【Spoleto】4K walk in Spoleto during the "Festival dei Due Mondi" and the meeting of Vespa Club

Описание: Spoleto is located on the top of the Sant’Elia hill and the natural protection offered by the steep slopes of Monte Luco favored the birth of the first settlements already during the Bronze Age. On the other hand, the cyclopean walls erected by the Umbrians belong to the V-IV century BC. In 241 BC the city became a Roman colony and with the subsequent construction of the Via Flaminia its economic and strategic importance grew exponentially. In 90 BC, thanks to its valiant opposition to the advance of a Hannibal returning from the victory over Lake Trasimeno, Spoleto obtained the prestigious title of “Municipium”, seeing its importance and hegemony over the surrounding area grow even more.

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Hegemonic traits that "Spoletium" did not lose even following the collapse of the Western Roman Empire and the gradual start of the barbarian invasions.

After the conquest of the city by the Ostrogoths of Theodoric the Great (493), alternating events followed which ended a few decades later, in 552, when Spoleto, following the reconquest of Justinian and the victorious Gothic war, became Byzantine dominion. As early as the fourth century there is news of Spoleto as an episcopal see which was accompanied by the consequent development of a resolute ecclesiastical hierarchy evidently favored, in the exercise of power, by its proximity to the Papal State.

Following the arrival of the Lombards in Italy, Faroaldo established the Duchy of Spoleto (570) which, together with that of Benevento, formed the so-called "Longobardia Minor", whose extreme offshoots reached as far as today's Calabria. A territory as vast as it is autonomous from the central power of Pavia. The Duchy of Spoleto fell in 774, following the defeat suffered by the Lombards at the hands of the Franks, allies of the Pope. The territories of the Duchy were thus incorporated into the borders of the Carolingian Empire and subsequently into those of the Holy Roman Empire.

In medieval times the city was the subject of a bitter dispute between the Papacy and the Empire with consequent internal social tensions between the Guelphs and Ghibellines. In 1155, according to tradition, the city was conquered and almost destroyed by the troops of Barbarossa, who came to Italy to be crowned emperor by Pope Adrian IV. The imperial domination lasted until 1198 when Spoleto was definitively annexed to the Papal state. In the Middle Ages, following the spread of the first Mendicant Orders on Mount Luco, the construction of various religious buildings was very important, which contributed decisively to the architectural embellishment of the city The construction of the fortress dates back to the 14th century, with a view to further military and strategic strengthening of the city. The mighty fortress, built at the behest of Cardinal Egidio Albornoz, stands on the top of the Sant’Elia hill to dominate the entire Spoleto valley.

During the Renaissance Spoleto became a cultural center of considerable importance, attracting some of the greatest artists of the time including Filippo Lippi and Antonio da Sangallo the Younger.

Except for the brief period of Napoleonic domination, the city remained a papal possession until 1860 when it officially became part of the Kingdom of Italy.

There are many places of interest to visit, above all the Cathedral, the Archbishop's Palace, the Rocca di Albornoz, the Ponte delle Torri and the Church of San Pietro.

During the month of June Spoleto hosts the “Festival dei Due Mondi”one of the most prestigious cultural events on an international level.