Key to Umbria: Spoleto


Monuments of Spoleto


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Images below link to detailed pages on the most important monuments in and around  Spoleto

Abbazia di Farfa (6th century ?)


This Benedictine abbey, some 100 km south of Spoleto; historic association with the Duchy of Spoleto.  It was first documented in 705 AD. 

Congregazione della Sacra Famiglia (1888)

This church was built for the Suore della Sacra Famiglia, an order of nuns that was founded near Trevi by Blessed Peter Bonilli in order to provide social care for his parishioners.  The order moved to Spoleto in 1898and is now known as the Congregazione delle Suore della Sacra Famiglia di Spoleto.


Convento dei Cappuccini (1570) 

This Capuchin church dedicated to Santa Maria Immacolata di Lourdes stands on a hill overlooking Spoleto.  The adjacent convent now houses a seminary.



Duomo (ca. 1178-1216)

The first Duomo (“Sancta Maria Episcopii Spolitani") was documented in 956.  It was destroyed when the Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa sacked Spoleto and rebuilt in ca. 1178.  The original facade of the rebuilt church survives, but its interior was remodeled in 1785-92.




Fonte del Clitunno

Text




Fountains

This page describes:
  1. the Fonte di Piazza (1746-8), illustrated here; and

  2. the Fontana di Mascherone (17th century).




Medieval Walls (1297) and Gates

These walls were built to enclose the suburbs that had grown up outside the Roman city (below) by the 13th century.  The stretch illustrated here is in Via delle Murelle.




Nunneries on Colle Ciciano (13th century)

This page describes the nunneries that were established on Colle Ciciano in the 13th century.  These have all disappeared, except for:
  1. Santa Maria inter Angelos (illustrated here); and

  2. Santa Maria Maddalena.



Nunneries on Monteluco (13th century)

This page describes the nunneries established on on the northern slopes of Monteluco in the 13th century.  These have all disappeared, except for  the remains of the Eremo di Sant’ Elisabetta.



Palazzo Comunale (1706-86)

This palace was built after its predecessor was largely destroyed in an earthquake.  It incorporates the original civic tower (13th century) of Spoleto.  Much of palace was rebuilt after another earthquake in 1767, incorporating:
  1. Monte di Pietà (1469);

  2. Palazzo Pagani (16th century); and

  3. Palazzo Martorelli Orsini (16th century).


Palazzo della Signoria (14th century)

An earlier public palace on this site documented as residence of the Podestà in 1230.  The construction of its successor was abandoned when it had not proceeded much beyond the level of the Piazza  del Duomo; huge arcade of its foundations visible from rear (illustrated here). 




Palazzo Vescovile (15th-17th centuries)

The ex-nunnery of Sant’ Eufemia (below) seems to have been adapted to form the “new” Palazzo Vescovile in ca. 1173, although the earliest surviving document relating to it dates to 1231. It was radically restructured after earthquakes in: 1571; 1703; and 1762.  It now houses the Museo Diocesano.  This page also describes Palazzo del Seminario (1583)

Patrician Palaces


This page describes:

  1. Palazzo Ancaiani, illustrated here;

  2. Palazzo Campello;

  3. Palazzo Collicola;

  4. Palazzo Leti Sansi;

  5. Palazzo Mauri;

  6. Palazzo Pianciani;

  7. Palazzo Ràcani Arroni ;

  8. Palazzo Pucci della Genga ; and

  9. Palazzo Vigili, which incorporates the Torre dell’ Olio (13th century).

Ponte delle Torri (1359-70 ?)


This bridge and aqueduct across the Tessino was probably built at the same time as the Rocca (below), but at least part of the structure could be Roman.  It provided water for the Rocca and the upper part of the city.

Rocca di Spoleto (1359-70)

Cardinal Gil Albornoz, who regained papal control of Spoleto in 1354, began the construction of this fortress at the summit of the Colle di Sant' Elia soon after.  It has recently been restored and now houses the Museo Nazionale del Ducato di Spoleto.




Roman Monuments (mostly 1st century AD)

This page describes the major surviving Roman monuments in Spoleto:
  1. the forum;

  2. the Roman house;

  3. the so-called basilica;

  4. the Arco di Druso;

  5. the Roman temple;

  6. the Roman theatre (illustrated here);

  7. the so-called Sostruzione Sillane;

  8. the Roman amphitheatre; and

  9. Ponte Sanguinario. 

Roman Walls and Gates (ca. 241 BC)


This page describes the circuit of walls that were built to enclose Roman Spoletium, which used a much older circuit as its foundation.  Only one of the  original four gates, the Arco di Monterone (illustrated here), survives.

