Friday, March 28th – 2025
And the rain came tumbling down over beautiful Spoleto – what better day to hit a museum or two. But after a silky cappuccino, of course !
We’re taking a week’s worth of language school starting monday, so locating the building seemed a good idea. The outer edge of the old center where roads conjoin, the train station sits, and a lot of commerce resides was our destination; we found the school quickly enough which was a relief. And right next to a gelateria – even better !
From the bsse of the town our next stop was the complete other end – the Rocca Albornoziana, that grandly impressive fortress that announces Spoleto. Built in the 1300 to 1400’s, it’s served as a defense fortification , home for a duchess, and eventually a prison. Today it’s a great museum and event space, not to mention some spectacular views. Spoleto has an incredible series of escalators and elevators ; otherwise getting to the top of things like the Rocca would take a moment. https://www.comune.spoleto.pg.it/…/rocca-albornoziana…/ We also happenstanced upon the weekly market just iutside the ancient Roman fortification walls. We’ll be back next Friday!
Walking through the massive structure, we were virtually alone. There were a handful of others visiting, but we never did cross paths. It’s always an amazing thing to wander through tangible history, imagining the lives and people and events that played out on the same ground upon which we stand. The museum has a nice collection, and the remnants of frescoes are so alluring. I would love to have seen walls such as these fully covered in such beauty.
A hearty lunch, then on to the Roman theatre and Archeological museum. Again, we never once had to share space either in theater or the museum. The museum is set in what was a monastery (Sant’Agata)built in the 1300s on what had been the back end of the theater. it’s well done and takes the viewer through the layers of history of this town starting with the bronze age onward.
Like so many amazing relics of the past, one is allowed to wander at will through such magnificence, and so it was with the Roman Theatre. These kinds of experiences are hard to relate through words. To be walking through the same tunnel -like hallways where the crowds passed starting in the first century BC as they made their way to the theater steps. To place feet step-by-step down the carved stone still amazingly intact, find a good seat, and plop down to imagine all of the spectacles that played out here. As we were the only ones there, the eerie silence let the imagination really run wild. It’s about the closest thing to a Time Machine that I’ll ever experience. https://www.comune.spoleto.pg.it/…/teatro-romano-e…/
A return to a restaurant we had discovered last time here gave us the repeat pleasure of eating spaghetti all’assassina- a specialty from Bari in Puglia. The restaurant kitties were still there, and the kind proprietress remembered us from last October. Sweet gifts of travel!