medieval hill towns, Valle Umbra is a very good place to start.

Perugia

Piazza IV Novembre, the heart of Perugia's historic centre

The 13th century Fontana Maggiore and 15th century Cattedrale di San Lorenzo

This part of the city dates back to the Etruscan and Roman eras

Everywhere in Perugia's centre, the city's history is on permanent display

Fortunately there's a bit of welcome green space too

There are many pretty corners to be found

And there's quite a lot of this going on as well

Which is why the minimetro is so convenient

It's an easy way to get up into the old town

Like many cities, Perugia has battled to retain a local population in its historic centre

In the 1970s, around 40,000 people lived in the old city ... today the number is about a quarter of that

As residents abandoned the centre for modern apartments down in the new town, parts of the city became deserted and dangerous; this is Via Della Viola - Violet Street - just a few minutes walk from Piazza IV Novembre

In 2012 a group of locals here (Fiorivano le Viole - the Blooming Violets) decided to fight back

The group successfully introduced a number of initiatives to reinvigorate their local area; one of the most visible is fun street art like this

Assisi

Assisi is far and away the most popular hill town in Valle Umbra

And this is what everyone comes to see, the Basilica of St Francis

The town where the saint was born and died is one of the most important sites of Christian pilgrimage in Italy

The Cathedral of St Rufino

And the font where St Francis was baptised

The Pieta in one of the cathedral's chapels; this wooden replica replaced the original 15th century sculpture that was stolen in 1982

St Francis (1181-1226)

On the left, Chiesa Nuova (1615), the New Church, built on the site where St Francis' parents are said to have lived and where it's believed the saint was born

And this is the Oratory of San Francesco, originally a tiny draper's shop on the ground floor of Francis' home; in the 13th century it was turned into a chapel in honour of St Francis

Here's a structure that has nothing to do with St Francis; it's the Roman Temple of Minerva built in the 1st century (though the building has housed a church since the 1540s)

Then we came upon the little Church of Santo Stephano, with its very own guard-cat

And before you know it ...

Legend has it that the bells of this church rang out of their own accord at the moment of St Francis' death on 3 October 1226

Spello

One of Spello's three Roman gates

A rare bit of level ground in the city, Piazza della Repubblica

We love the random frescoes and sculptures that adorn buildings in every town we visit

This is St Veronica, the patron saint of photographers (Veronica walked with Jesus as he carried the Cross; she offered her veil to wipe his face and the image of Jesus transferred to the cloth)

Madonna and Child (fresco above a fountain in the street)

And the very contemporary Madonna of the Loom

St Francis makes an appearance here too

Of course the small city has no shortage of churches

The 12th century Chiesa di San Lorenzo

Wooden altar depicting the Madonna with Child (1530)

Spello is known for its spectacular spring festival 'Infioriate' when the streets are filled with flowers

But really this lovely city is worth visiting at any time of year