Sant' Agata (11th century)


This church stands on the site of one of the earliest parish churches in Spoleto, most of which has been demolished; only the portico survives from the original structure.  A community of nuns from San Paolo inter Vineas (below) acquired the church in 1395 ,when they moved to the adjacent Palazzo Corvi.  The nuns extended the nunnery above the site of the Roman theatre (above) in the early 15th century; the apse and the surviving part of the cloister date to that time.  The nuns moved to Sant’ Ansano (below) in 1855, and the complex now houses the Museo Archeologico.

Sant’ Alò (12th century ?)

This ancient church became last home in Spoleto of nuns from San Paolo inter Vineas/ Sant’ Agata/ Sant’ Ansano in 1885.  This community merged with that of Santa Lucia, Trevi in 1965 and the remaining nuns at Sant' Alò moved to Trevi in 1974.  The complex was sold for residential use.



Sant’ Angelo (12th century)

Some of the nuns of Santa Maria della Stella (below) built the nunnery next to this ancient church in 1502-19.  The church was re-modeled in the 18th century.  The complex passed to the Congregazione delle Suore Oblate del Bambino Gesù in 1834.




SS Ansano e Antonio da Padova (12th century)

The first church here built on foundations of a Roman temple (above) in the 9th century.  The present church, which was built by the monks of the adjacent Benedictine monastery, was probably consecrated in 1164.  (The crypt, which is dedicated as sant’ Isacco, is described below).  The complex passed to a community of Lateran Canon in 1502 and the church was re-modeled in the neo-Classical style in the 18th century .  The Lateran canons left the complex in 1826.  After a succession of other owners, the complex passed to the Franciscans from SS Simone e Giuda (below) in 1896; they added the dedication to St Antony of Padua.

Sant’ Antonio Abate  (16th century) 

This building, which stands on the probable site of one of the ancient hermitages on Monteluco, passed to the Franciscan congregation of the Clarini in 1494.  The Clareni suppressed in 1568 , and the complex passed Observant Franciscans, who restored and extended it.  It was subsequently abandoned.


Sant Apollinare and Sant' Elia

This page describes two churches (subsequently demolished) that belonged in turn to the Franciscans when they first settled in Spoleto in the early 13th century:
  1. Sant Apollinare (12th century), which stood on the site of the restaurant of this name (illustrated); and

  2. Sant' Elia (probably 11th century), which was demolished to make way for the Rocca (above)

SS Apostoli (8th century ?)


Bishop Spes was buried in the first church on this site beside ia Flaminia in the late 4th century. It was subsequently rebuilt, probably in the 8th century.  Two marble reliefs from this period (one of which is illustrated above) are now in the Museo del Ducato di Spoleto.  The church fell into disuse in the 16th century and was converted for residential use in 1867.

San Brizio (12th century)

St Brictius apparently built an oratory in what is now the village of San Brizio (some 7 km north of Spoleto) in the 4th century and was buried in it when he died soon afterwards.  Another church apparently built here in ca. 900.  An important  legendary that was written here in the 12th century is now the Diocesan Archive.  The present parish church was first documented in 1231 and the adjacent canonica in 1252.  This is now a parish church.




Santa Caterina (15th century)

A community of female Franciscan tertiaries was established here in 1431.  The complex  transferred the Poor Clares in 1539 and was suppressed in 1717.  The site was used for a hospice in 1718-47.



 


San Carlo Borromeo (1789)


This was the site of the ancient church and hospice of Santa Croce and then, in 1747-1802, of the hospital of Spoleto.  Th complex has been adapted as a hotel.

San Domenico (13th century) 


In 1248, the papal legate, Raniero Capocci, transferred the ancient church of San Salvatore here to the Dominicans, who built the present church and adjacent convent in 1251-91.  A large part of the convent confiscated during the French occupation of 1789.  The Dominicans expelled in 191, at which point the complex passed to Franciscans.  The church (now dedicated as SS Domenico e Francisco) is once more in the hands of the Dominicans and open for worship.

