Umbria, “La Terra dei Santi”, The Land of Saints
- 29 gen 2017
- Tempo di lettura: 2 min
Set in the very center of Italy, Umbria it’s also called the “Green Heart of Italy” because of its verdant landscape.
Beyond towns, truffles or cypresses there is also an Umbria mistica – mystical Umbria – or “la terra dei santi”, the land of saints, because the hundreds of saints born here, including St Valentine and the two fathers of Western monasticism, St Francis and St Benedict.
St. Francis and St. Benedict were both born and raised here, in the respective towns of Assisi (45 min drive from Casa Chiara) and Norcia (less than 2 hours drive from Casa Chiara), whose medieval characteristics remain impressively intact.
Other very well preserved medieval Umbrian towns include Gubbio, Todi, Spello, Bevagna and Montefalco, most on hilltops with sweeping panoramic views over the gentle rolling countryside.
Impressive abbeys also remain in good condition:
in the Umbrian capital Perugia is the Church and Abbey of St. Peter, built around 996.
St. Salvatore of Monte Corona and the Abbey of Badia Petroia Near Città di Castello (45 min drive from Casa Chiara) and the Basilica of San Francesco built in 1230 in Assisi.
It’s also possible in this “Land of Saints” to visit the basilica and monastery of St. Rita at Cascia — the patron saint of impossible cases — who was born in the Umbrian town of Spoleto.
Umbria is where Pietro Vannucci — “Perugino” — and Raphael started their famous schools and Giotto and Cimabue painted evocative frescoes on the walls of the basilica in Assisi.
It was also the home of Bernardino di Betto, better known as “Pinturicchio,” and of Simone Martini and Pietro Lorenzetti, both inspired by Franciscan spirituality.
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