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Spoleto
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SPOLETO
is perhaps Umbria's most compelling town and many people's central-Italian favourite. Known mainly for its big
summer festival
, it's remarkable also for its thorough-going medievalism, an extremely scenic setting, and several of Italy's most ancient Romanesque
churches
(note that, excepting San Salvatore, Spoleto's churches close for the afternoon). Far more graceful and provincial a city than Perugia, nowadays it plays second fiddle politically to its long-time historical enemy, though for several centuries it was among the most influential of Italian towns. Two kilometres of well-preserved walls stand as testament to the one-time grandeur of its Roman colony, though its real importance dates from the sixth century when the Lombards made it the capital of one of their three Italian dukedoms. The autonomous
Duchy of Spoleto
eventually stretched to Rome, and by 890 its rulers had become powerful enough to lay claim to the imperial throne itself, making Spoleto, for a short time at least, the capital of the entire Holy Roman Empire. Barbarossa flattened the city in a fit of pique in 1155, and in 1499 the 19-year-old Lucrezia Borgia was appointed governer by her father, Pope Alexander VI. After that it was one long decline until about thirty years ago and the arrival of the festival. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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Italy,
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