Spello Walk

For those who enjoy a good walk, it's a fairly straight trek of about six miles between Assisi and Spello, going along the foothills of Mount Subasio. About two hours at a brisk pace (and two more to return). The section between Viole and Spello is quite rural, without many vehicles and with plenty of wildflowers.

And occasional bystanders.

The last section of road before Spello is called, "The Way of the Olives." I'm not sure of the precise Italian spelling. Here's one street sign:

Here's another:

Either way, it's a beautiful place for walking through olive groves.

Before entering the city of Spello, there were a couple of places I hoped to find. The first was Spello's Roman amphitheater, which turned out to be fenced off and showing twenty centuries of wear.

An interesting historical finding is that most of Umbria's amphitheaters were built up from flat ground, rather than taking advantage of natural contours in the land. 

Slightly more challenging was finding the small Thirteenth Century Chiesa di Sant'Anna, which also was closed off and locked up.

But wait, there's something beyond the latticework.

A fresco dating back to at least the Sixteenth Century, with the Blessed Mother and Child with Saint Anne.

Another section of the fresco, an angel.

Inside Spello's walls there's plenty to see, do and explore. Here are just a few images. First, part of the carved wooden entry door of the Chiesa di Santa Maria Maggiore.

Second, the interior of the Chiesa di Sant'Andrea.

And some of the artwork of this church.

A portion of a fresco with Mary and Joseph.

A Thirteenth Century Madonna and Child embedded in the wall.

Probably could do a dozen posts on Spello. However, for this walk, I'll just leave you with a typical Spello store window.

A typical Spello cat with flowers.

And a typical Spello... I'm not sure what it is, but it has a good smile!

Ciao.