Spoleto โ€” the bridge across a gorge and the festival that shook the world

The Ponte delle Torri is a 230-meter bridge spanning a forested gorge 80 meters deep, connecting Spoleto's fortress to the mountain behind it. Built in the 13th century (possibly on Roman foundations), it has 10 arches, no guardrails worth mentioning, and a walkway that makes your stomach drop. Goethe stood here in 1786 and said it was the most impressive thing he saw in Italy. That's saying something โ€” he'd already been to Rome. The Festival dei Due Mondi (Festival of Two Worlds, late June-mid July) was founded by Gian Carlo Menotti in 1958 and turned this small Umbrian town into an international performing arts capital for three weeks every summer: opera, dance, theatre, concerts in the piazzas, art exhibitions in every palazzo. In the cathedral: Filippo Lippi's frescoes (the artist died here in 1469 โ€” possibly poisoned, possibly not โ€” and Lorenzo de' Medici paid for the tomb). Perugia 50 min by train. Rome 1h 20min.

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๐Ÿš† From Rome1h 20m
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๐Ÿš— Umbria
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