EGGI – BAZZANO – SAN GIACOMO
Through the new A-Road, a diversion leads to Eggi, risen in the Roman period; around the year 1000 it became a “court” and later a “castle” of the Spoleto district. In the Middle Ages it used to be one of the most populated castles of the district and, like many other ones, tried to uprise against Spoleto. At the beginning of the 16th century, taking advantage from Spoleto’s financial difficulties, Eggi bought the status of “cittadinanza rustica”, for two thousand golden ducats. Between mid 16th- and the end of the 18th century it went across a period of glory, thanks to the presence of a number of wealthy, illustrious citizens who called many contemporary artists, to adorn private villas and local churches. S. Maria delle Grazie, S. Michele Arcangelo and S. Giovanni Battista still maintain votive paintings and remarkable frescoes. From here, it is possible to easily reach Bazzano, composed of the three villages of Bazzano Inferiore, Bazzano Superiore and Rocca di Bazzano a.k.a. Rocca Manardesca. Placed between the two main roads that used to link Spoleto to the Marche, via Piancianina and via Nursina, these settlements knew their maximum extension during the Early Middle Ages, a period which the castles’ crumbled-down walls date to.
Once back on the valley line you can reach San Giacomo. This hamlet on the flat, still maintains the castle’s boundary walls intact. Not far from the village runs the ancient via della Spina, the above mentioned via Piancianina, that was used by pilgrims, wayfarers and tradesmen that were going to the Marche. A hospital was dedicated to them, documented since 1291, as well as the next church by the same name, frescoed in 1526 by Giovanni di Pietro a.k.a. lo Spagna with a valuable cycle of frescoes showing tales of San Giacomo, presently under restoration.
CAMPELLO SUL CLITUNNO – PISSIGNANO
Going to the north, you reach Campello sul Clitunno; rather than a village, it is a mix of settlements and castles scattered on the flat or amongst the woods on the mountain, each one with its own people, church, saint, and age-old culture. Campello Alto is a fortified settlement raised around a castle that was possibly built in the 10th century; below, the settlement grew around the 16th-century church of Madonna della Bianca.
Back on the A-Road, past the ruins of SS Cipriano and Giustina, there is the small church of San Sebastiano; the population built it as ex-voto for narrowly escaping the plague, which hit Umbria particularly hard between 1522 and 1528. Here Lo Spagna and his apprentices painted a series of frescoes that show the urge for badly needed intercession.
A truly interesting spot is the nearby Fonti del Clitunno, a variant of the English style, naturalistic garden, by the Romantic taste, so widely spread in 19th century Europe. The springs of the Clitunno, before giving birth to the actual river, form a series of delicious, small lakes surrounded by grassy banks, high poplars and willows. The waters were once much more abundant, and emperor Caligola used to sail the river with his boat. These waters were sacred to the Romans who erected temples, villas and thermal plants along the river, in honour of Clitunno, god of the river, assimilated to Jupiter. Propertius, Virgil, Silius Italicus and Plinius the Young first, then George Byron, Corot and Carducci, they all praised these places in their works.
The close-by Tempietto, the most interesting Early Middle Ages monument in Umbria, further evidences the sacredness of the area. The Tempietto was declared “World Heritage” site by UNESCO, as part of the serial site “The Longobards in Italy: The Places of Power (568-774 AD)” www.italialangobardorum.it
The building features Roman re-used materials and is on two levels: the first one serves as crypt and dates to the primitive, chronologically debated construction; the second space, once accessible from the sides through stairs ending in a small portico, represents the Early Middle Ages reconstruction. The façade features four columns covered by leaves; the architrave bears an inscription in capital, Roman letters, extraordinarily carved: it was a prayer to God that must have been paralleled by other ones on the side porticoes, rare samples of monumental epigraphy of the first Middle Ages. Inside the cell, wall paintings used to frame the small marble aedicule of the apse, of which only traces are left; the apse is also a result of re-used Roman materials.
On the hill facing the Fonti del Clitunno, there lies the village of Pissignano, divided into the modern part, that rose from the 16th century, and the settlement around the upper Castle (11th century). The perimeter walls are still intact, scanned by mighty polygonal towers and by two towers/gates, through which you could access the hamlet and the fortified cassero. The shape is the typical triangular one of castles built on hillsides, with a tower on top and other two towers in intermediate position on the sloping sides. The tower on the top is very high, but the most important defensive functions were surely upon the pentagonal intermediate tower, that was also used as bell tower and apse of the church of San Benedetto. Inside you can admire the public small palace, with a very nice Renaissance fresco, the 16th-century church and the 14th-century Palazzo Trinci. Ancient pavement in river pebbles and bricks, and houses leaning against each other characterize the place.
In modern Pissignano, an antiques, second-hand and collectables market takes place every first Sunday of every month, one of the most important markets in central Italy.