Sant’ Eufemia (12th century)

The church stands on the possible site of palace chapel (early 7th century) of Duke Theodelap of Spoleto.  In ca. 980, a lady called Gunderada established a Benedictine nunnery here and probably rebuilt the church: she discovered the relics of St John of Spoleto and translated them to the church, which became known as SS Giovanni e Eufemia.  This church was rebuilt in the early 12th century, and the ex-nunnery adapted to form the new Palazzo Vescovile (above) in ca. 1173.  The church church was returned to its original appearance during a restoration in 1907-54.  It is characterised by an unusually tall nave and the only surviving matrons’ gallery in Umbria.


San Felice di Narco (12th century)


This Benedictine abbey is in the Val di Narco, outside Spoleto.  SS Felix and Maurus apparently built the first hermitage here in the early 6th century.  A community of Benedictine monks drained the surrounding marshland and established a monastery here in the 12th century.  An important legendary (1194) from this monastery is now the Diocesan Archive.

San Filippo Neri (1640-71)

The Oratorian Fathers acquired this site in 1640.  They built the church in 1653-71 and then the adjoining convent.  The community was suppressed in 1860.  The church re-opened for worship in 2014, after an extensive restoration.  The convent houses the Tribunale (law courts).




San Francesco di Monteluco (1218) 

The monks of San Giuliano (below) apparently gave the church of Santa Caterina here to St Francis in 1218; this little church still survives within the complex.  The adjacent Franciscan hermitage was one of four that were allowed to adopt the reforms of Gentile da Spoleto in 135, albeit that this early attempt at reform was reversed; five years later.  The hermitage  placed under the control of another reformer, Blessed Paoluccio de' Trinci in 1374 , and took on its present form at that time.  It passed to Observant Franciscans in 1517.  The Blessed Leopold of Gaiche retired here in 1788.  The complex in the Naploeonic period and thereafter escaped  suppression because of its remote location.

San Giacomo di Spoleto (13th century) 


This church and adjacent hospice for pilgrims outside Spoleto was first documented in 1291.  The church was re-modeled in the 16th century.  It contains interesting frescoes (1526-3) by Giovanni di Pietro, lo Spagna.

San Giovanni Battista (1254) 

A community of  Benedictine nuns moved here from San Giovanni del Colle del Consiglio (outside Spoleto) in the 14th century.  They built a new church in via di Porta Fuga in the 16th century.  The nunnery suppressed and used as a barracks in 1860.  The complex is now in restoration (January 2008)




San Giovanni di Panaria (12th century)

This ruined church between Castello di Perchia and Baiano (outside Spoleto) apparently stands on the site of the hermitage (6th century) of  St John Penariensis.




SS Giovanni e Paolo (11th and 12th centuries)

This church, which is one of the oldest parish churches in Spoleto, isdedicated to a pair of early Roman martyrs.  It is the original location of painted crucifix signed (by Alberto Sotio) and dated (1187) that is now in Duomo.  The church still contains many important frescoes, including one of the earliest depictions in Italy of the martyrdom of St Thomas à Becket





San Giuliano (12th century)

The first church of San Giuliano on Monteluco was mentioned in two letters of Pope Pelagius I in the early 6th century.  According to tradition, St Isaac founded a hermitage here and was subsequently buried this church.   Benedictine monks rebuilt it in the 12th century.  The complex passed to Lateran Canons in 1502, at which point the relics of St Isaac were translated to their other newly acquired complex, Sant’ Ansano (above).


San Gregorio Maggiore (1079-1146)

St Abbondanza (the virgin) is said to have buried St Gregory of Spoleto in a Christian cemetery here in 303 AD.  Her namesake, St Abbondanza (the virgin), is said to have built a church here to house his relics in 840.  The construction of present church began in 1079 and it was consecrated as "Sanctorum Martirum  Gregorii et Paractalis" (SS Gregory and Barattalis) in 1146.  A community of canons and an adjacent hospice were documented here soon after.   The facade of the church was returned to its original appearance in 1907 and the interior was restored in 1947-50.



San Gregorio Minore (1725)

This was the site of an ancient church built above part of the Roman amphitheatre in which St Gregory of Spoleto was martyred.  In 1406, a community of Poor Clares moved here from Santa Maria inter Angelos on  Colle Ciciano; their new nunnery nunnery became known as the Monastero delle Palazze.  They moved to Sant' Omobono (below) in 1860.



San Gregorio della Sinagoga (18th century)

This church stands on the site of the prison in which St Gregory of Spoleto was held before his martyrdom.  A parish church that was built here, probably  in the 12th century, was rebuilt in the 18th century.  It was subsequently deconsecrated.




