Umbria - Italy - page 218

LOOKING AT FILIPPO LIPPI'S FRESCO IN THE DUOMO Gaze up at
the Life of the Virgin, with its rainbow colors, and then look down to examine the
original marble floors.
CHECKING OUT THE ROCCA See the latest incarnation of this historic
fortress, with its art museum, medieval rooms, and recently used “dungeons.”
GOING TO THE FESTIVAL Try to make it to town for the yearly Spoleto
Festival, a world-class music and performance extravaganza in June and July.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF SPOLETO
Like many Umbrian cities, Spoleto's history cycles through Etruscan origins, Roman
colonization, Italian infighting, and papal misrule. In 217 B . C ., a well-defended
Spoleto stopped Hannibal's invading armies from marching toward Rome. The
city then flourished as a Roman colony, and to this day is replete with remains of
Roman buildings and walls. Thanks in part to its strategic position astride the
Rome-Ravenna route, the city developed into the powerful city-state of the
Duchy of Spoleto, dominating central-Italian politics and commerce. This caught
the attention of the warlord Emperor Barbarossa, who didn't like the fact that the
Duchy wasn't paying him tribute. Barbarossa invaded Spoleto in 1155, and liter-
ally flattened the city, destroying every one of its famed 100 towers.
Spoleto was rebuilt from the rubble. Most of the city's current landmarks were
constructed in the 13th century, including the Duomo and the Ponte delle Torri
bridge. As Pope Innocent VI consolidated his rule over central Italy in the 14th
The Spoleto Festival
For Spoleto, the dawn of a new age came in 1958. It was then that Gian
Carlo Menotti, an Italian-American composer, settled on this small
medieval town after an extensive search for the perfect spot for a festival
that would, in his words, “match and exchange American and European
artistic cultures.” From the very beginning, he recruited top names in the
arts, both mainstream artists and experimental: Louis Armstrong, Al
Pacino, Twyla Tharp, Pablo Neruda, Franco Zeffirelli, and Andy Warhol, to
name but a few. From the very beginning, the festival was a powerhouse
in the worlds of opera, music, dance, and theater. Today, over 200 official
events take place during the festival each summer, and just as many side
activities are sponsored by restaurants, hotels, and shops.
Menotti chose Spoleto to take advantage of its superb historical perform-
ance venues, including the ancient Roman amphitheater, the 17th-century
Caio Melisso theater, and the Duomo square, where over 15,000 fest-goers
jam for the yearly finale. The town, restaurants, and hotels are absolutely
packed for the duration, so plan ahead.
For more information, check out www.spoletofestival.it .