Trips

Mon., 10/10/16 – Trevi

        Today we visited Spoleto.  The town has a long history of Etruscans, Romans, Medieval, and Catholic Church influences. Our first stop was the ruins of a Roman amphitheater, after which we wandered through the town, looking at various buildings and other sites.

        Spoleto is special because the 20th c. composer Gian Carlo Menotti, who wrote his first opera at age 11 and studied for a time at Curtis Institute in Phila., created a music festival called the Festival of Two Worlds in 1958 in Spoleto.  All kinds of arts – theater, music, and literature – are included in the festivals.  Menotti looked for a place to hold the festival and picked Spoleto because it had two theaters, a renovated Roman amphitheater, and two open squares that sloped to let large crowds watch the entertainment.

Rainy day	Spoleto
Archeological Site	Roman theater
Fountain and clock in the Piazza Mercato	Wild boar sign
Truffles	Street scene
Street scene	Our wanderings finally took us to the 774-foot-long medieval bridge, Il Ponte delle Torri, which was a walkway of escape from the castle over a wooded gorge to the hills and caves on the other side.
Il Ponte delle Torri - Medieval bridge	Il Ponte delle Torri - Medieval bridge
After the bridge, we went to the Cathedral di Santa Maria Assunta, the Duomo that has several Renaissance frescoes by Fra’ Filippo Lippi.  In the apse is Mary’s Ascension into Heaven with her Annunciation on the left side and a Nativity on the right.  They were interesting because they are so different from the usual depictions and include hidden political statements.
Cathedral di Santa Maria Assunta - Duomo	Cathedral di Santa Maria Assunta
	Cathedral di Santa Maria Assunta - Macchia aperta
Cathedral di Santa Maria Assunta	Lunch - pasta and grilled vegetables and their local dessert of chocolate and amaretto
Since it was raining and foggy and we could not go rafting, Plan B was to visit another hill town, Bevagna.  By now they are all looking alike – crooked streets and narrow alleys going up and down and some alleys with steps.  The houses are all old stone plain walls.  Some people try cheering things up with flowers in pots.  There will be a main square and a main church.
Pig picture - Andy Warhol	Street scene
Street scene	Bevagna has four contrada districts called gaites.  Instead of a palio they compete in medieval arts and crafts.  Today we visited craftsmen engaged in the medieval way of making silk cloth, minting coins, and making paper from cloth.  In each location, someone demonstrated the entire process for us.  It was interesting and educational.
Silk maker's shop	Silk maker's shop
Silk maker's shop	Silk maker's shop
Silk maker's shop	Coin making
Coin making	Sample coin
Paper making	Paper making
Paper making	Paper making

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