Cinque Terre, Florence, Umbria
()
About this ebook
This is a guide to a two weeks trip in the center of Italy: Parma to Assisi passing through the Cinque Terre, Portovenere, Lerici, Carrara, Lucca, Pisa, Pistoia, Florence, Siena, Volterra, San Gimignano, Montepulciano, Passignano sul Trasimeno, Perugia and then Assisi.
There are extensive descriptions and color photos of the attractions.
It is ideal for use on your smart phone, it contains many reviews for the best recommended restaurants that are at the location described. There are active links to the review pages, you can use them if you have an active Internet connection, but, if you don’t, you have the basic information ready: the name, address and telephone number are included in the guide together with the review.
Enrico Massetti
Enrico Massetti nació en Milán, Italia, donde vivió durante más de 30 años, visitando innumerables destinos turísticos, desde las montañas de los Alpes hasta el mar de Sicilia. Ahora vive en Washington, Estados Unidos. Sin embargo, visita regularmente su ciudad natal y disfruta recorriendo todos los lugares de su país, especialmente aquellos a los que puede llegar en transporte público. Puede contactar con Enrico en enrico@italian-visits.com.
Read more from Enrico Massetti
Lake Garda Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPortofino and the Riviera Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTurin to Milan, via the Aosta Valley, Lake Maggiore and Lake Como Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMilan and the Lakes: Lake Como and Lake Maggiore Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Balearic Islands Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza, and Formentera Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsVenice And The Veneto Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCremona in One Day Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsVenice Art City Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFlorence In Two Days Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRome a Complete Guide Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOne Day in Bergamo Alta Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsVerona in One Day: With one day trips to Vicenza, Padua and Mantua Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFriuli Venezia Giulia Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBologna In One Day Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTrieste and Friuli History, and Tourism Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUmbria the Green Hearth of Italy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSüdtirol and Dolomites Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Journey by Car in The Heel of Italy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTurin And Its Mountains Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCinque Terre Florence Umbria Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Cinque Terre Walk, Relax, Cook, and Eat Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCuisine of Sicily Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Cinque Terre, Florence, Umbria
Related ebooks
Cinque Terre Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsInsight Guides Tuscany (Travel Guide eBook) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLonely Planet Florence & Tuscany Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSicily: Palermo & the Northwest Footprint Focus Guide: Includes Cefalù, Agrigento & Pantelleria Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWalking in Umbria: 40 walks in the 'Green Heart' of Italy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWalking on the Amalfi Coast: 32 walks on Ischia, Capri, Sorrento, Positano and Amalfi Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Venice And The Veneto Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWalking in Tuscany: 43 walks including Val d'Orcia, San Gimignano and the Isle of Elba Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSmart Guide Italy: Southern Italy: Smart Guide Italy, #22 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsInsight Guides Pocket Venice (Travel Guide eBook) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sorrento, Capri & Amalfi Coast Footprint Focus Guide: Includes Ischia & Procida Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Great Dolomite Road Bolzano: Cortina Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSmart Guide Italy: Naples and Campania: Smart Guide Italy, #5 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWalks and Treks in the Maritime Alps: The Mercantour and Alpi Marittime Parks Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOld Puglia: A Cultural Companion to South-Eastern Italy Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Smart Guide Italy: Turin, Piedmont and Aosta Valley: Smart Guide Italy, #7 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUmbria - Perugia, Orvieto, Spoleto & Assisi Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFrommer's EasyGuide to Rome, Florence and Venice 2018 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLonely Planet The Italian Lakes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bologna in One Day Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSmart Guide Italy: Trentino-Alto Adige: Smart Guide Italy, #10 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsInsight Regional Guide: Tuscany Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Smart Guide Italy: Venice & Veneto: Smart Guide Italy, #4 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Journey By Car in The Heel of Italy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Rough Guide to Naples, Pompeii & the Amalfi Coast (Travel Guide eBook) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFrommer's EasyGuide to Rome, Florence and Venice 2019 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLonely Planet Pocket Florence Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Rough Guide to Tuscany & Umbria (Travel Guide eBook) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUmbria: The Heart of Italy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Walking in Italy's Cinque Terre: Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Travel For You
