Nonconformist

We flew from London Heathrow to Rome, and then had a longish drive (around four hours) up to Lake Trasimeno, arriving latish on Wednesday evening. The town of Passignano, where we were staying, is a pleasant if unremarkable little town, with a definite Italian feel (as opposed to a tourist trap). The town’s hotels and restaurants are not particularly remarkable either, but there is one massive advantage to staying there: there is a direct train route to a number of places I planned to visit during my stay. This was one of the reasons we chose this as our base. I was travelling with my parents, and planned to do some or most of my sightseeing independently by public transport. This worked out very well.

We spent the first full day together, exploring the lake itself. There is a fairly regular ferry service linking Passignano with the nearby village of Tuoro, which has what looked like a pretty nice little sandy beach and a battlefield where Hannibal slaughtered a Roman army, but we stayed on the ferry to its destination, the charming Isola Maggiore. This island boasts a charming little village, still inhabited, a number of pleasant cafes, a lovely walk around, and several churches to visit. The museum was closed the day we were there. We then got another ferry on to Castiglione del Lago, the town at the other end of the lake. This was actually more attractive than Passignano in many respects, but is on a different train route so would not have been as good a choice for us to stay in. There isn’t a direct ferry between the two towns (at least when we were there – possibly things are different in the very high season), one always needs to change at Isola Maggiore, with usually a longish wait on the island in between, which was not altogether convenient. However, there are definitely worse places to spend time.

On Friday we drove to Montepulciano, which was very charming. We separated once there, and after looking round the cathedral and admiring its beautiful altarpiece, I spent an hour or so in the civic museum, which was very interesting. Although the town is a popular one with foreign tourists, I was the only person who seemed interested in the museum that day. It holds a few archaeological finds, but mainly pictures, including some fine lesser medieval art. I particularly liked a 14th century Coronation of the Virgin by a Sienese artist, hanging next to a rather appalling 14th/15th century adoration of the shepherds, featuring angels with pink wings which made me laugh. The church of Gesu’ was also really lovely. We then went on to Pienza. Pienza is undeniably beautiful but it seemed very much geared to tourism. Every other building seemed to be a shop selling (admittedly fairly high quality) goods to outsiders, and I found it a little offputting.

To be continued.

Nonconformist

On Saturday I took the train to Perugia. There is no staffed station at Passignano, but one buys tickets from the station café. The station itself had a rather sweet old fashioned aura about it, rather like pictures of 1950s stations in England. You need to walk across the tracks to cross platforms. I got the 8.56 train, reaching Perugia at around 9.30, and then took the bus up to the centro storico. I made mistake getting off too soon, but actually I didn’t regret this. I had intended to get off at Piazza Italia, and jumped off when I saw what I thought was the square’s name, but was actually a sign pointing to it. However, this meant I ended up taking the escalators up through the remains of the Rocca Paolina, the fortress which dominated the city for many years, which I would have missed otherwise. I visited the cathedral, then the nearby Etruscan well, which was really impressive. There I picked up a leaflet for a special exhibition at the Palazzo Sorbello, owned by the same family as the well, so I checked that out, and really enjoyed it. I admired the Collegio del Cambio (very beautiful interior) and, to a lesser degree, the Collegio della Mercanzia. After lunch I wandered around a little and found a gorgeous viewpoint near the Porta del Sole. The Diocesan Museum was well worth half an hour, with some lovely pictures and some interesting archaeological remains. I then spent a good two hours going through the fabulous collection of medieval and Renaissance art at the National Gallery of Umbria. I then got completely and hopelessly lost trying to find the Archaeological Museum, despite having two guidebooks with maps and a third map I’d picked up. In the end I called it a day and got the bus back down to the station and the train home.

