notes+on+Umbria

From Rome to Venice via Florence is a breathtaking 660km (410mi) that you can do in a week but which easily merits as much time as you can give it. A week is not a long time to spend in Italy but, with a bit of planning and a desire to make the most of every moment, it's possible to undertake a whistle-stop tour of the tried and tested. Where else to start but with a couple of days in the ancient capital of Rome, home to St Peter's dome, the Sistine Chapel and its famous ceiling, the world-renowned Colosseum, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps and much, much more. From Rome push onto Florence for a mind-blowing collection of Italian art in the splendid Uffizi Gallery, squeezing in a day trip to Siena, a charming medieval town, or Pisa with its renowned leaning tower and majestic cathedral. After two days in Tuscany it's time to head for the illustrious jewel of the Adriatic - Venice. Spend your last two precious days marvelling at the mosaics of St Mark's Basilica, exploring the picturesque waterways of the lagoon city and gazing in awe at the grand houses of the Grand Canal. If you don't have to travel back to Rome on the final day, stay in Venice to check out the attractive islands of the lagoon or move on to explore the beautiful streets of historic Verona and possibly even cram in a quick visit to elegant Bologna with its graceful monuments and bustling boulevards. While Italy's status as a single political entity is relatively recent (1861), its strategic Mediterranean position made it a target for colonisers and opportunists fairly early on in human history. The Etruscans were the first people to rule the peninsula, arriving somewhere between the 12th and 8th century BC. They were eventually subsumed within the mighty Roman Empire, leaving little cultural evidence, other than the odd tomb. The ancient Greeks, their contemporaries, set up a few colonies along the southern coast that became known as Magna Graecia and developed into independent city states. Thus the greater glory that was Rome was itself the offspring of Etruscan and Greek cultures. The first Roman Republic was founded in 509 BC, and eventually bequeathed us the idea of a common European identity, a language that has spawned many of Europe's contemporary tongues and one of the largest empires the world has ever seen. The Republic's defeat of Carthage (near present-day Tunis) and Hellenic Macedonia during the three Punic Wars cleared the way for ultimate expansion into Spain, Britain, North Africa and present-day Iraq. Meanwhile, relative peace at home enabled the infrastructure of civilisation - roads, aqueducts, cities - to spread. A slave-driven lifestyle and economy triumphed over the concept of people power, and the reigns of the Republic were increasingly taken in hand by the military and, ultimately, the dictatorship. The empire grew so large, it was eventually divided into eastern and western sectors. Already, however, the bloodthirsty theatrics of regicide and intrigue were planting the seeds of its eventual destruction. Christianity was embraced by Constantine in 313, and the empire's capital was moved from Rome to Constantinople (present-day Istanbul). The western arm of the empire was undone by plague, famine and tribal incursions from the north, and was officially declared null and void in 476 when Odovacar, a German warrior, dubbed himself ruler. The Eastern Roman Empire clung on, even prospering in fits and starts, until overrun by the Turks in 1453. After the fall of Rome the peninsula entered the Dark Ages and suffered repeated barbarian invasions. Among the more effective of these hordes were the Lombards who successfully controlled large parts of the north before being defeated by the Franks. In 800, the Frankish king Charlemagne was crowned Holy Roman Emperor as symbolic Christian successor to ancient Rome. The south came to be dominated by Muslims until usurped by Normans in the early 11th century. This ethnic cocktail began to settle in the 12th century, just when the next big chapter in textbook history was taking shape. Powerfully combative and competitive city states arose in the north, supporting either the Pope, who represented spiritual power in Christendom but also had considerable political power within Italy(the Papal States), or the Holy Roman Emperor, a foreign leader who claimed secular sovereignty over all Christian Europe (including Italy). The rise of cities and a merchant class culminated in the Renaissance of the 15th century. Painters, architects, poets, philosophers and sculptors produced unsurpassed works of genius, despite the turmoil of intercity warfare and invasion by countries to the north. First Spain and then Austria controlled the peninsula during the ensuing centuries, followed briefly by Napoleon's imperial flourish. The post-Napoleon shake-up led to the drive for unification of the 19th century, led by Garibaldi, Cavour and Mazzini. The Kingdom of Italy was declared in 1861, although Venice was not prised away from Austria until 1866 and papal claims remained an issue until 1870, when Rome officially joined the young nation. No label of unity, however, could hide the huge cultural and social differences that split the industrialised north from the poverty-stricken south. ** Modern History ** Economic crisis and fickle politics dogged the new nation in the ensuing decades, as Italy muddled through WWI and became riddled with industrial unrest in the early 1920s. In a memorably unwise employment decision, the king asked one Benito Mussolini to take the reins of government under the auspices of his Fascist Party. Il Duce soon became head of state, outlawed the opposition, controlled the press and trade unions and cut franchise by two-thirds. His relationship with Hitler soured after a series of military disasters during WWII and Italian capitulation in 1943, eventually culminating in a fatal dose of rough justice at the hands of partisans in April 1945. The postwar years were coloured by extremism: the extreme violence of terrorists such as the Brigatte Rosse (Red Brigades), extreme centre-right politics, extreme economic boom and economic crisis, extreme corruption and bribery in extremely high places - and an extremely cynical and fatigued public. ** Recent History ** Italy 's parliament has a reputation for scandal and resignation, and at times it has left Italy virtually ungoverned and utterly chaotic. The explosion of corruption cases in the Mani Pulite (Clean Hands) and Tangentopoli (Bribesville) cases in the 1990s threw the traditional political parties into chaos and eventually led to Italy's richest man, entrepreneur Silvio Berlusconi, becoming prime minister in alliance with the former Fascist party and northern Italian secessionists in 2001. Berlusconi, plagued by fraud and other charges, spent much of his term concocting laws to suit his private and business interests. His most lasting legacy was probably the nationwide ban on smoking in all enclosed public spaces in early 2005. With his coalition looking brittle and many Italians desperately disillusioned with his cavalier approach to politics, the ever disunited left wing snatched power in a neck-and-neck election in 2006. Romano Prodi was named the new Prime Minister. ** Basilica di San Francesco **
 * UMBRIA **

