Umbria's flower town — a Roman-walled hill village draped in geraniums and roses
Spello is a perfectly preserved medieval hill town in Umbria built within intact Roman city walls, whose alleys and stone houses are smothered in flowering geraniums, roses, and wisteria — enough to earn it 'Most Floral Village' recognition from the European Commission. Set on the southern slopes of Monte Subasio between Assisi and Foligno, Spello is one of the 'Borghi più Belli d'Italia' (most beautiful Italian villages) and is famous for the Infiorata di Corpus Domini, when its streets are carpeted with elaborate flower petal designs each June. Despite sitting minutes from Assisi, Spello re…
Spello (Roman Hispellum) was a significant Roman municipium — the Emperor Augustus gave it to his veterans and its status is confirmed by an extraordinary Latin inscription (the Rescript of Constantine, 333 CE), one of only two known imperial rescripts addressed to a specific town, discovered here. The Roman city walls with their original gates (Porta Venere, with three Roman temples in the flanking towers, and Porta Consolare) survive largely intact and form the outer edge of the modern village. The Pinturicchio frescoes in the church of Santa Maria Maggiore (1501) are considered among the f…