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From Assisi to Perugia, via GubbioLake Trasimeno and Marmore Falls: Umbria is a truly enchanting tourist destination

Peaks covered in lush forests and large valleys outlined by rivers, lakes and waterfalls; sorrounded by villages and castles, crossed by paths steeped in history, art and culture, in a natural environment that helps to restore the body and soul: Umbria, the Green Heart of Italy, is all this and much more.

Perugia Terni
Piazza IV Novembre - Perugia, Umbria
Perugia

In the heart of Italy lies one of its oldest centres, Perugia, known for its vibrant social life, university heritage and much more. A modern city with traces of its prominent past around every corner: standing atop a hill in the Tiber valley, Perugia, the capital of Umbria, is a renowned city of art and an effervescent cultural centre. Built as a fortified medieval village, it is encompassed by a mighty city wall. It boasts top-notch museums and beautiful nature, not forgetting chocolate, which it produces and celebrates at the mouth-watering Eurochocolate festival.

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Cattedrale Santa Maria Assunta a Terni
Terni

Dual soul of the “city of steel” Terni is a city nestled in the heart of the peninsula, rich in artistic and scenic beauty. Besides the Roman amphitheatre, still partly preserved, the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, the Romanesque tower of the Barbarasa family and the Basilica of St Valentine, where the remains of the patron saint of lovers are kept, are worth a visit. Older buildings are mixed with contemporary architecture such as the “Lance of Light”, better known as Arnaldo Pomodoro's Obelisk. It is the modern symbol of the city and depicts the evolution of the art of smelting from the raw iron of the base to the tip that appears to be made of gold. One of the most beautiful towns in the province is Orvieto, famous for its cathedral with its polychrome façade and for the Pozzo di San Patrizio: its helicoidal staircase will take you to a depth of 62 metres. Equally fascinating are the medieval Narni and La Scarzuola, Tomaso Buzzi's “ideal city”. From a landscape point of view, the Marmore Waterfalls stand out. With a height difference of 165 metres, divided into three jumps, it is one of the highest in Europe, ideal for a range of outdoor sports such as rafting, canyoning, hydrospeed and kayaking. Visiting some caves and karstic forms excavated over millennia by water is also possible. Lake Piediluco, due to the absence of currents and the presence of regular winds, is an excellent field for rowing races.