Web site: [|www.sanfrancescoassisi.org]

Summary Review: This basilica saw heavy damage and four deaths during a series of earthquakes in 1997. Years of painstaking restoration - including piecing together frescoes from crumbled bits, some not much larger than a grain of sand - will probably go on until at least 2010. Full Review: The basilica was built on a hill known as Colle d'Inferno (Hell Hill). People were executed at the gallows here until the 13th century. St Francis asked his followers to bury him here in keeping with Jesus, who had died on the cross among criminals and outcasts. The area is now known as Paradise Hill.
 * Grand Canal**

Web site: [|www.turismovenezia.it]

Summary Review: Venice 's Grand Canal is the artery along which courses the city's lifeblood. To ply its length time and again, on each occasion making new discoveries, is a pleasure only the most insensitive souls could tire of. Full Review: The 3.5km canal supports an everchanging parade of //vaporetti//, transport barges, water taxis, private speedboats, gondolas, police patrol boats, water ambulances and so on. The floating pageant is backed on either side by more than 100 //palazzi// (mansions) dating from the 12th to the 18th centuries. Jump on the No 1 all-stops vaporetto at Piazzale Roma. Past Rio di San Marcuola, Palazzo Vendramin-Calergi is on the left. To the right, just after the San Stae stop, is Ca' Pesaro, which houses the Galleria d'Arte Moderna and Museo d'Arte Orientale. Shortly after is the Ca' d'Oro, beyond which the boat turns towards the 16th-century Ponte di Rialto and the Rialto produce markets. It sweeps past more fine mansions to the wooden Ponte dell'Accademia, the stop for the art gallery of the same name, and on past the grand Chiesa di Santa Maria della Salute before reaching San Marco.
 * Pompeii**

Web site: [|www.pompeiisites.org]