On Sunday I went in the opposite direction, taking the train to Arezzo. Trains were not as frequent in this direction; not fancying the 6.24 the next train available was the 10.24, which got into Arezzo at 11. In planning my trip I’d originally thought of going to Cortona, but this year there was a special Piero della Francesca exhibition in Arezzo, so I made that my choice for this day, and didn’t regret it. Arezzo didn’t feel touristy at all, but like a provincial Italian town with a life of its own. My first stop was to secure timed tickets for the exhibition and for San Francesco. There was a steep walk up to the cathedral, but it was beautiful, with some lovely frescoes on the ceiling. The tourist info office was close by, with a clean loo (50 cents). I walked around the north and west of the town, and popped into San Lorentino church, which had a temporary exhibition of documents from the archive of a medieval lay confraternity and a paintong borrowed from the museum. I had a picnic lunch in a pleasant but slightly tired looking park with a pretty view in this area, the Passeggio del Prato. It was then time to see the frescoes in San Francesco and use my timed ticket for a close up look at the Bacci chapel. After that I inspected the scavi underneath the church (Roman and Etruscan remains), newly (and possibly temporarily) open to the public, free of charge. I then went to see the special exhibition, which was at the town’s Museum of Medieval and Modern Art. There were few actual Piero della Francescas on show, the best being the double portrait of Federico da Montefeltro and Battista Sforza. but basically it was an excellent and well- displayed little collection of 14th and 15th century art borrowed from other museums. The best picture was probably Rogier Van der Weyden’s famous Deposition from the Cross, borrowed from the Uffizi. The permanent exhibition was enjoyable too. I walked across to see the Piazza Grande and then down to the Roman amphitheatre. I decided against a visit to the archaeological museum in favour of catching the 5.11 train back to Passignano.

Nonconformist

Monday was the day for Assisi, and again I took the train and then a bus up into the town. I visited the cathedral and the cathedral treasury museum; Santa Chiara; the Chiesa Nuova; and San Francesco Piccolino (supposedly the site of St Francis’ birth). In the Piazza del Comune I had a look at the Roman temple façade, then enjoyed going round the Roman forum museum where I escaped the crowds. After lunch I walked down towards the Basilica, popping in at the Oratorio dei Pellegrini on the way. I found the Upper Church the more beautiful, but the lower one has more things to see, inlcuding clothes actually worn by St Francis. After that I went uphill again to visit the Pinoteca (art gallery) – a minor collection, but another nice quiet spot, and it has some nice frescoes from buildings in Assisi. I had a look at the lovely Fonte Marcella and went into San Pietro (mainly bare brick with tantalising traces of frescoes), then took the bus back to the station.

On Tuesday we went by car over to have a look at Gubbio, which I also enjoyed very much. I saw the cathedral, cathedral museum, the Palazzo Ducale and the museum in the Palazzo dei Consoli, and wandered around a lot.

macanimals

Thanks for the very informative trip report. It sounds like you had a great time exploring and experiencing a very nice part of Italy.
I'm headed that way in September for another visit and have Lake Trasimeno and Arrezzo on my radar. Where did you purchase your tickets for the art exhibits in Arezzo? I'd love to see the frescoes. And is there a way to learn the ferry schedule from Castiglione del Lago and Isola Maggiore? Once again, I 've wanted to have the opportunity to stroll Isola Maggiore for a while now.
Thanks for the help. Paul

Nonconformist

The frescoes in Arezzo are in the church of San Francesco, and you can get tickets a few doors in the same street. The special exhibition will be over then, so I suspect the town will be (even) less busy than it was when I was there.

I'm not sure about getting the ferry timetables ahead of your visit, maybe because they vary at different times of the year - they're available in the town tourist information offices, and on notice boards there. It's definitely worthwhile, though.

I hope you enjoy your trip; it really is a lovely area and so well located.

fall06

Glad you liked the the gallery of Umbrian art in Perugia, nonconformist. It is among my very favorite art museums in Europe. In addition to its many treaures, the layout of the museum, and the information about each painting and its relationship to other paintings and its overall historic important to all of Italian painting is really outstanding.

In addition, I think Perugia is one of the most fun Italian cities to visit. Not only do you have the escalators, but you have the great parade on the Corso Vanucci and a very high quality of Umbrian food (not to mention chocolates).

macanimals

Thanks for the follow-up. I'll try and contact the TI in Castiglione del Lago for more info. For sure, we're headed to Arezzo as well and looking forward to a week of daytrips from Montepulciano. Ciao e grazie. Paul

