Events
Markets
Umbertide market every Wednesday morning is an opportunity to see the town at its liveliest. The excellent fruit and vegetable market occupies the main piazza in the historic centre while clothes, linens, handbags, shoes and household goods are a short walk away. For markets its good to get there early : 8.30 to 10.00 as the market traders start packing after mid-day as people go home to make the pasta.
Other market days
Camucia - Thursdays
Tuoro - Fridays
Cortona - Saturdays
Castiglione del Lago - Wednesday
Festas (Festivals)
Festival del Sole - Tuscan Sun Festival - Cortona.
August , 2008. Art, wine tasting, cooking, outdoor events.
 The Corsa dei Ceri - Gubbio
15th May annually.
A mad race up the slopes of Mt Inginio. A very famous event that draws a huge crowd.
Balestra - Gubbio May 25, San Sepolcro September 7. These two  Umbrian and Tuscany towns (both very beautiful and ancient) have had an annual crossbow tournament since the 14th century. The crossbows are fearsome, massive things and the shooting takes place in a central piazza. It is all done in medievel costume and is proceeded by a cortege in period dress.
The Infiorata - Spello
2008 June
to commemorate Corpus Domini the streets of Spello are decorated with the most elaborate pictures made only from fresh flower petals. The designs are laid down through Saturday night ready for Sunday morning when the Priest leads a procession through the town over the floral displays. Park early.
Festival dei Due Mondi - Spoleto music festival
End of June, first weeks of July. Founded by Gian Carlo Menotti who was born in Italy but emigrated to USA. A long established and renowned cultural festival with performances of dance, poetry and music in the historic town of Spoleto. Needs booking ahead www.spoletofestival.it
Umbria Jazz - Perugia
2008 July 11-20
A vibrant and world class Jazz Festival increasing in popularity every year. In previous years James Brown and Miles Davis have been in the line-up.For these 9-10 days the nighttime streets are thronged with people. It is a very exciting time to visit the city whether you have a ticket for a particular perfomance or not. There are many free events.
www.umbriajazz.com/canale.asp
Preggio Music Festival
End of July, first two weeks of August.
For more than twenty years the medieval hilltop village of Preggio has held a festival. Including chamber music, choral, piano, organ and song recitals as well as a a highly recommended opera in late August. Preggio sits high above the Niccone valley 15 minutes from Mercatale and 15 minutes from Umbertide. (We are sponsors of the Opera.) |
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Montone Film Festival July 2008
The Montone Film Festival is a very popular and successful film festival operating for one week every July for several years. The setting is the small but beautiful medieval hilltop town of Montone. Many films are shown in the town's atmospheric piazza. The festival is a week of screenings, workshops and forums. It is attended by directors and actors including in previous years Colin Firth, Terry Gillam and Ralph Fiennes.www.umbriafilmfestival.com/english/home.htm
Donazione della Santa Spina 
also in Montone in the middle week of August. This is an elaborate pageant re-creating the gift of a thorn from the "crown of thorns" from the Republic of Venice to Fortebraccio, the founder of Montone in the fifteenth century. (It has a particular memory for us from the time David was plucked from the crowd to play the role of the Conte Carlo!)
 Palio delle Barche, Passignano - July 27. On the face of it a most pointless race between the "quartieri" of the resort town by Lake Trasimeno. Teams of men in a kind of medievel costume, race  into the lake in rowing boats, around a marker and then back to land where they pick up the boats and run to the top of the town. You have to see how Passignano is built into a formidable hillside to appreciate the effort involved. Then follows the main activity - carousing late into the night with lots of fireworks. Great fun but crowded.
Village festivals and Mercatale di Cortona village Festa
The majority of villages in this area hold annual summer festivals of varying sizes. A personal favourite is the Mercatale di Cortona festival generally a week long with cene (dinners) cooked and eaten in the village square every night. Dancing, small theatrical shows and dance troupes entertain the crowds. The festa's high point is on Ferragosto the national bank holiday on the 15th of August, when the midnight firework display gives a noisy close to the night.
