City, Culture and Events
Art Cities
Perugia, Castiglione del Lago, Assisi, Spoleto, Spello… there are countless Umbrian cities of art, small and large, each with their own story and places to tell.
Palaces, basilicas, cathedrals, Roman bridges, archaeological sites: Umbria is a melting pot of history and culture from prehistoric times to the present day, and has given birth to some of the greatest contemporary and historical artists of our time.
From the Umbrian School of Pinturicchio to the poor art of Alberto Burri, from the perspectives of Piero della Francesca to the futurism of Gerardo Dottori, artist who has dedicated numerous artworks to the panoramas of the Trasimeno, from the Storie di San Francesco di Giotto vto the Renaissance of Pietro Vannucci, the Perugino; in Umbria there is art for all tastes.
Galleries and Museums
Just near the holiday farm, don’t miss a visit and climb to the top of the Torre dei Lambardi (Lambardi Tower), the Museo della Pesca (Fishing Museum), the Museo paleontologica (Palaeontological Museum) of Pietrafitta, and the Museo del giocattolo (Toy Museum) in Perugia, all extremely interesting for children too.
Umbria is nonetheless home to numerous galleries and museums of great historical and artistic interest: Perugia alone, located 20 minutes from the holiday farm, is home to two of the most important museums of central Italy, such as the Galleria Nazionale dell’Umbria, which exhibits artworks of Perugino and Piero della Francesca, and the National Archaeological Museum of Umbria, with numerous Etruscan and Roman artefacts; there are also numerous museums of anthropological interest, representative of the life and traditions of the territory, such as the Fishing Museum on the shores of Lake Trasimeno, or the prestigious Wine Museum of Torgiano.
The only one of its kind instead is the Regional Museum of Ceramics in Deruta, with a permanent exhibition of ceramic artefacts of great historical and artistic value.
Music
Umbria hosts two major international music festivals: Umbria Jazz, in its summer version, takes place in Perugia in July, and Umbria Jazz Winter is held in Orvieto between December and January.
Trasimeno Blues on the other hand, is held in summer in various locations along the shores of Lake Trasimeno, just a few minutes’ drive from the holiday farm.
The guests of the festivals are internationally renowned, and all is framed by the fascinating historical centres of Perugia and Orvieto for Umbria Jazz, and by the historical towns on the shores of Lake Trasimeno and Isola Maggiore for Trasimeno Blues.
History
From the Umbrians to the Etruscans, from the Romans to the Lombards, from the Municipalities to the State of the Church, many are the populations and dominations that have left their imprints in the Umbrian territory; the Hypogeum of the Volumnus family, the ancient Etruscan necropolis at the gates of Perugia, the Rocca Paolina, the sixteenth-century fortress commissioned by Pope Paul III in the centre of Perugia, the suggestive natural islands of Lake Trasimeno, the Maggiore and the Polvese, reachable by boat, and numerous archaeological sites, are just some of the places of interest in the region, which teems with stories and ancient and modern peoples.