Nonconformist

The next day we left Trasimeno and travelled south to Bolsena, a very charming little town on the north shore of Lake Bolsena. Lake Bolsena is smaller, deeper and bluer than Trasimeno. It was quieter here than in Trasimeno, and more charming imo (I liked Passignano and lake Trasimeno, but I loved Bolsena), with quite a bit to see in the town itself. The oldest part of the town (the Castello area) clusters around the Rocca Monaldeschi, a castle which is the home of a very good little local museum, at the top of the hill. Although the captions are all in Italian, they lend you a guidebook in English which basically translate them all. It was 5 euros to buy, and I did, because it doubled as, more or less, a history of the area around the lake. Further down hill, but still a little way from the lakeside, the Basilica of Santa Cristina incorporates the medieval shrine of St Cristina, late Roman catacombs, and the site of the Miracle of Bolsena, which led to the introduction of the Catholic feast of Corpus Christi. There was a small entrance fee to go into the catacombs set into the hillside beside the church (really three buildings of different dates attached to one another). The main shopping area, such as it was, was at this level, as was the tourist information office. Most of the town’s hotels are on the lakefront. The beaches are narrow strips of black sand, not very attractive, but fairly well used. The town is a strong proponent of the siesta, and apart from some of the bars/gelaterie, closes down completely between roughly one and five in the afternoon. Beyond the Castello area are some Roman remains. A small excavated area can be visited, where the forum was. Further afield there is the site of an amphitheatre, but this hasn’t been excavated, and is hard to spot. You can also follow (walk on) part of a Roman road still used as a road.

One morning we took a boat trip over to Capodimonte on the other side of the lake. In previous years it has been possible to visit the island of Bisentina, but at present there is some dispute with the owner which has forbidden access. This was a disappointment, as it looks pretty, and is a wildlife haven and has several churches to visit. There isn’t a regular ferry service on the lake, but boat trips are run around the lake and across to Capodimonte on the opposite shore, allowing an hour’s stop there. Capodimonte was a rather unattractive town down by the lakeshore, but there is a pretty view from the castle up on the hill (not open to the public). This was probably the greatest disappointment of the trip. Montefiascone, also on the lake, can be reached by bus, and this is much prettier. I could have visited Civita di Bagnoregio by bus as well, but didn’t fancy the approach, and thought Viterbo would be more rewarding for me.

I travelled by bus to Viterbo, about 40-50 minutes away, and it was indeed well worth it. One gets another bus up into the historic centre, and then walk around the medieval streets. Viterbo had a much grittier feel to it than most of the other places I visited, but hadn’t lost the charm of its history. There were some charming streets to wander through. I liked the Palazzo dei Priori, visitable from the next door council offices, free of charge (though one needs to hand over some form of ID for admission). The rooms, still evidently used for official purposes, include some fine ceiling paintings. The cathedral has a nice little museum attached, where one can also apply for admission to the Papal Palace. I was the only person who did so, and basically got a one-to-one guided tour of the bishop’s private chapel (the old choir) at the back of the cathedral and the Conclave room in the palace. I found the Civic Museum interesting, especially the set of archive designs for the “car” used each year for the procession of St Rosa. After a not entirely satisfactory lunch, I had a fascinating visit to the National Etruscan Museum, near the Porta Fiorentina. This has an excellent set of archaeological finds, arranged by place found.

Nonconformist

I'll add to my comments on Viterbo that it was the one place I never got lost at all. This is a miracle, as I can get lost anywhere, even with a map.

We drove to Orvieto. This can in theory be visited by bus from Bolsena, but it involves a couple of changes, so would have been a bit awkward. I was enraptured by the Duomo, which must be one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever seen anywhere. I enjoyed both the Claudio Faina Museum, which I had reduced admission to from my visit to the mueeum in Bolsena, and which has a nice if rather unfocussed collection of mainly Etruscan finds, and the state archaeological museum. The Papal Palace was housing a temporary looking exhibition of items from the Diocesan collection; it looked as though they were in the middle of refurbishing the building to make a permanent home for the collection.

A few general thoughts: Cathedral museums are often worth looking at. They usually have art once on show in the cathedral, and sometimes other things of interest. Museums in general, especially but not only government ones, are the most reliable place to find clean, free (apart from the entrance fee, obviously) loos. Cafes and bars are pretty hit and miss for that.

fall06

funny, but I got completely lost in Viterbo, until I figured out how it was bisected by arteries and where its ring roads went. you have to have a real appetite to explore a different side of Italy to make room for Viterbo, which is filled with history but also a lot of industrial grit.