Summary Review: Victim of the world's most famous volcano disaster, 2.3 million visitors annually make Pompeii's magnificent ruins seem as crowded as the ancient streets must once have been. Ever since Pliny the Younger described the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79, the city has been the stuff of books, scholarly and frivolous, and a perfect subject for the big screen. ** Mt Etna **

Summary Review: Dominating the landscape in eastern Sicily, Mt Etna (3350m/12730ft) is Europe's largest live volcano and one of the world's most active. Eruptions occur frequently, and visitors should be aware that excursions are at the mercy of volcanic activity. People are no longer allowed to climb to the craters. Full Review: The volcano's most devastating eruptions occurred in 1669 and lasted 122 days. A huge river of lava poured down its southern slope, engulfing a good part of Catania and dramatically altering the landscape. Since 1987 the volcano and its slopes have been part of a national park, the Parco dell'Etna, a territory which encompasses a fascinatingly varied natural environment, from the severe, almost surreal summit to the deserts of lava and alpine forests.
 * Valley of the Temples**

Summary Review: Via dei Templi runs through the middle of the archaeological park, dividing it into two sections, with the most spectacular temples to the right. The Temple of Hercules is the oldest of the five temples contained within the park, all of which are atmospherically illuminated at night. There is also a museum in the complex which houses a collection of artefacts. ** Cenacolo Vinciano **

Web site: [|www.cenacolovinciano.it]

Summary Review: One of the world's most famous art images, Leonardo da Vinci's wonderful mural depicting the Last Supper decorates a wall of the Cenacolo Vinciano, the refectory adjoining Chiesa di Santa Maria delle Grazie. Painted between 1495 and 1498, the work captures the moment when Jesus uttered the words 'One of you will betray me'. It has been extensively restored. ** Cappella degli Scrovegni **

Web site: [|www.cappelladegliscrovegni.it]

Summary Review: Art lovers visit Padua just to see the lively Giotto frescoes in this chapel. These fine examples of the master's art are on the cusp between the two-dimensional art of his contemporaries and the remarkable explosion of new creativity that was still decades away. Booking ahead is necessary, and the admission ticket is also valid for the adjacent museum. ** The Uffizi **

Web site: [|www.polomuseale.firenze.it/uffizi]

Summary Review: To enter the Uffizi, which qualifies as the world's oldest gallery, is to be thrust head reeling, heart pumping and mouth watering into the core of the Italian Renaissance and the greatest concentration of Florentine and Italian art on the planet. ** Cuendet &amp;amp; Cie Spa **

Web site: [|www.cuendet.com]

Summary Review: One of the major accommodation companies in Italy with villas in Tuscany, Umbria, the Veneto, Rome, Marche, the Amalfi Coast, Puglia, Sicily and Sardinia. Edited by: Cooperativa Centro Servizi Foligno Year: October 1998 Available at: Cooperativa Centro Servizi Foligno. via del Cassero, 5 - 06034 Foligno tel. e fax (++)39-(0)742-353702
 * http://travel.ninemsn.com.au/lpguide.aspx?param1=italy-1872&param2=deluxe **
 * Foligno accessibile **

Information about the accessibility of hotels, banks, commercial centre, churches, chemist's shop, sport centre, restaurants and post office. Edited by: Regione dell'Umbria - Servizio Turistico Territoriale IAT dell'Orvietano Year: 1997 Available at: Servizio Turistico Territoriale - I.A.T. Uff. Informazioni Piazza Duomo, 24 - 05018 Orvieto (TR) tel. (++)39-(0)763-341772 fax (++)39-(0)763-344433 For information about:
 * Orvieto, pianta della città e dei dintorni **
 * CO.IN. **
 * coin@coinsociale.it
 * consociale@coinsociale.it
 * info@coinsociale.it
 * Chairman: marotta@coinsociale.it
 * Secretary: segreteria@coinsociale.it
 * Press Office: __ ufficiostampa@coinsociale.it __
 * Administration: contab@coinsociale.it
 * CO.IN.'S CO-OPERATIVE **
 * cooperative@coinsociale.it
 * Services: servizi@coinsociale.it
 * Products: produzione@coinsociale.it