Sant' Isacco (12th century)

The crypt under the apse of Sant’ Ansano (above), is dedicated to St Isaac (see San Giuliano, above).  The frescoes on its walls are the among the oldest that survive in Spoleto.  The church and adjoining monastery, together with the complex of San Giuliano (above), passed from the Benedictines to the Lateran Canons in 1502, .  The relics of St Isaac were then translated here from San Giuliano.



San Lorenzo (12th century)

This church in Terzo della Pieve (outside Spoleto) stands on the site of one of the earliest churches in the diocese; an inscription (4th century) from the site (illustrated here - now in the Museo Diocesano) recorded that Bishop Spes discovered the relics of St Vitalis here.  The church, which was rebuilt in 1910, is in restoration (January 2008).




San Luca (1790)

A community of Brothers of Penance of Christ (Saccati, or "sack-bearers") settled here in ca. 1273, shortly before the sect was suppressed.  The brothers managed to stay at San Luca for a period, but the complex passed to the Servite Order in 1313.  The church and convent rebuilt on a larger scale in 1790, but the community was suppressed in 1860.  The church and convent were largely demolished in 1947 to make way for a new women’s prison; a surviving aedicule with an image of the Madonna (illustrated here) records the existence of the complex


San Marco (12th century)

An abbey on this site outside the Roman walls that was documented in the Dialogues of Pope Gregory I (ca. 593) and in one of his slightly later letters.  This complex was apparently destroyed in Saracen raids of the 10th century and subsequently rebuilt, probably in the 12th century - probable date of subsequent rebuilding.  It was documented as a possession of the Abbazia di Farfa (above) in 1252.  It was subsequently abandoned and is now in ruins.  Part of the original mosaic floor has been excavated and is now in the Museo Nazionale del Ducato di Spoleto

Eremo di Santa Maria delle Grazie (1727-8)

The ancient hermitage here grew in importance after 1502, when the Benedictines left the nearby complex of San Giuliano (above).  Bishop Fabio Vigili organised the remaining hermits on Monteluco as the Congregazione dei Padri Eremiti di Monteluco in 1547, and centred their activities on the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie.  Cardinal Camillo Cibo built the current church on the site in  1727-8.  The congregation was suppressed in 1798 and again, this time definitively, in 1860.  The complex now houses a hotel.


Santa Maria di Loreto (1572-1621)


This church was commissioned in order to house an image of the Madonna and Child that was thought to have protected Spoleto from an earthquake in 1571.  Bishop Fulvio Orsini laid the foundation stone in the following year, but construction still in progress in 1604, when a community of Barnabites established the adjacent Collegio della Madonna di Loreto.  The church was finally consecrated in 1621.  The Barnabites were expelled in 1798, and complex passed: to the Augustinians of San Nicolò (below) in 1803; and then to the Capuchin Fathers in 1925.  The college was demolished in 1936 to make way for the new hospital.  The church re-opened for worship in 2004 after restoration.

Santa Maria della Manna d' Oro (1528) 

The Commune commissioned church when Imperial troops left Spoleto unmolested in the aftermath of the sack of Rome in 1527.  The lower storey of the church was built quite quickly but the octagonal lantern above belongs to a later phase of construction.  The church is no longer used for worship, but sometimes opens for exhibitions.




Santa Maria della Misericordia (1304)


This oratory under the tribune of San Nicolò (below) belonged to the Confraternita della Misericordia e della Buona Morte.

Santa Maria della Piaggia (1594-1605)


In the15th century, an oratory here that belonged to the Confraternita della Concezione housed a venerated image of the Madonna del Latte.  The current church was built to provide more appropriate accommodation for it, and it is now in a baroque tabernacle on the high altar.  The church passed to the Jesuits in 1621, but was returned to the confraternity when the Jesuits were suppressed in 1773.  It was de-consecrated  in the 19th century, but re-opened for worship in 2007.

Santa Maria del Pozzo (15th century)

This oratory was built over a well with miraculous properties that still survives in front of its altar.  A venerated fresco (1491) of the Madonna and Child with saints survives on the altar wall (visible through a grating at the entrance).





Santa Maria della Stella  (1254-9)


Bishop Bartolomeo Accoramboni laid the foundation stone of a new hospice here for pilgrims, orphans and the sick in 1254.  He also established an adjacent nunnery and introduced a dispensation that allowed the nuns to administer the hospice.  He moved the nuns of San Tommaso (below) here in 1259.  The nuns took over the church and hospice of San Matteo (below) in 1392.  The hospice had ceased to operate by 1726.  The nunnery was suppressed in 1798 , and the complex was adapted to serve as a barracks (Caserma Minervio) and military hospital.  The nuns subsequently moved to San Ponziano (below).  The church is sometimes open for exhibitions.