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Villages
Gubbio

Gubbio

A day in Gubbio, the stone city of Umbria It is known as the "city of stone" and stands on the flank of Mount Ingino: Gubbio will win you over at first sight with its medieval charm waiting to be discovered in its labyrinth of alleys and narrow streets. Gubbio's long history The origins of Gubbio are rooted in the ancient Umbrian civilization, as witnessed by the "Eugubine Tablets" written in the Umbrian language and dating back to the 3rd–1st century BC. You can admire them in the rooms of the Civic Museum in Palazzo dei Consoli. Gubbio's golden age began in around the year 1000, at the time of the Communes. Under the leadership of Bishop Ubaldo, in 1100, the city won a war against Perugia. In the meantime, arts and crafts flourished, including the processing of majolica. By the 1300s, the city took on the form it still has today. Some of the most beautiful buildings in Gubbio date back to that period. A stroll downtown Start your tour from the jewel of Gubbio, Piazza Grande or Piazza della Signoria, a "hanging" square overlooking the city. On its sides are the city's public palaces: Palazzo dei Consoli in the Gothic style and Palazzo Pretorio, one opposite the other. Also take a look at the Palazzo Ranghiasci Brancaleoni, which is located on the same square. A stone's throw away is the Renaissance-style Ducal Palace. From the gardens of the Ducal Palace, you have a beautiful view of the city. Pay attention to the tall, narrow door at the side of the large gate: it is the Dead Man's Door. According to legend, the coffins of the dead passed through here. Along the walls, which are located just above the palace and date back to 1200, are six gates, some of which are still decorated with paintings and city coats of arms. Among the churches, you should not miss the cathedral of Saints Mariano and Giacomo. Also worth a visit is the church of San Francesco, built on the land of the ancient Spadalonga family who would have welcomed him after he left his father's house and all his possessions. It is located at the foot of the city, where in the Middle Ages the market was held, and there is still the very long Loggia dei Tiratori, built in 1600 by the weavers' guild. Here is where they used to drape their freshly woven woollen cloths. However, the true wonder of Gubbio is the Fontana dei Matti in front of the Palazzo del Bargello. Anyone can obtain a madman's licence by making three laps around the fountain and getting wet in the presence of a Gubbio resident to certify it. Where to visit nearby Just step outside Gubbio's medieval walls and another world of surprises unfolds for you to discover: the Roman theatre, the Roman mausoleum not far away, the Abbey of San Secondo, the seventeenth-century Madonna del Prato rich in stucco and the Church of Vittorina built in the very spot where, according to legend, San Francesco met the wolf. The Gola del Bottaccione gorge Near Gubbio can be found the Gola del Bottaccione gorge, ideal for a trip just outside the city. It is a deep gorge caused by the erosion of the Carmignano stream, but it is also rich in historical evidence. There is an aqueduct here that runs along the gorge and dates back to the Middle Ages. In the gorge, there is also the Monastery of Sant'Ambrogio, which stands near a prehistoric citadel dating back to the Paleolithic. The hermitage dates back to 1300 and was known for its strict rules as well as the inaccessible position that guaranteed silence and solitude. Don't miss the visit, starting with the underground caves and ending with the church frescoes. At the top of Mount Ingino: the Basilica of Sant'Ubaldo The Basilica of Sant'Ubaldo is located right at the top of the mountain that watches over Gubbio, but don't worry, if you don't feel up to hiking, you can reach it by a comfortable cable car and have the whole town at your feet. Here, the urn is kept with the body of Sant'Ubaldo, patron saint of Gubbio. And there is also the famous race of the Ceri Festival on 15 May. The church is of medieval origin, but during the 1500s it was enlarged with the addition of the convent and cloister. Don't be fooled by the simplicity of the exterior, step inside to admire the richness of the five naves and the stained glass windows that tell the life of Saint Ubaldo.
Spirituality
La Scarzuola

La Scarzuola

La Scarzuola: the dream vision of a great architect La Scarzuola is a highly original architectural complex built in the garden of a former Franciscan convent of the 13th century by one of the most visionary Italian architects of the 20th century, Tomaso Buzzi. Nestled in the woods of the Orvieto hills, La Scarzuola reveals the dreamlike and surreal imagination of an artist who wanted to create his “ideal city” in a place he particularly loved. In 1956 Buzzi purchased this site as his home, located in the hamlet of Montegabbione (municipality of Montegiove, province of Terni). After restoring the ancient convent, Buzzi transformed what was once the monks' kitchen garden into an “anthology of stone”, where nature and architecture merge into each other. An ideal small town surrounded by greenery Inspired by a late 15th-century allegorical novel attributed to Francesco Colonna, Buzzi's ideal city is a set of buildings surrounded by greenery and characterised by different styles and dimensions, part labyrinth, part symbolic route, and part magical itinerary. It is like a synthesis of memories that the artist had been gathering from projects only imagined or thrown down on paper, a kind of catalogue of the potential of architecture itself. The world in a garden La Scarzuola, in Buzzi's words, “represents the World in general and in particular my World, that of art, culture, worldliness, elegance, pleasure and also vices, wealth and power, where, nevertheless, I made room for oases of recollection, of study and work, of music and silence...” “Awakening what sleeps within us, thanks to architecture” On the spiral path through the garden, around various bizarre buildings, seven stages of as many theatres are revealed, each a metaphor for life and death, the sacred and the profane, the true and the false. At La Scarzuola, the architecture in the green allows everyone to compare and contrast themselves with their unconscious through the vision of archetypal figures, almost a psychoanalytic journey culminating in the Acropolis, made up of buildings that reveal a multiplicity of perspectives and points of view, just like life itself. On the way, we find the Tower of Babel and its unwinding staircase of knowledge inside, the Great Mother, Jonah's Mouth (a reference to the park of Bomarzo), the butterfly-shaped Aquatic Theatre, the elliptical Theatre of Infinity, of the unfinished and the human body, not to mention numerous other architectural elements. A New-Age spiritualism A pioneer of a spiritualism that today we would call New Age, Buzzi worked on his idea for 20 years, constantly reworking his creation. Abandoned after the death of its creator in 1981, the Scarzuola complex was later restored according to drawings that Marco Solari had made of it. A nephew of Buzzi, Solari now lives there and guides visits to the garden, helping to interpret the myriad meanings of this place that is as fascinating as it is enigmatic. The name Scarzuola derives from a wetland plant, the scarza, which St Francis is said to have used to build himself a hut on the site where the convent was later built. In the apse of the church of Santa Maria della Scarzuola – which cannot be visited, like the Convent – a fresco of St Francis rising resurfaced some 30 years ago, and is now considered one of the oldest in Umbria. Find out more The Scarzuola garden can be visited all year round, but only by appointment. The visit lasts about one and a half hours.
Theatre
Teatro della Concordia

