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The location of our farm is not so far from interesting and famous sites like Cortona, Sansepolcro, Anghiari, Perugia, Assisi, Arezzo, Spoleto, and Lake Trasimeno.
Cortona is the setting for the film version of ‘Under the Tuscan Sun’. Sansepolcro is famous for the great artist and geometrist, Piero della Francesca. Anghiari was the site of a battle significant for Florence and its destiny. The battle formed the inspiration for a lost fresco commissioned almost 70 years later which Leonardo da Vinci was meant to paint. Arezzo is the setting for the film, ‘Life Is Beautiful’, winner of three Academy Awards.
On Lago Trasimeno you can visit the Isola Maggiore on which they made lace. The broader area is famous for the Etruscans, who dominated middle Italy before the Romans, and for Hannibal. An interesting museum devoted to Hannibal is nearby, who scored one of his most splendid victories in the Trasimeno region.
Around Perugia and Assisi you can walk the Franciscan trail, part of a pilgrimage route associated with St Francis; while further to the southeast you can visit Norcia and admire its fantastic natural surroundings.
We are near the famed Tuscan wine regions around Montepulciano and Montalcino, and not so far from magnificent thermal baths. A bit further away is Florence, Urbino (home to Raphael), Orvieto with its amazing gothic cathedral, and Rome. There is also Viterbo not far, with its magnificent villas and gardens, such as the Palazzo Farnese.
Near Viterbo is the outdoor sculpture garden, ‘Park of Monsters’, while the famous Tarot Garden of Niki de Saint Phalle is also within reach. The ghost-town of Civita di Bagnoregio near Orvieto is fun…
A lot happens in our neighbourhood, quite apart from the various festivals or sagra that celebrate local life and products. In the second week of July there is the Umbria Film Festival in the medieval town of Montone, on the other side of the Tiber from us. The honorary president is Terry Gilliam and others to get involved have included Ghita Nørby, Rachel Portman, Chanya Button, Chloe Pirrie, Bill Nighy, and Stephen Woolley.
In mid-July there is the Umbria Jazz festival, the biggest traditional jazz gathering in Italy, held outdoors in the Perugia stadium as well as other nearby venues around town. In 2023 it was the 50th anniversary edition and included Bob Dylan in the lineup. Mid-September Perugia has its wine festival, just recently inaugurated. And in mid-October there is the Eurochocolate festival, held through the streets and squares of Perugia, the town being home to Baci chocolate.
Perugia is also the home base for Brunello Cucinelli, the fashion brand and the starting point for Luisa Spagnoli. Both individuals have truly inspiring stories. Cucinelli has built a philosophy and way of life into his business, like other famous Italians before him including Adriano Olivetti. Cucinelli’s book, ‘Il sogno di Solomeo: La mia vita e l’idea del capitalismo umanistico’, is a worthwhile read. The movie of Luisa Spagnoli you can see on the free RaiPlay app.
Perugia retains several traditional family-run craft industries; most interestingly a family atelier for stained glass and a family workshop for textiles. The town is featured in various of the film gialli, one source of inspiration for well-known directors such as Quentin Tarantino. Italy has been more often at the forefront of global movements in cinematography than other countries; including neo-realism, the film giallo, and the unromantic or spaghetti western, of which a recent example has been Jane Campion’s latest movie.
From June to September Cinegatti offers an outdoor cinema both at the Frontone park in Perugia (Frontone Cinema all’aperto) and in the cloisters of Church San Fiorenzo (Cinema Méliès). The cinemas offer new and classic films to enjoy almost every night, out in the balmy weather typical of summer evenings in Umbria.
Elsewhere in the region, Gubbio has a famous candle race mid-May and Spoleto has its celebrated festival of classical music and the arts late June. (Its sister festival is held in Charleston from late May each year.) Assisi is the home of St Francis and an amazing basilica. As a result, the little town now attracts something like 5 million tourists each year. There will be a series of events leading up to the 800th anniversary of St Francis’s death in 2026. Elsewhere, Norcia is home to St Benedict and is famous both for its natural surroundings, in particular wild-flowers from mid-May to early July, and for its natural products.
Around us and all these towns we are blessed with open markets everywhere — depending on the day selling bread, fresh produce, or craft products — and either indoor or outdoor flea markets, mercatino dell’usato, selling everything from used items to antiques.