Spotting Danger Before It Spots You: Build Situational Awareness To Stay Safe Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tales from the Haunted South: Dark Tourism and Memories of Slavery from the Civil War Era Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge: Traveler's Guide to Batuu Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5RV Hacks: 400+ Ways to Make Life on the Road Easier, Safer, and More Fun! Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Travel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Fodor's New Orleans Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Kon-Tiki Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/550 Great American Places: Essential Historic Sites Across the U.S. Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Notes from a Small Island Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lonely Planet The Travel Book: A Journey Through Every Country in the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fodor's Bucket List USA: From the Epic to the Eccentric, 500+ Ultimate Experiences Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSpanish Verbs - Conjugations Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLonely Planet Puerto Rico Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Everything Travel Guide to Ireland: From Dublin to Galway and Cork to Donegal - a complete guide to the Emerald Isle Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLonely Planet The Solo Travel Handbook Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Great Plains Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Living the RV Life: Your Ultimate Guide to Life on the Road Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Unseen Body: A Doctor's Journey Through the Hidden Wonders of Human Anatomy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Northeast Treasure Hunter's Gem & Mineral Guide (5th Edition): Where and How to Dig, Pan and Mine Your Own Gems and Minerals Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsReader's Digest Great American Road Trips- National Parks Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Footsteps of the Cherokees: A Guide to the Eastern Homelands of the Cherokee Nation Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5An Atlas of Countries That Don't Exist: A Compendium of Fifty Unrecognized and Largely Unnoticed States Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Longest Way Home: One Man's Quest for the Courage to Settle Down Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Disney Declassified Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Cinque Terre, Florence, Umbria
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Cinque Terre, Florence, Umbria - Enrico Massetti
Cinque Terre
Florence Umbria
Enrico Massetti
Cinque Terre Florence Umbria
Enrico Massetti
Text Copyright © Enrico Massetti 2015-2021
Images ©, or CC Creative Commons license, as specified for each image
Cover image © Enrico Massetti, Adobe inc.
Published by Enrico Massetti
All Rights Reserved
2021 edition
dedicated to my friends who love Umbria
This book covers the first half of the trip
from Parma to Assisi
Romanesque to the Renaissance
from Parma to Assisi
Map Description automatically generatedThe itinerary
This itinerary takes us to the cities of Central Italy which contributed to the development of those architectural and figurative forms from which the Renaissance was born. Although it may seem to have come about suddenly thanks to some hidden force, this movement was prepared over a period of centuries as, little by little, form was achieving a profound spiritual equilibrium and, at the same time, was being freed from the stylistic rigidity which had set in over the centuries.
It is astonishing to note how, despite the difficult communications of those times, the ruggedness of the Apennines presented no barrier to the spreading of artistic knowledge. During our journey, we shall follow the path by which the Lombard and other Northern artists descended by way of the mountain passes of Liguria and the Garfagnana into the northernmost part of Tuscany, bearing the message of the new Romanesque art and spreading its lesson throughout the ancient land of the Etruscans.
During the Renaissance, Tuscany was to return the gift, when its artists moved north, into Romagna and elsewhere. The thoughtful and painstaking visitor, considering the fifteen important, and the (at least) an equal number of lesser centers, cannot fail to be amazed by the extraordinary concentration of artistic life flourishing within this restricted area, on either side of the Apennines.
The itinerary:
Our itinerary shall start in Parma, which we will visit the first day.
Parma.
We shall start our visit from the square occupied by the Cathedral and the Baptistery, one of the most outstanding groups of Romanesque buildings in the country. The Baptistery, a marvelous octagonal structure (1196-1260), reveals a stylistic severity and a richness of invention that places it foremost among buildings of its kind in Italy.
Teatro Regio
The architecture and the sculpture are the work of one artist, the great Benedetto Antelami (1177-1233).
The frescoes inside constitute the largest group of 13th-century painting in Northern Italy. The solemn Cathedral. with its graceful, pointed facade and three orders of loggias, and elegant Porch (1281), also contains a fine sculpture by Antelami as well as Correggio fresco masterpiece: The Assumption, painted around the Dome. Another dome frescoed by Correggio is to be seen in the neighboring church of S. Giovanni Evangelista. Going down Borgo Correggio and Via Petrarca we come to Via della Repubblica: on the corner is the church of S. Antonio Abate, designed by Bibiona (1714).
We then take the Via della Repubblica to Piazza del Municipio; here, not far away, we can visit the Museum, which a private citizen, Prof. Lombardi, donated to the city and which contains all sorts of relics and curios of Marie Louise, Napoleon second wife.
In the same street is the impressive 16th-century church of S. Maria della Stecama, with frescoes by Parmigianino in the vast interior, and the tombs of the Farnesi in the vaults beneath.
Practically across the way, on the same street, is the neoclassical Regio Theatre (1829). Continuing, we come into the vast square containing, on one side, the immense Palazzo delta Pilotta (begun in 1583 as the royal palace of the Farnese, and never completed). Inside this huge building is to be found an outstanding Museum of Antiquities, the wonderful Farnese Theatre (1618) of wood, the only one of its kind, and the National Gallery, one of the most important collections of paintings in Italy with a magnificent group of works by Correggio, and paintings by Fra Angelico, Leonardo da Vinci, Sebastiano dei Piombo, Parmigianino, Canaletto, Holbein, El Greco, and Van Dyck, the Palatine Library, and the Bodoniano Museum.
