Umbria, Tuscany's Lovely Neighbor in Italy

Home of St. Francis, Fine Wines, and Great Food

Aug 18, 2009 Dorothy Patent

Gentle St. Francis lived in the Umbrian hill town of Assisi, the perfect place to start a tour of this province with great food, wine and history.

The hill towns of Tuscany are rightly famous for their beauty and charm. But just south of Tuscany lies the province of Umbria, just as blessed with ancient hill towns, silvery olive groves, and vineyards that produce luscious wines as is its more famous neighbor.

Italy's Green Heart

Depending on the length of one's stay, Umbria has much to offer. It's a place best visited by car, since the towns and villages are tucked into valleys reached by winding country roads. It's a place to wander at ease, exploring here and there to discover your own treasures. Here are some suggestions to help visitors make the most of an Umbrian adventure.

St. Francis's Home, Assisi

St Francis, who loved animals and people alike, lived in this lovely medieval town in the 13th century, and it has changed little since then. In 1226, two years after the gentle saint died, construction began on the imposing Basilica of St. Francis. The basilica actually consists of two separate and very different churches built one on top of the other. The dark lower church features the beautiful side chapels of St. martin and Mary Magdalene, along with 700-year-old frescoes that look like they could have been painted yesterday, using your next door neighbors as models.

Beneath the lower church lies a crypt holding the tomb of St. Francis. The air is close and heavily scented by fresh lilies in abundant bougqets that decorate the tomb. Visitors can rest quietly on pews facing the saint's final resting place, alone with their inner thoughts and prayers, or kneel to send prayers to the great saint.

The magnificent upper church is home of precious frescoes by Giotto, which had to be painstakingly restored after a major earthquake in 1997.

Quaint Shops and Photo Ops

Assisi is built on a hill, with the basilica at the lower end of town. Climbing into the town from the basilica along the Corso Mazzini is a pleasant chore, for the streets are lined by quaint shops. Assisi is a great place for photography buffs, as new views of the valley below pop up unexpectedly between buildings, and ancient facades decorated by geranium-filled flower boxes make wonderful compositions.

As the streets leading up from the basilica approach the upper reaches of the town, they open into a delightful town square. The square features a lovely bell tower, a Roman temple to the goddess Minerva that has been converted into a church, and a fountain whose water enters through the mouths of lions.

The shops lining the square and nearby streets are the most interesting, selling hand-painted stationery (a perfect easy-to-transport gift) and local food products, such as various truffle concoctions. A large sidewalk cafe provides a place to relax, chat, and people-watch.

Nearby Appenine Villages of Norcia and Gubbio

Assisi is a perfect home base for exploring other Umbrian villages such as Norcia and Gubbio. The medieval village of Norcia offers the best salami in Italy, they say, and is also a perfect place to sample peppery black truffles.

Gubbio is larger but still small enough to make exploration easy as you wander through the labyrinth of small streets and alleyways. The Museo Civico featues ancient bronze tablets called the Eugubian Tables, dated from 300 to 100 BC and the best source for writings in the old Umbrian language. Gubbio has been famous since the Middle Ages for its fine ceramics, which you can find at Leo Grilli Arte on the Via dei Consoli.

References

Patent, D. H., A Saint's Country, Missoulian, 1998

Lonely Planet, Italy

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The Basilica of St. Francis