San Pietro

San Salvatore

San Porziano

Just outside of Spoleto there are wonderful places to be visited.
From the Rocca – a fortress built in the 14th century, a bastion of papal authority – it is possible to reach the magnificent , Ponte delle Torri, which joins the hill on which the Rocca stands to Monteluco: 80 metres high and 230 metres long, it has ten arches a little ogival; attributed to Gattapone and erected by order of Cardinal Albornoz to bring water to the highest part of the town and to reach Monteluco, the bridge represents one of the marvels of the medieval architecture.
Proceeding from the bridge one can arrive to the Forte dei Molini and, through a flight of steps, to the church of S. Pietro: it was built in the 5th century by order of Bishop Achilleo to venerate a relic of S. Pietro's; it was enlarged in the 1200s, rebuilt in the 1300s and then restored again in the 1600s.
A masterpiece of Romanesque art, the existing façade is that of the 13th century and represents, with its incomparable bas-reliefs, the best example of the Romanesque sculpture in Umbria.
The interior has three naves and it has been totally restructured in 1699, when the Gothic elements were removed; there are some remains of sarcophagi and tombs, and a beautiful fresco of the 16th century.
In the surroundings of Spoleto there is also the palaeochristian church of S. Salvatore: this very old church, also called the church of Crocifisso, was built between 4th and 5th century and restored in the Early Middle Ages; ruined in the course of time, it has been restored few years ago.
It is a very particular building, with an elegant and original façade; of the first construction are preserved the apse, the presbytery and other things.
The façade, once covered with marble panels, is divided into two vertical compartments, the lower one is characterised by three portals with marble lintels decorated with a floreal motif, the superior one has three windows.
The interior is divided into nave and aisles by pillars and columns, and there is a square presbytery.
Another interesting church to be visited is S. Ponziano, dedicated to the patron saint of the town, martyred in the 2nd century during Antonino's reign.
It is a Romanesque structure of the 12th century, built over the catacomb of S. Sinicleta.
Particularly fine is its façade, while the interior was remodelled in the late 18th century by Valadier; the church has also an interesting crypt.
Crossing the bridge (Ponte delle Torri) one arrives to Monteluco, a splendid centuries-old grove of ilex trees, which as far back as pagan times was considered a holy place.
At the end of the 5th century Isacco di Antiochia and other hermits, refugees from the East, founded here a community which continued to exist, even if transformed, until the French Revolution: its testimonies can be observed at the Eremo delle Grazie (Palazzo Lalli), which became the house of the congregation.
In 1218 S. Francesco founded in Monteluco one of his first convents: the place was given as a gift by some Benedectine monks, and the convent was built next to the small church dedicated to S. Caterina d'Alessandria; it was enlarged by Paoluccio Trinci and then by S. Bernardino da Siena, who lived here in 1430.
Of the primitive convent remain a well, a small chapel and seven simple and humble cells. In the wood around there are also many caves in the rocks, including that which was S. Antonio's shelter.