Umbria · Perugia
Spoleto
Lombard ducal capital under the Rocca Albornoziana, where a 230-meter aqueduct bridge crosses to Monteluco and Menotti founded the Festival in 1958.
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 1 h from Perugia
- By train
- Station in the comune
- Population
- 36,271
Known for
FESTIVAL DEI DUE MONDI
Founded 1958 by Gian Carlo Menotti, the annual June-July festival of music, opera, theater and dance runs across the Roman theater, the Rocca, and the Duomo.
PONTE DELLE TORRI
230 meters long, 80 meters high, the medieval aqueduct that crosses the Tessino gorge from the Rocca to Monteluco.
DUCATO DI SPOLETO
Lombard duchy founded in 576, capital of central Italy for more than five centuries, the political horizon that shaped Umbria.
When to visit
Best · Apr–Oct
- J10°
- F12°
- M14°
- A17°
- M22°
- J28°
- J32°
- A31°
- S25°
- O20°
- N15°
- D11°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime averages, 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
The festa: Ponziano da Spoleto, 19 January
Why come
Spoleto sits at the southern edge of the Valle Umbra, the Apennines rising behind it toward Monteluco. The town was Roman Spoletium from 241 BC, then capital of one of the two great Lombard duchies of Italy from 576, controlling Umbria, Sabina, Picenum and the Pescara valley for more than five centuries. The Rocca Albornoziana on the Colle Sant'Elia was built between 1363 and 1367 by Matteo Gattapone for Cardinal Albornoz, both a papal fortress and a residence, now the Museo Nazionale del Ducato.
From the Rocca the Ponte delle Torri, 230 meters long and 80 meters high, crosses the Tessino gorge to Monteluco, an aqueduct of the 13th century built over Roman foundations. The Duomo holds a Byzantine mosaic of 1207 across its façade and Filippo Lippi's last fresco cycle in the apse. Gian Carlo Menotti founded the Festival dei Due Mondi in 1958; the Roman theater, the Rocca courtyard and Piazza del Duomo still carry the program each year from late June into mid-July.
The Sunday letter
Spoleto is on our list. Its letter is still to come.
We are writing about all 1,000 of these towns, one at a time, in a free letter every Sunday: the photo, the food, the festa. That is our mission. Sign up and you will be there when Spoleto comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Pietrasanta.
Read on
Spoleto in our articles
The best towns with a food festival that you can reach by train in the province of Perugia6 towns, Spoleto among them.
The best towns with a serious restaurant that you can reach by train in the province of Perugia6 towns, Spoleto among them.
The best hill towns with a food festival within 90 minutes of Terni7 towns, Spoleto among them.
The best hill towns with a serious restaurant within 90 minutes of Terni7 towns, Spoleto among them.
How to get there
From Ancona / Pescara (AOI), about 2 hours by car.
Rome (FCO) is about 2h 31m away.
By car from the centre of Perugia 1 hour or Ancona 2h 16m.
There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.
Coming from Rome?
Coming by train into Perugia? Spoleto is about 1 hour away by road.
What to see
Rocca Albornoziana
Papal fortress built 1363-1367 by Matteo Gattapone for Cardinal Albornoz, now the Museo Nazionale del Ducato di Spoleto.
Ponte delle Torri
Aqueduct bridge 230 meters long and 80 meters high, crossing the Tessino gorge to Monteluco, 13th-14th century on Roman foundations.
Duomo di Santa Maria Assunta
Twelfth-century Romanesque cathedral with Byzantine mosaic of 1207 on the façade, Renaissance portico, and Filippo Lippi frescoes in the apse.
Teatro Romano
First-century BC Roman theater in the lower town, restored and in use as the main outdoor venue of the Festival dei Due Mondi.
Basilica di San Salvatore
Fourth- or fifth-century early Christian basilica on the slope of Monteluco, part of the UNESCO Lombards in Italy serial site.
Monteluco
Sacred wood at 800 meters above Spoleto, on the far side of the Ponte delle Torri, with the Franciscan Convento di Monteluco of 1218.
The slow-trip planner
Building a trip? Find where Spoleto fits in a slow Italy circuit.
Answer five questions. We will shape a geographically coherent slow trip from the 1,000 Italian towns most travelers skip. Yours to save and share.
We recommend
Where to eat
Not our picks, but places the guides put their name to: a Michelin star, a Gambero Rosso fork, a Slow Food snail, a Michelin Key for the hotels. Worth a table, a counter, or a night when you pass through.
Il CapannoTrattoria
Three Gambero Rosso prawns for Il Capanno, along with a Slow Food snail and a place in L'Espresso's Top 300.
ApollinareRistorante
A spot in the Michelin Guide, at Apollinare.
San LorenzoRistorante
San Lorenzo carries a spot in the Michelin Guide.
Through the year
What happens here
Feasts and festivals that come back year after year. We give the month rather than the date, because the date moves and the month rarely does. Check with the source before you plan a journey around one.
Sagra dell'Anguilla e del Gambero di Fiumefood festival
usually held in August. TrovaSagre
Dolci d'Italiafood festival
usually held across October and November. sagritaly.com
Living here
- Population 36,271
- A local hubi
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Train station in the comune
- Nearest airport Ancona / Pescara, 2 h 4 min drive
- Regional capital Perugia, 1 h 3 min drive
Common questions
- What is Spoleto known for?
- Lombard ducal capital at 396 meters under the Rocca Albornoziana, where a 230-meter aqueduct bridge crosses to Monteluco and Menotti founded the Festival in 1958.
- Where is Spoleto?
- Spoleto is a comune in the province of Perugia, in Umbria.
- What is the nearest airport to Spoleto?
- Ancona / Pescara (AOI), about 2 hours by car.
- Can you get to Spoleto without a car?
- Yes. There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive by train.
- How long is the drive from Perugia to Spoleto?
- About 1 hour by car.
- When is the best time to visit Spoleto?
- Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 32 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 12 rain days.
- Is there a sagra or a festival in Spoleto?
- Yes. Sagra dell'Anguilla e del Gambero di Fiume and Dolci d'Italia. August is when the first of them falls.
- Which other towns are like Spoleto?
- Foligno, Macerata and Orvieto.
- How many people live in Spoleto?
- 36,271 at the 2023 count.
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources
Recognised as
The numbers
- Elevation: 396 m
- Population: 36,271
- Surface area: 348.14 km²
These figures were compiled from public directories: ISTAT, OpenStreetMap and Wikidata, and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.
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