St. Francis Way - Citta di Castello

Descending into the Tiber Valley under a sunny blue sky, I made my way through the town of Santa Fiora and across flat countryside to Fighille. Arriving in the hamlet of Fighille, I left behind the region of Tuscany and entered Umbria. Fighille was the centre for ceramics for many centuries due to its high quality clay deposits.
 

Continuing on, my trail led past meadows and agricultural farms. I was keeping an eye out for their famous fruit, the tomato. There is nothing more tasty than an Italian grown, ripe tomato, picked straight off the vine. Full of flavour in its ripe red colour, the tomato is a very important part of the Italian cuisine. Do you ever wonder why they are so deeply flavoured? It's simply because they are locally grown and allowed to ripen on the vine as opposed to other parts of the world where they are picked whilst still green in order to facilitate distribution. That has me thinking of a caprese salad, deliciously layered tomato and Italian mozzarella cheese topped with fresh sweet basil and seasoned with salt and olive oil.

Anyway, I hiked up into the medieval village of Citerna. Located at the top of a flat-topped hill and built on a motte with a fortified wall around the centre, the village was a recipient of the "Borghi più Belli d'Italia" (most beautiful village in Italy) award. Much of its beauty is steeped in the stone buildings, the city gates and medieval arcaded passageway along with the uninterrupted views of the meadows and woodlands below.

What goes up must go down and so down the hill I went again, winding around a country road, hiking around the edges of the mountains in the Tiber Valley into Citta di Castello, the largest town in Umbria. Located on the slopes of the Appenine Mountains near the Tiber River, the town was founded by an ancient Umbri circa 3rdC BC. It serves as the main economic centre in the region.

Housed in a Renaissance palace that was converted into a gallery is a vast collection of paintings and arts and considered as one of the main public art galleries in Italy. The gallery documents works from 13th to 20th centuries with a particular focus on the Renaissance period and Raphael's early works. The two facades of the "Standard of the Holiest Trinity" hanging in the gallery are considered as Raphael's first work.

One of the oldest paintings is a gilded 13thC panel with the enthroned Madonna and Child made by an anonymous painter of medieval art. Since he was never identified, he was named Master of Citta di Castello.

The palace itself was built mid-16thC as a wedding gift. Facing the garden the palace was famous throughout Europe for its collection of exotic plants. In 1907 the palace was acquired by a local artist who restored it and donated it five years later to the city to house the Municipal Art Gallery.



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