Lastly, there is the famous Certosa, the Charterhouse of Parma, about 22 mi. from the city center.
View from the Pilotta
Where to eat in Parma.
Restaurants in Parma:
Pepen Borgo S. Ambrogio, 2, +39 0521 282 650. Ok, to get your panino you must wait quite a long time standing up and almost fighting in a very chaotic line. But it's totally worth it. The ingredients are superlative, and the flavors are perfectly balanced!
Ai due Platani Via Budellungo 104a | loc. Coloreto, +39 0521 645626 Half hidden away near Parma is this jewel of Emilia Romagna cuisine. The food uses local seasonal ingredients prepared mostly in traditional ways. The preparation is excellent, and you will find the restaurant full of Italian foodies. The service is warm and welcoming.
Carpe Diem Via D'Azeglio 69, +39 0521 237837 Cheap, super tasty. Best kebab in town. And great owners. They send home delivery. Great food for students and young people.
Ristorante La Forchetta Borgo San Biagio 6d, +39 0521 208812 This restaurant is a level above the rest. The staff is courteous and attentive. They have an excellent wine list at very decent prices. The food is outstanding, with an elegant and refreshing twist on traditional Italian cuisine that brings out the absolute best of exceptional food and wine of the region. The staff is attentive and 5 stars. The restaurant inside and out is charming and chic.
Al Tramezzo Via Alberto Del Bono, 5 I, +39 0521 487906 Great food. The owner passion shows in everything. 42 months cured Parma ham? It does not get better than this. The detail of everything is fantastic. Toothbrushes in the bathroom for clients? Man, o man, this is a great place.
La Spezia - Portovenere - Lerici
Leaving Parma, we lake the road which crosses the Apennines to La Spezia (77 miles). Fifteen miles away, is Fornovo, with an 11th-century church of S. Maria Assunta (fine Romanesque relief). Climbing through mountain scenery to the Cisa Pass (3,415 ft.), we pass by Berceto, where there is another outstanding Romanesque church. After the pass, we descend rapidly to Pontremoli and, following the valley of the Magra, reach Aulla; from there, passing through Santo Stefano di Magra, we soon arrive in La Spezia which overlooks an enchanting bay, flanked on the side by Portovenere and by Lerici on the other.
At La Spezia we should visit the Cathedral, with its terracotta Altarpiece (The Coronation of the Virgin) by Andrea della Robbia; and the important Luni Archaeological Museum rich in prehistoric, Etruscan and Greek-Roman material.
Lerici
It may seem like a legend, a fairy tale from other epochs brought to the world from the voices of travelers.
It makes you think about the impossibility of ever finding again a place that cradled a myth so far away and singular. However, the Mediterranean Sea, the sea of our life, has become sweeter and benign so domestic and gathered as a lake is, a small coastal territory that has kept alive a secret for many centuries: it’s here that poetry has found its horizon and its home. Between the pinkish shadows of its hamlets, in the bland movement of its hills, beyond the very deep blue of its sea, this discreet land reveals with your footsteps the miraculous dream of Shelley, Petrarca and Montale, the mystery of the perfect harmony of a unison song between a man and his sea, his land.
This is the Gulf of the Poets, the Gulf of La Spezia. A unique microcosm, so close to the usual tourist route, but so far from the common places. Whoever crosses its borders of steep cliffs and high pine groves, knows that he’s beginning a voyage of astonishment and wonder, even after so many centuries, scenery that still penetrates onegaze until it mingles with the soul of the one walking it.
Portovenere
Portovenere
The first village you come to, as you travel westwards from La Spezia, is Le Grazie, which lies in an enchanting natural inlet quite close to the important archaeological site of Villa Romana del Varignano
, which is open to visitors. One place you really must stop at is Portovenere, which is recognized by UNESCO as part of world cultural heritage.
The picturesque Genoese-style village of Portovenere (twelfth century) is full of typical coastal charm. You can admire the Genoese castle and the Church of San Lorenzo (consecrated in 1130 and entirely rebuilt in 1931-35).
Portovenere
At the far end of the promontory of Portovenere stands the ancient Church of San Pietro, which was built in 1277 on existing sixth-century foundations. You can leave Porto Venere by boat to visit the island of Palmaria, a marine reserve lying in the center of the whale sanctuary
. You can then visit Tino and the ruins of the Monastery of San Venerio.
The festival of San Venerio, a religious hermit who lived on the island of Tino, in