SPELLO (PG)

CORPUS CHRISTI FLORAL DECORATIONS (10 of june)The “floral decorations” are floral compositions representing liturgical figurations and ornamental motifs The preparations require weeks of work but the compositions are completed with fresh flowers during the course of a single night.By using only strongly scented flowers and grasses, figures and ornamental motifs of brilliant colours and subtle shades are obtained.

The floral decorations are the masterpiece of Spello’s artistic creativity and, , with their colours and fragrances, create a highly evocative sight in the streets of the city.

BEVAGNA:

THE FAIR OF THE “GAITE”(16-17 of June)This is a faithful revisitation of daily life in the Middle Ages .Along the streets and in the intriguing nooks of medieval Bevagna, the inhabitants of the four “Gaite” (town wards) vie with one another in recreating the typical workshops, inns and markets of those times.Shows, concerts, exhibitions and conferences, together with an archery contest, concur in enlivening still further the animated evenings.Traditional craftwork is however the focal point of the fair.In the cramped, dimly – lit workshops , skilled master-artisans devise exclusive objects using the original medieval technique .

PERUGIA:

UMBRIA JAZZ (6-15 Luglio)Launched in 1973, today is one of the most important jazz events in
Europe.It has in its time hosted the greatest modern jazz musicians.The event lasts ten full days; a hundred or so concerts take place from morning to night among the ancient buildings in the historic centre of
Perugia.During this event Perugia becomes a meeting point for tens of thousands of young people from all over Europe and the
United States, who come to meet the most famous contemporary jazz artists.

Beviglie lies on a hillock above Tordibetto covered with olive trees and ancient oaks at 303 metres above sea level. Only the eastern and southern sides and an access gate in travertine on the western side are left of the original fifteenth-century square structure. The castle gained notoriety outside of Assisi for giving birth to brother Elias, one of the most distinguished “sons” of S.Francis who was his disciple and vicar; his name is connected to the building of the basilica of Assisi, being its deviser and maybe architect. His birth at the castle was documented by an inscription on a fresco – now vanished – on the refectory door of the Sacred Convent, depicting S.Francis with some brothers including Elias indicated as “frater Helias de Bevilio” (brother Elias of Bevilio).

Tordibetto

Situated on the road from Assisi to Palazzo, at 255 m above sea level, the castle of Tordibetto is one of the best-preserved on the whole territory. It was built by Betto di Menico (after whom it was named) in 1408 at the “mercy” of Beviglie, on a pre-existing defensive settlement, built to protect some buildings meant for grain processing and storage.

“It rests on the slope of a hill, and although the city surrounds it with walls on the side facing north, the rocks it was built on make the city impregnable, all neighbouring hills look full and adorned with delicate fruits; it has a great quantity of olives, beautiful vineyards, rich and abundant pastures because of the closeness of the mountains around it; the little part it has in the valley is all perfect and very fruitful”
(C.Piccolpasso – 1578/79)

Piccolpasso’s description is perfect for Assisi that lies on an offshoot of mount Subasio at a height –at its highest point (the “rocca maggiore” fortress)– of 505 meters above sea level. It was an old Umbrian settlement and it was then conquered by Romans in the 4th century BC.
Its name was mentioned for the first time in an elegy by Propertius, who was born in Assisi in 51 BC.
During the Middle Age it took part in endless wars against the nearest cities (Perugia) that forced it to defend itself with walls and fortified castles all around it.

Assisi is inseparably linked to St. Francis who was born here in 1182 and is one of the major figures of Christianity and not only that. Many monuments and works of art are dedicated to the “Poor man of Assisi” and attract a large number of pilgrims and tourists from all over the world.

But besides the attentions due to the traditionally important and fascinating monuments (the Basilica of St.Francis, the Cathedral of St.Rufino, St.Claire, St.Peter, St.Damian, the Temple of Minerva, the Hermitage of the Carceri) Assisi is also worth a walk through the streets of the historic centre. In every season, with the wind roaring in winter, with the flower balconies, in bloom from the first days of spring until late summer, among the alleys of Assisi you can find the untouched medieval surroundings, the façades from the fourteenth-fifteenth century made of mount Subasio rose red stone, the short staircases, the little balconies and from time to time a view of the green valley below.