San Matteo (1227)

Bishop Benedetto authorised a community of male Franciscan tertiaries to build a church and hospice here in 1227.  They ceded the complex to the nuns of Santa Maria della Stella (above) in 1392.  The complex was converted into a military hospital when the nunnery was suppressed in 1798.  The hospital here closed when the new hospital opened in the ex-Collegio della Madonna di Loreto (above) in 1939.

 


San Michele Arcangelo (17th century)

An oratory was built here in 428 AD on presumed site of the baptistery that St Senzius established at the top of Colle Ciciano in 5th century (at the place in which he killed a dragon.  It was rebuilt in the 17th century.  It is now abandoned and hidden in trees.




San Michele Arcangelo di Eggi (12th century)

This church in the village of Eggi (outside Spoleto) contains a number of interesting frescoes (15th century).  These include the autograph works of the so-called Maestro di Eggi.




San Michele Arcangelo di Gavelli (15th century)


This church at Gavelli (outside Spoleto) was built on the site of a more ancient chapel.  It contains frescoes (1518-23) by Giovanni di Pietro, lo Spaga.

San Nicolò (1304)

A community of Augustinian hermits from what is now San Salvatore (below) moved here in 1263 and began the construction of the present church.  The adjacent convent, which had initially been very successful, declined considerably in the 17th century.  The community suppressed in 1798 , after which the complex had a variety of secular uses.  The friars moved to the Collegio di Santa Maria di Loreto (above) in 1803.  The complex was restored in 1967  and is now used for exhibitions and conferences.



San Paolo inter Vineas (10th century)

The original church here was documented in the Dialogues of Pope Gregory I (ca. 593).  The earliest surviving reference to the present church, which was then part of a Benedictine nunnery dates to 1007.  In 1219, the future Pope Gregory IX incorporated the nuns here into the new order of the Poor Ladies of San Damiano.  He re-consecrated the church in 1234 and gave the nuns a number of precious relics.  The nuns left for the safer site of Sant’ Agata (above) in 1395, and a community of Observant Franciscans acquired the complex in 1454.  This community was suppressed in the early 19th century and the convent transformed into an old people’s home.  The church is still open for worship, and part of the ex-convent now houses a catering college.

San Pietro (12th century)

Bishop Achilles (died ca. 420) built the first church on the lower slopes of Monteluco; he was buried here, as were many of his immediate successors.  A college of canons that was documented here by 1128 presumably built the present church.  The Ghibelline faction in Spoleto burned the church in 1329, although the fine facade of the 12th century church survives.  The rest of the church was rebuilt over the following 70 years and its interior was re-modeled in 1699.

San Pietro Martire (14th century)

This subterranean church was built under the apse of San Domenico (above).  It was badly damaged in the earthquake of 1997 and now closed (January 2008).  The adjacent Oratorio di San Pietro Martire, which belonged to the Confraternita di San Pietro Martire, now forms part of the Istituto Statale d’ Arte “Leoncillo Leonardi”.  It contains a fresco (ca. 1520) of the Crucifixion with saints that is attributed to Giovanni di Pietro, lo Spagna.



San Pietro in Valle (11th century)

The Lombard Duke of Spoleto, Faroald II apparently founded a monastery here in the early 8th century, on the site of the hermitage of the SS Lazarus and John.  Saracens destroyed complex in 881; the Emperor Otto III restored it in 996; and the Emperor Henry II financed further work in 1016.  Pope Sixtus IV granted it in commendam to the Ancaiani family in 1477 and it was suppressed in 1860.  It subsequently passed into private ownership; visits are possible to see the important early frescoes and sculptural elements in the church, while the rest of the complex now serves as a hotel.

San Ponziano (11th century)

St Pontian, one of the two protomartyrs of Spoleto, was apparently buried in a cemetery here in the 2nd century AD.  The site subsequently passed to a community of Benedictine nuns, perhaps at the time that present church was built.  The complex passed to a group of Poor Clares from Santa Maria di Monteluce, Perugia in 1521.  The interior of the church was re-modeled in 1788, but the crypt retains its original appearance.  The nunnery was suppressed in 1860 and the buildings were sold for private use.  A community of female Lateran canons moved here from Santa Maria della Stella (above) in 1905.


