Today, I will tell you about my day spent discovering the beautiful Spoleto. I had been there on a rainy day four years ago and the lap, unfortunately, was influenced a lot by the persistent rain of that day. So, I decided to come back (finally) and rediscover this charming Umbrian town. The city is not significant, you can visit it in a few hours time (I would say in about 3 hours) if, as we did, you decide not to visit museums and tourist places (see the inside of the fortress), but take a walk to the city.
I want to start with some useful information, or at least I hope, for those who are about to visit Spoleto.
– There are many parking lots (for a fee) in the lower and modern part of the city. From all of them the historical centre is easily reachable;
– Escalators leave from every parking area. They stop at various levels: the one we took, the yellow, led up to the castle and we decided to get up to the top and then return to the parking lot on foot (this meant doing all the way downhill);
– There are many maps, directions and tourist information. This helps tourists a lot and allows you not to bring along maps or to have to consult google maps every two seconds to understand where they are at that time (and it is, thus, even more comfortable to decide where to go).
We decided to arrive with the escalators up to the Rocca (the city castle), and then visit the city “downhill”. We decide not to visit the interior and dedicate the visit just to the city. The building is impressive, offers a spectacular view of the city and its surroundings and I was fascinated by it. After the tour around the fortress we begin our descent and pass in front of the monument to the unknown soldier and the town hall to get to the small Market Square: populated with bars, restaurants and shops, we decide that is the “right” place to stop dine while watching the comings and goings of tourists who populate the small, but not too, Umbrian town. In terms of monuments to see, there is not much, as I said the square is small but offers interesting details for “serial observers”. From the market square, we walk through the alleys of the centre, where there are exciting views for those who love photography, and we arrive in less than 5 minutes to the beautiful, and very well known Piazza del Duomo. The square is gigantic for a city like Spoleto and, from some angles, it looks even more significant than it is (ah, the magic of perspective!). I was amazed and open-mouthed when I arrived and, for this reason, I advise you to stop for a moment to observe it before entering the cathedral! I’m sure you can be amazed and fascinated too for the “game of perspective “that makes it even more significant and more unique than expected by imagining it (there will be, after all, a reason why it is so well known … or not?).
The Cathedral of Spoleto, inside, I find it “simply beautiful”: simple and clean, with no frills, paintings or anything to weigh down the quiet interior. I suggest you go in and turn around without being in a hurry to go out thinking that “so much it takes to see him”: I am more than convinced that you will be amazed, thanks to this, in my opinion extraordinary, simplicity.
Knowing that to get back to the car “we just have to get off” we decide to go down to the parking lot without having, in fact, a precise route. This tactic, at times, I find it perfect to discover a place that I do not know to the best, to discover small hidden corners and that, probably, I would risk getting lost otherwise. Maybe it’s a bit strange as a method of visit, but I think it’s perfect to know even better a city for us new (after seeing museums and monuments that we are interested in visiting). What do you think? Have you ever visited Spoleto?