The church is the heart of the Shrine, the place where the conversion of the young St. Francis occurred. Built at different times the oldest part is towards the altar with the off-centre apse. The choir dates to1506.
Dedicated to Saint Damian the shrine was enriched around 1150 by the Siro-byzantine icon of the crucified Christ which spoke to Francis. The crucifix is nowadays to be seen in the Basilica of Saint Clare, inside the town walls of Assisi … Read more >>>

Read more >>>

Champvent Castle is located in an isolated spot outside the village, on the farthest point of a luxuriant hill rising above the small valley between Mathod and Montagny-près-Yverdon. The building ranks among the best preserved medieval fortresses in the Lake Geneva Region. It was built in the 13th century by the powerful lords of Grandson and is a model of the “Savoy Square” …
Read more >>>

The Church of “San Fortunato” was started between the thirteenth and fourteenth century, with the construction of the choir and two of the four arches; then the work resumed in the early fifteenth century, ending in the second half of the fifteenth century.

The Church, dedicated to the Patron Saint of the city, is characterized by an unfinished façade, a work by Giovanni Santuccio da  Fiorenzuola, with a large central door, two side, and a bell tower, surmounted by a pyramidal spire. The interior has three naves. In the crypt, Jacopone da Todi (1230-1306) is buried, one of the most important Italian poets of the Middle Ages, who was the initiator of religious poetry in Italy, together with St. Francis (1182 ca.-1226). Among the works of art in it, we mention the “Madonna and Child with two Angels”, 1432, by Masolino da Panicale (1383-1440 ca.), some frescoes of Giotto’s school and a beautiful wooden choir by Antonio Maffei (16th century).

Particular intense geological and geothermic events have determined the structure of the current basalts.

It seems that in the prehistorical period a river ran over clayey sediments.

Then great volcanic eruptions canalized in the riverbed a fluid magma which sank in the most clayey places, forming the current basaltic colonnades …

Read more >>>

The vineyards of the medioeval town of Montfalco in Umbria at sunset, Autumn.

Sagrantino di Montefalco DOCG wines are named after the Sagrantino grape from which they are made. Cultivated for centuries on the hills of Umbria, Sagrantino is considered autochthonous, although there are various theories as to its origin. Some believe it to have come from Spain, others say it was imported by the first Franciscan friars, and others still claim that it was brought into Italy by the Saracens… read more >>>

The visit to Todi can start from the Church of St. Mary of Consolation, built, it seems, by a design attributed to Bramante; though, some important artists, like Peruzzi, Michele Sanmicheli (1484-1559), Vignola, Galeazzo Alessi (1512-1572) and Ippolito Scalza worked in it. The interior is very bright, thanks to the numerous windows and soaring dome. The building, of Renaissance style, is a Greek cross plan, and it has inside four apses and two rows of Corinthian pillars … read more >>>