More Italy

Aug 15, 2012 00:00

More hill towns, too.





This is just one of the little hill towns, from just below the walls. Most of them still have walls - after all, it's only a few centuries since the condottiere were loose round here. (That's the Italian term for Free Companies - aka mercenary armies which operated a part-time protection racket in the absence of an actual war at any time.)

This is Spello, one of my favourite places.



This is one of the Roman gates - the top bit is probably more modern, like only six or seven centuries.



It's steep





Random fresco:





Town square - a car that wanted to be a Triumph Herald but someone smashed its nose in.



The main church was gorgeous.







This is the surround to the main attraction, the Capella Baglioni, which is utterly awesome. The Baglioni were one of the nastier local families, but they knew how to commission a fresco! Or three, as it happens. Here's one (from Wikicommons, as they don't let you take photos, understandably.)





Here's the other Roman gate. More tower left here. It's doing well for two millennia, isn't it?





The day after Spello we spent dealing with a tyre problem. We were struck by a company on the industrial estate where the tyre was mended.



Note that the company is for sale. Calls for an icon, possibly?

Then we headed over to Orvieto, a hill city on the border with Tuscany, and a producing very fine white wine.





The cathedral is spectacular, outside and in.









Signorelli finished the chapel - Fra Angelico started it. Fabulous.



The day after that was the burglary, and the morning of the day after that was spent with the Carabinieri.



After that we went to Spoleto, but that will have to wait for a final post.

umbria, historical places, picspam, holiday 2012, pretty places

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