UMBRIA

In the green heart of Italy, far from the sea but rich in lakes, rivers e boschiUmbria is the region of the soul par excellence, a land of saints and mysticism, of peace and serene beauty. It is the land of Saint Francis of Assisi—the world's most beloved saint—and Saint Benedict of Nursia, the father of Western monasticism; of Perugia and its chocolate; of Spoleto and its Festival of the Two Worlds; of medieval Gubbio and Orvieto with its cathedral suspended on the tuff rock. A small yet powerful territory, where every dirt road leads to a picture-perfect village, every hill hides a Romanesque parish church, and every forest is scented with black truffles.

Lakes and rivers

Lake Trasimeno, the largest lake in central Italy, is Umbria's blue jewel: with its three islands—Maggiore, Polvese, and Minore—purple sunsets over the shallow waters, and shores populated by herons and mallards, it offers a delightful lakescape. The lakeside villages—Castiglione del Lago, Passignano, and Tuoro, home to Hannibal's battlefield—complement a coherent historical and natural landscape. The Tiber, Chiascio, Topino, and Clitunno rivers—whose sources, celebrated by Virgil and Byron, are among Italy's most poetic waterscapes—cross the region, creating environments of great biological diversity.

Landscapes

The Valnerina, the narrow valley carved by the Nera River between dark rock cliffs, is Umbria's most secret: villages like Vallo di Nera, Scheggino, and Sant'Anatolia di Narco cling to the rock like eagle's nests, while the Marmore Falls—the highest artificial waterfalls in Europe, created by the Romans two thousand years ago—plunge 165 meters in a roar of steam and rainbows. Mount Subasio above Assisi, covered in flowery meadows and broom, the Sacred Woods of Monteluco, the mountain-ringed Norcia plain—where spelt is grown and truffles are cured—and the Teverina ravines near Orvieto complete a territory of rare completeness and harmony.