Palio - Siena
August 16th annually- also in July. The famous Siena Palio. Lots of people want to see it but without a room with balcony overlooking the square or at least a booked seat it can be a hot and exhausting day.
Mad horse race around the central Campo and other medieval fun and games.
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Towns and Cities
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The
beautiful medieval hilltop of Cortona has Etruscan roots,
still visible in the walls. The spectacular main piazza with 12thC town
hall is a wonderful place to sit at a pavement cafe imbibing the atmosphere.Plenty
to see - good restaurants.
Most noted painting is the : "Annuciation" by Fra Angelico in the Diocescan museum opposite the cathedral. There are also works by Cortona's own renaissance painter Signorelli.
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Città di Castello.
This is one of our favourite towns - a walled city in the broad Tiber valley. Its a commercial town with a long ugly ribbon development of factories and outlets stretching along the valley to the north. It is still an important world centre for tobacco cultivation.
However, the old city is delightful and has a good array of shopping as well as two markets a week. There is a big car park just outside the walls with an escalator up into the town though there are other approaches. as in any of the more famous walled cities.
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Its best to keep a car out of the town.
On this site was the Roman town of Tifernum so it has a long history reflected in the architecture which is as good as in any of the more famous walled cities.
As well as the "pinoteca" (art gallery) with some renaissance art, it also celebrates the work of its famous son of the 20th century : Alberto Burri. In the town, the Palazzo Albizzini has many paintings and wall-hangings. Just south of the town, on the old road, is an exhibition of his big sculptures in a former tobacco drying barn (seccotoia). The ticket at each gives entrance to both.
However, our favourite place is a bit further out on the same road south (if arriving from the south, leave the E45 at Città di Castello Sud and follow signs to the town). |
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"Centro delle Tradizioni popolare" is just off the road. It is set up to show how the mass of people used to live in the traditional farmhouses now so beloved of foreign owners and visitors. A big "casa colonica" as the old style houses are called is arranged as it would have looked up to around 1960. The main room is full of the bread making utensils, hanging grapes turning to raisins for the "vin santo" production as well as fennel and other herbs; all the gear used to cook on the fire and in a wood stove (still common today). |
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| The bedrooms have the old beds with fancy painted panels and the white underclothes laid out. Below in the cantina are the wine and olibe oil presses, the bottles, barrels and countless ceramic vessels from tiny to immense. It is sometimes possible to arrange a visit when the custodian will have things working and give a demonstration of cooking or bread making. |
| Assisi
: Birthplace of St Francis. The Basillica built in his memory
houses the greatest collection of medieval art in the world. The town
of pink and white stone shines on the side of Mt. Subasio and has many
fascinating corners and buildings to explore. |
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Montone describes itself as one of the most beautiful
small towns in Italy. This is not an exaggeration. Book dinner in one
of its restaurants, arrive early for an aperitivo in the square. |
Arezzo : a large and lively city, good for shopping
bars and restaurants. The church of San Francesco houses the the most
famous fresco cycle by Piero della Francesca.
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Perugia : capital of Umbria.Don't miss the underground
city, the Corso Vanucci, the Etruscan Well and Arch. Lose yourself in
the maze of medieval streets, the shopping's good too. |
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Gubbio : perched on the side of Mt Ingino, Gubbio's
grid of medieval streets contains some stunning medieval architecture.
Take a ride on the funicolare up Mt Inginio to the Church of
St Ubaldo where you can see the saint in his glass coffin. |
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Orvieto : have a glass of its famous Classico wine in
the delightful Piazza Duomo and see the Signorelli frescoes in the Duomo.
Florence, Rome and Siena are all near enough for day trips. A guide book
is worthwhile.
Other towns worth a visit : Montepulciano, Pienza, Urbino, Montefalco,
Spello, Sansepulchro, Todi.
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Copyright © Dilys & David Cordingley 1997-2008
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