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 Spoleto
Spoleto's fate, apparently, is to be almost large, and
almost central, and almost convenient.
The town lies up against the W flank of the Apennines
about 110 km NNE of Rome by today's roads, an easy two hours by train or
car; and in fact the whole point of Spoleto has always been to be a
way-station, whether on the Via Flaminia in the 3c B.C.,
or on the successor railway brought up from Rome in the mid‑19c by Pope
Pius IX, a native of Spoleto who was Pope at just the right time to push
the railway line thru: a good bust of him is prominently featured in a
little garden at the railway station.
Historically, in Late Antiquity, when everything
around it was Byzantine or belonged to the Church, Spoleto was a Lombard
duchy. For six centuries it remained a sort of anomalous enclave,
successfully living its own life without much interference: it was never
quite so powerful that it absolutely had to be attacked and taken, but
its defenses are good, and so it stayed independent; yet a
meeting-ground between Lombards, Franks and Germans on the one hand, and
Greeks, Latins on the other; eventually between Church and Empire, until
it finally fell under the sway of Rome altogether and its history
resorts into the general history of central Italy.
For similar reasons, Spoleto is now world-famous for
the Festival of the Two Worlds, founded in the 1950's by Giancarlo
Menotti. It's near enough to Rome, but it's in the country. It has
enough hotels and performance spaces, good roads and railroads but,
except during the Festival, the bustle and traffic are well managed. It
thus serves as an agreeable base for exploring some of the most
attractive hilltowns and the most scenic areas of central Italy.
Spoleto is 29 km N of Terni and 12 km S of the famous
paleochristian Tempietto and the source of the Clitunno at Campello,
18 km S of Trevi, and 28 km S of Foligno — all these towns on the
Flaminia; 18 km W and 29 km SW of Cerreto di Spoleto, along a scenic
road thru the Valnerina area on the way to Norcia (47 km) and the Monti
Sibillini, the highest mountains in this part of Italy.
In addition to its beautiful cathedral and a number of
other interesting churches, some of them unusually old, Spoleto has both
a Roman theatre and a Roman amphitheatre; and a truly spectacular
aqueduct — of the thirteenth century. Several of these monuments will
dribble onto this website in the fullness of time.
Culture
Spoleto Festival dei due Mondi - Photo (c)
nadejda13m
 The
Festival dei Due Mondi (Festival of the Two Worlds) was founded
in 1958.
Because Spoleto was a small town, where real estate and other goods and
services were at the time relatively inexpensive, and also because there
are two indoor theatres, a Roman theatre and many other spaces, it was
chosen by Gian-Carlo Menotti as the venue for an arts festival. It is also
fairly close to Rome, with good rail connections. It is an important
cultural event, held annually in late June-early July.
The festival has developed into one of the most important cultural
manifestations in Italy, with a three-week schedule of music, theater
and dance performances. For some time it became a reference point for
modern sculpture exhibits, and works of art left to the city by
Alexander Calder and others are a testimony to this.
In the United States, a parallel festival -
Spoleto Festival USA - held in
Charleston, South Carolina was founded in 1977 with Menotti's
involvement. However, after disputes with the Menotti family, the
American Spoleto Festival became independent. For a short period of
time, a third parallel festival was also held in Australia.
In 1992, the
Media:Spoleto Arts Symposia was started to bring talented people
from all around the world to study in Spoleto, Italy. Now in its 15th
season, programs exist for studying opera, cooking, jazz, writing, and a
kids camp.
Creative Commons License of
Wikipedia and
Bill Thayer
(c) 1997-2008 E. Massetti
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