Spoleto (and Pissignano)

Driving back to our condo one evening, we rounded a corner on the highway and noticed Spoleto's impressive roman bridge that crossed the valley in front of us. We had visited Spoleto in the past, but on seeing it's bridge, we decided we had to make a return trip.

Spoleto has many historical highlights as it was an important center in Roman and medieval times. The first historical mention of Spoletium was on its founding as a colony in 241 BC.

We got parked and headed uphill to the Ponte delle Torri or the Bridge of Towers. The bridge is 750 feet long and 260 feet high.It used to have medieval defensive towers at each end of the bridge. The bridge has 10 arches and was built in the 13th century over the foundation of a Roman aqueduct.  When we visited last time, we were able to walk over it, however, it is now temporarily closed due to damage suffered in the 2016 earthquake.  While disappointed that we couldn’t walk across it, the views were still breathtaking from our vantage point.

From the bridge, one gets a fantastic view of the fortress – the Rocca Albornoziana – that overlooks the valley.The Rocca took ten years to build and was completed in 1370.


After resisting many sieges, the Rocca was turned into a jail in 1800 and remained in use until the late 20th century. After extensive renovation, since 2007, it is a museum .

We had time to check out a few of the other sites in town before wrapping up our day. We passed the Duomo di Spoleto which was originally built in the 11th century. It used stones salvaged from Roman buildings for its slender bell tower.

We also saw the Arch of Druso and Germanic which is a 23 AD Roman arch built to honor the sons of Emperor Tiberius. It had fallen into ruins over the ages and one of its support pillars became part of the wall of a neighboring church. Reconstructed in the 1950’s, the Arch still remains attached to the Church of Sant Ansano.
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There has been a church here since the 6th century. The present church was built in the 1700s. Below the church is the Crypt of Sant'Isacco, which was constructed in what was then a ground level Roman temple. Although the crypt was closed this trip, we had visited it before and it was quite an experience – as there were no lights in the crypt, we used our phones as flashlights so we could find our way around!

As we were leaving, Austin remembered we had seen a Roman Theatre the last time we were here. Neither of us could recall the temple (and we know Shannon's memory is FANTASTIC) , so we had to take the time to look for it and, lo and behold, here it is!

The theatre of Spoletium dates back to the early part of the 1st century A.D. Due to medieval construction it was buried and became part of the monastery of St. Agata which is still standing today.

As we were making our way back to Assisi, we noticed a church across the highway from us. As churches, fortresses and gates were a big part of our itinerary this trip, we decided to check it out.  San Pietro, or Saint Peter, is an ancient Roman Catholic church. A church dedicated to Saint Peter has been on this site since the 5th century and the present structure was built in 1329. It is said to house the chains that once bound Saint Peter. The facade is decorated with ornamental figures, animals, and reliefs. Some of the scenes relate to events in the life of the Saint, while other scenes are meant to tell stories.

When we were leaving we decided to follow a road that led up a hill. This brought us full circle as we wound up on the opposite side of the Roman Bridge and fortress from where we originally started. We toured around the tower and checked out the view of the bridge from this vantage point.

And now, for the rest of the story ...

As we headed home from Spoleto, we saw a  striking, large castle on the hillside. Thinking it was the town of Trevi that was recommended to us by a local tour guide, we decided to head that way and take a closer look. We learned it was actually the town of Pissignano. Passing through town, the GPS directed us up the hill. The road quickly went from pavement to gravel, to a narrow, newly graded trail. With little room to maneuver on either side, and an olive grove on the hillside on our passenger side, we continued on our way. It quickly became apparent that this was not a wise move, in the dark, on an unknown path. Unfortunately, there wasn’t room to turn around so we continued climbing upwards as the route became steeper and narrower. We lost traction as the front wheels on our vehicle slipped, shifted into a lower gear and tried again, but still, no traction. We hit the brakes to avoid sliding backwards. Noticing a wee turnout a few feet back, we slowly backed down the hill, sliding as we went, and made what seemed to be a 122-point turn to get us turned around, pointing the other direction, and on our way..

Once we got back to the junction where the road turned into gravel, we noticed a paved road heading up the hill in the same general direction. Fearless, we followed this road – a little better in that it was paved – although it was also a narrow twisting path. It was well worth the effort! When we got to the top of the hill we found a dead end, 6 car parking lot. We wedged our car in there and spent 20 minutes exploring the picturesque town at the base of the castle. It's unbelievable there - it seems there's about 20 residences, situated on a plot of land no bigger than a postage stamp, with a stunning hilltop view of the valley below.  All in all a very memorable vacation day!