Teatro della Concordia

Teatro della Concordia: a small 18th-century pearl near Perugia Miniature jewel of art, indeed the smallest in the world with 99 seats between boxes and stalls: the Teatro della Concordia rises from the heart of Montecastello di Vibio, in the province of Perugia, not far from Todi, in a town that stands out on the right side of the Tiber Valley. Its name is not accidental and, in the 19th century, the time of its construction, it was intended to draw attention to the ideals of the French Revolution: liberty, equality and fraternity. Did you know that... There are even smaller theatres around the world. One example is the little theatre in the castle of Valvasone (PN). The Concordia theatre, however, is the oldest of those still in operation, unique architectural testimony of the 18th century Italian theatre in Goldonian style. Goldoni imposed strict rules for the construction of the ideal theatre, like using wood as the only element for the boxes and the bell-shaped floor plan for adequate acoustics. In fact, it is the smallest active historical theatre in the world. The Società del Teatro della Concordia, set up to manage the building, is now committed to keeping it open, offering performances and guided tours to the public. The story of this little wonder In the midst of the Napoleonic period, a group of nine illustrious local families set out to bring art to all, without sacrificing the best architectural details and the great artists of the time. Thus, the interior of the Teatro della Concordia in Montecastello di Vibio is particularly precious, enriched by frescoes decorating the boxes and vaulted ceiling: all by Cesare Agretti and his 15-year-old son Luigi. The latter made his mark with his paintings. Celebrities and curiosities The Teatro della Concordia has hosted great artists throughout its history. Think of the young soprano Antonietta Stella from Todi, who performed here in 1929, remembered as one of the best interpreters of Verdi's repertoire. Gina Lollobrigida, who made her debut as a young actress here in 1945 in Santarellina, by playwright Eduardo Scarpetta. The Teatro della Concordia, past to present In 1951, the hall was closed. A few years later the roof collapsed. The inhabitants of the area considered the theatre too important to lose it and thought of self-taxing in order to finance the restoration work, then completed by the Region, thanks to EU funds. In 1993, the restoration was completed and today the theatre is also used for conferences, meetings and civil weddings. From the smallest to the largest In 1997, the smallest theatre in the world twinned with the largest theatre in the world, the Teatro Farnese in Parma, seating approximately 3,000. For more information, the reference website is: www.teatropiccolo.it.
Region

Lush valleys and pristine environments: Umbria: the green heart of Italy

The fantastically varied scenery of Umbria offers plenty of opportunities to enjoy an unforgettable holiday, in contact with nature, in search of your own inner spirit or thrilling adventures. Anyone who loves Italian cuisine will be spoiled for choice, between family-run trattorias and the restaurants of Michelin star chefs.

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