Archive for 'Umbria'

Italy is well-known as a Catholic nation and, due to its long history of Catholicism, has given rise to a large number of saints. With so many saints, not everyone can be patron saint of obvious causes which has lead to the creation of some rather strange ones including a Patron Saint of Cranky Children (St Sebastian). One of the most unusual is, perhaps, St Clare of Assisi. Assisi has had a long history of religious affiliations, with St Francis being intimately connected to the area, but another saint hailing from the town is St Clare, Patron Saint of Television. You read that right, television. Why not find a vacation rental in Umbria and spend a day in the city of Assisi, learning all about this strange saint?

Perugia was an important production centre for art in the Renaissance and from which many great masters emerged. It continues to be a city that values art to this day and is even home to one of the best art galleries in the country, though it might be less well-known than others in bigger cities such as Florence and Rome. Nonetheless, the National Gallery of Umbria in Perugia has one of the richest collections in Italy with many works of international renown. There is a large swathe of history represented by the collection and a wide range of types of works from paintings to fabrics which carefully captures the development of artistic practice in the surrounding area. Find a vacation rental in Perugia and you can spend a day taking in this absolutely world-class collection for yourself.

For chocolate-lovers visiting Italy, there is one city that stands above all the rest as a must-see: this is the town of Perugia located at the centre of the country in the region of Umbria. Perugia is home to Perugina, the leading chocolate brand in Italy and here you won't need a gold ticket in order to step into the fantastical world of their chocolate factory. You can take tours of the factory, visit their museum, taste their wares – the most famous of their products being their chocolate and hazelnut Baci (or Kisses) – and take chocolate-making lessons. To spend a fantastic couple hours immersed in the world of Italian chocolate, just find a holiday rental in Perugia and make your way down to Via San Sisto one afternoon.

Christmas trees were, originally, a Northern European tradition. They have since been adopted into the festive celebrations of many other cultures. Italy, by and large, has been relatively slow to embracing the Christmas tree and they are not exceptionally common across the country.

St Patrick conjures images of Ireland to mind, not Italy. However, a particularly fascinating monument in Orvieto, Umbria has the British saint's name attached to it. St Patrick's Well, originally called The Fortress Well – which would be a far more suitable title to use – is an exceptionally deep well which was built to provide water to Orvieto during times of siege.

Built on the edge of a cliff in the early 1500s and a masterpiece of hydraulic engineering, it is now a popular tourist site.

The structure is so ingrained into Italian mindsets that to call someone generous you can say that they have pockets as deep as St Patrick's Well. If you want to see this astounding and iconic structure for yourself, find a luxury villa in Umbria and make the descent into the depths of the earth.