Assisi, 50 Kms from Agriturismo San Rocco

Assisi stretches out on the slopes of the Monte Subasio, above the plain where the Topino and Chiascio rivers flow.

Although it can boast Roman origins, its present-day appearance, because of the buildings and also the urban structure. is surely due to the city's development during the Middle Ages.

Assisi's oldest nucleus, which is protected by a defensive apparatus made up of eight fortified entrance portals and a long belt of town walls, which are still perfectly preserved, is topped by two castles on peak of the mountain: the Major Castle, reconstructed by the Cardinal Albornoz in 1367 and the Minor Castle.

Apart from religious buildings too important to not be considered solely the heritage of Assisi such as the basilica of St. Francis, the tourist can also visit the churches of St. Clare and St.Peter. The first was constructed in the Gothic style between 1257 and 1265, the second is a little older and decorated with an elegant middle portal with three rose-windows.

The Cathedral, dedicated to the Patron Saint St. Rufino, vaunts a splendid and unaltered facade with sculptures and reliefs; the interior, however, has undergone much reconstruction during the centuries which have distorted the original project dating back to the 13th century.

On the Town Square situated on the ancient Forum, you will find the Priors' Palace (1337), the Palace of the People's Captain (12th century) and the temple of Minerva, built during the augustean period with pronaos, columms and corinthian capitals which are still intact.

Nearby, places which are connected with the life of St. Francis can be visited, sich as the Eremitage of the Prisons, immersed in a thick wood of oaks and ilex on the slopes of the Subasio Mountain, and the convent of St. Damian, which was built up around the oratory were, according to tradition, the Cross spoke to the Saint.

Finally, in the plain, the impressive basilica of Saint Mary of the Angels was built according to the plans of Alessi between 1569 and 1679 to protect the Porziuncola Chapel, which was the first simple meeting-place of the Francescan brotherhood.



All those who have the good luck of visiting this splendid town have to agree with who says that the beauty of town goes beyond a short, and necessarily incomplete list of works of art more or less extraordinary, but is however to be found in the atmosphere of places which the story and the faith of the Saint have rendered unique all over the world.

Gubbio, 60 Kms from Agriturismo San Rocco

Laying on the slopes of Monte Ingino, Gubbio is one of the most ancient towns of Umbria, extremely well preserved during centuries and rich of monuments testifying its glorious past.

Two important witnesses of the past are the Tavole Eugubine, one of most important documents referring to the ancient people called Italici and the Roman Theatre just outside the walls of the town. Dominated from the top by the Basilica on which the rests of St. Ubaldo are buried, Gubbio keeps architectonic masterpieces testifying the beauty and the imprtance of what used to be during the Middle ages, a real town-state.

At the beginning of the XIV century the Consuls Palace, today symbol of the town, was constructed together with the square Piazza Pensile and Pretorio Palace.

To remind the palaces Beni, del Bargello with the famous fountain, of People Captain , in typical renaissance style, Dukes Palace by Francesco Giorgio Martini which testity the importance of the period on which the Montefeltro's family had the administration of the town.

Very interesting are also the Cathedral (XII century), St. Maria Nuova (inside which one can admire the Madonna del Belvedere painted by Ottaviano Nelli on 1413), Church and Convent of St. Agostino (XIII century ) with inside frescoes of Nelli, Church and Convent of St. Francesco (XIII century), St. Giovanni (XII century) characterised by the facade and bell tower in romanic style, St. Peter enlarged in 1505 and St. Domenico enlarged in the XIV century.

Among the most important manifestations taking place in the city we should absolutely mention the Racing silk of the Crossbow and the Ceri Race.

Perugia, 40 Kms from Agriturismo San Rocco

Perugia, the great "Guelf strong-hold" rises up in the region's heart, with its 5 storical quarters closed-in by its Etruscan town walls. These enormous bastions formed by cyclopic square masses, were constructed 22 centuries ago and are still visible for long stretches.

When the city of Rome was little more that an encampment of huts, one could already enter the etruscan Perugia Italy using one of 7 portals, among which one was particularly mighty, the Porta Pulchra or of Augustus, dating back to Etruscan times.

Entering the city via Porta San Pietro, whose exterior was remodelled by Agostino di Duccio in 1475, you'll arrive at the basilica of St. Dominic on the right-hand side; the very important National Archeological Museum of Umbria is to be found in the adjacent cloisters and convent.

Continuing along, you'll reach the Piazza del Sopramuro, where the 15th century Palace of the Old University and the adjacent Palace of the People's Captain look down on the square. Further on, after a short climb, you'll find yourself in one of Italy's most important squares, where you'll see the Priors'Palace, the Cathedral and the 13th century fountain Major Fountain at the center. These monuments render the Piazza Grande of Perugia (now called Piazza IV Novembre) a superb architectural complex. At the extreme end of Corso Vannucci you'll find famous panoramic gardens built on the foundations of the Rocca Paolina, a strong-hold built by Pope Paul III in 1540.

These foundations contain, similar to under an enormous bell, an entire quarter of the old Perugia: a dead city, a sort of Medieval Pompei which has been brought tot light again and which is fascinating to visit. Perugia's ascents and stairways are usually quite steep, both the most ancient and the most recent. The way Via delle Prome is a typical example. Leaving from the Augustus Arc, this way lead to the upper point of Perugia, where used to be the castle of Porta Sole, erected in the XIV century by the dal Gattapone, and destroyed later for willing of the whole town people.