San Rocco (1490-2)

The architect Francesco da Pietrasanta designed and built this church, which was originally dedicated as Santa Maria del Massaccio.  Its exterior was never finished.  It acquired its present dedication in 1790.  The church is now abandoned.



San Sabino (12th century)

Serena, a pious widow, apparently buried St Sabinus here after his martyrdom in 303 AD.  Paul the Deacon, in his "History of the Lombards" (6th century), made two references to a church near Spoleto that was dedicated to St Sabinus that presumably stood on the site.  The present church re-modeled in Baroque style in 1623 and largely rebuilt after the earthquake of 1768; however, the original apse and apsidal chapels survive, as does the crypt, which contains relics of St Sabinus.

San Salvatore (7th or 8th century?)

This church stands on the site of an early Christian cemetery in which two saints were apparently buried:
  1. St Concordius, one of the two protomartyrs of Spoleto, in the 2nd century; and

  2. St Senzius in the 5th century. 

The present church was documented in 1064, when it was dedicated to St Concordius and belonged to a community of nuns.  However, it clearly dates to a much earlier period.  In 1235-6, it belonged to the Augustinian hermits who subsequently moved to San Nicolò (above), and it then passed to a series of (mostly female) religious communities.  In 1624, it passed to an order of reformed Augustinian canons, by which time it was more generally known as SS Crocifisso.  It became known as San Salvatore (on shaky historical grounds) in 1860.  It was subsequently de-consecrated, but opened for visits after its restoration in 1906.

San Sebastiano (17th century)


The original oratory here became a popular cult site and the focus of penitential processions in the 15th century.  The Commune took it over and extended it in 1484-91, and it was rebuilt in the 17th century.  It was subsequently deconsecrated and now serves as a restaurant.

SS Simone e Giuda (1252-60)


The Franciscans began the construction of this church and adjacent convent in 1250, shortly after the death at Sant’ Elia (above) of their revered Provincial Minister of Umbria, Blessed Simone da Collazzone.  It was probably dedicated as SS Simone e Giuda with a view to a subtle change after his anticipated canonisation.   The relics of “St” Simon were translated with great solemnity to the new church in 1260, albeit that the process for his canonisation was inconclusive.  The complex suppressed in 1863 and adapted initially for military use.  The convent was then adapted for use as an orphanage in 1893.  The few friars who had managed to remain in Spoleto moved to Sant’ Ansano (above) in 1896, and part of convent was demolished in 1950.  The church is now an empty shell, but it is still used for performances during the Festival dei Due Mondi.

San Tommaso (13th century)

This nunnery was first documented in 1235.  Bishop Bartolomeo Accorombani moved the nuns to Santa Maria della Stella (above) in 125.  The church has been adapted for residential use; its lovely apse survives.




SS Trinità and Oratorio di Santa Maria  delle Grazie

This page describes two adjacent monuments:
  1. The Chiesa SS Trinità (1640) stands on the site of an earlier church that was  first documented in 1138, when belonged to a community of Augustinian nuns.  It passed to Servite tertiaries from San Concordio (now San Salvatore,above) in 1459.  The nuns were made responsible for the administration of the hospice of Santa Croce  (later San Carlo Borromeo, above) 1556.  When present church was  built , old church served as its choir.  The nuns relieved of obligation for hospice in 1716 and their community was suppressed in 1860.  The complex housed a public library until 1932 and now serves a gymnasium.

  2. The Oratorio di Santa Maria delle Grazie (16th century) was built by the Servite sisters in the garden of their nunnery.  It still houses the altarpiece (16th century) of the Madonna delle Grazie for which it was named, and is pen for worship.

Tempietto del Clitunno (7th century?)

This ancient church near the source of the Clitumnus river (north of Spoleto) still contains important early frescoes.




Theatres (19th century)


This page describes two theatres that now provide the main indoor venues for the annual Festival dei Due Mondi:

  1. Teatro Nuovo (1854-64); and

  2. Teatro Caio Melisso (1877-80), illustrated here .

Villa Redenta (17th century)

Thispalace was first documented in 1603 as the “Perpulchrum Palatium” (beautiful palace).  Marchese Francesco Marignoli bought it in 1823, probably on behalf of Pope Leo XII.  It subsequently passed out of the family, until Marchese Filippo Marignoli re-acquired it at the end of the 19th century, which gave rise to the name “Villa Redenta” (redeemed villa). The Province of Perugia acquired it in 1973.  It was restored in  1995 and again in 2003



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