A little history

Colle Sant'elia, at the foot of Monteluco, is the beautiful town of Spoleto, whose first settlement dates back to prehistoric times. Full of monuments of great historical and artistic importance, including the Lombard church of San Salvatore, Unesco, Spoleto is the seat of prestigious cultural events, first of all (in July), the Festival of Two Worlds, known internationally.
The highest point of the Hill is the majestic Albornoz Castle (XIV century), now the National Museum of the Duchy of Spoleto, where you can see evidence of the city and its territory, covering an extended period of time, from the fourth to XV century.
Behind the fortress, it stands the impressive Tower Bridge (XII c.), With its nine arches high over 80 m., Between Col Monteluco, where you can visit the Sacred Grove of evergreen oak trees, dedicated to Jupiter. At the entrance of Bosco, inscribed on the stone, there is the Lex Spoletina of III BC, one of the oldest extant forest regulations establishing respect for the place. A Monteluco, the fifth century privileged life of a hermit, is the Franciscan hermitage where, according to tradition, in 1218 St. Francis loved to stop and pray.
In Spoleto remain important traces of its Roman history: the Main Market Square, are the remains of a temple built in the church of Sant'Ansano, the arch of Drusus and Germanicus and, nearby, under the Town Hall, the well-preserved house of a rich Roman of the first century AD The National Archaeological Museum, next to the Roman theater still in use, conserves other interesting remains from Roman times.
Inside the Bishop's Palace next to the Diocesan Museum, stands the church of St. Euphemia, rebuilt in the twelfth century in the Romanesque style. Going down the scenic route dell'Arringo, you reach Piazza del Duomo, the cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, built in Romanesque style in the eleventh century and remodeled several times. The facade with mosaic Solsterno (1207) is at the top of the Romanesque, Renaissance at the bottom. Inside many important works, including frescoes by Filippo Lippi in the apse, and Pinturicchio in the chapel Eroli.
In the cathedral square, are also Caio Melisso theater, built in 1664 and recently restored, the Renaissance palace Racani Arroni whose gray facade is decorated with precious drawings sgraffito, and the Casa Menotti that preserves the archive of all seasons the Festival of Two Worlds. In front you can admire the sculpture by Lynn Chadwick (Strange III, 1959), part of the huge collection of contemporary art housed in a noble palace Collicola, venue of the project Visual Arts - Museum Carandente. Among the various sculptures by contemporary artists placed in the city, and most important of the majesty Teodelapio (1962) by Alexander Calder (high 18 m., 14 wide and weighs 30 tons) that greets visitors arriving at railway station in Spoleto .
Going a little beyond the walls of Spoleto, one can visit the Romanesque church of San Pietro, with its facade covered with interesting late Romanesque reliefs, and St. Pontian, dedicated to the patron saint of the city, whose crypt preserves precious frescoes of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.
Just beyond, on the hill Cinciano, next to the Monumental Cemetery, the beautiful church of San Salvatore, former Christian basilica (IV-V century.) Renewed by the Lombards in the eighth century. The basilica of June 2011 is part of the serial site, UNESCO World Heritage Site: "Lombards in Italy: the places of power" which includes seven places full of examples of Lombard, including the Temple of Clitunno, in Campello sul Clitunno , not far from Spoleto.