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The Valle Umbra Sud (South Umbrian Valley) is a district whose unique features reflect complex past marked by the contrasting forces of independence and subjugation in a polycentric setting characterized by rich network of trade and other relations. The territory includes the lovely plain of the Valley Unbra bottom, gentle hill country and spurs of the Appennine range.
The via Flaminia dating from Roman times is the thoroughfare which formed the fulcrum fostering human exchange in the area in economic, cultural and interethnic terms.
Agricultural settlements over time developed into towns and cities with distinct administrative and economic functions; a number of these places achieved lasting fame in the arts.
Among natural setting is equally rich, in particular with respect to watercourses, mineral springs and subterranean waters yet to be fully exploited.
The most significant works of man here include cities (often walled), castles, villages, fortresses, towers, churches, monasteries and cloisters, palaces with patrician courtyards, and farm houses surrounded by fields of wheat and sunflowers.
Here saints, poets, writers and illustrious painters have left their mark.
The region is the product of a millennial succession of civilisations: Umbrian, Roman and Germanic, all of which left more or less conspicuous traces. The rebirth of the city around 1000 AD marks the beginning of a long sequence of urban architecture modulated in keeping with progressive Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, baroque and neo-classical influences.
As French journalist Laurence Botta-Delannoy has noted, it is an impossible task to do justice to the Valle Umbra's treasures for the simple reason that every nook and cranny holds hidden charms well worth a visit.
The concentric arrangement of towns fanning out from the fertile plain whose heart is Foligno to the hilly, verdant country-side with olive orchards and vineyards and to the mountains beyond inspired Bragazzi in the 19C to coin the sobriquet Rose of Umbria for this fascinating land.
Here we find Montefalco, which has been called Umbria's Ringhiera (meaning railing, such as on a balcony with a view). D'Annunzio's city of silence; here we find Bevagna, the foggy Mevania of the Roman poet Propertius and cradle of traditional handicrafts; Trevi, nicely situated on the hill overlooking the Clitunno Valley; Spello, the splendid Roman colony; Nocera Umbra, famous for its hot springs and mineral waters; Gualdo Cattaneo with its fortresses and picturesque medieval castles; Valtopina, known for its Roman ruins and ancient castle walls; and Sellano located in the enchanting Valle del Vigi.
At the centre of it all is Foligno, home of the Trinci family and of the great mystic Angela, which prides itself on having produced the first printed edition of Dante's Divine Comedy. Overlooking Foligno is Sassovivo, the thousand-year-old Benedictine abbey with its pinkish marble cloister adorned with mosaic friezes, where the visitor falls under the spell of one of the rare places where it is possible to listen to silence.
The district with its nine municipalities represents a felicitous blend including a rich historical and artistic heritage, the unique beauty of an unspoiled natural setting and traditions deriving from agriculture, handicrafts and gastronomy.
The area's vital religious tradition is made manifest in rites and festivities celebrated throughout the year.