For many centuries, tales of these two Roman galleys resting on the lake bottom led to unsuccessful attempts to raise them. Raided by divers in 1895, the water level was lowered and the ships finally raised after Benito Mussolini ordered the lake to be drained in 1927.

These ancient ships measure 210 by 66 ft. and 233 by 80 ft. Many of the objects found on the ships can be seen in museums in Rome, although the ships themselves were burned by the retreating German army on May 31, 1944. Today, replicas and artifacts of the ships sit on the shore of the lake in a museum built specifically for them.

Many elements of the church are Romanesque, dating back to the 11th century when Robert Guiscard ordered its construction. Visitors enter by a bronze door, forged in Constantinople in 1099 and once completely covered in gold and silver leaf. It shone so brightly Medieval worshippers talked of entering Il Paradiso.

Guarding the doorway are a lion and lioness, representing strength and charity. A local legend says that during a Saracen invasion these lions sprang to life and devoured the invading pirates, although today they seem too dentally challenged to pose much of a threat.

Rising 52 metres above the duomo is a mid 12th century Moorish/Norman bell tower. Fast forward a few hundred years and a substantial remodelling so that baroque and rococo styles are represented too. The duomo is both a pattern book for architecture and a refreshingly calm place to visit.

This extraordinary event takes place in honor of the 800th anniversary of the founding of the Franciscan Order.

You’ll make a reservation, and the following day will be led inside the Lower Church, given hard hats to wear, and will then follow a guide up two levels of stairs surrounded by scaffolding to watch (in our case) a young woman above us at work.

Surrounded by Giotto’s images, you’ll be close enough to touch them; and on one wall an area marked by white chalk showed what the fresco looked like before and after it was cleaned and restored.

Down the street at the Palace of Monte Frumentario, the second part of the tour, is a “virtual” exhibit of the restoration of the 28 scenes of the upper church, “Giotto come era” (The Era of Giotto) to learn about the Legends of St. Francis of the Upper Church as they originally were. Your ticket allows you to return twice, and you’ll surely want to!

www.icoloridigiotto.it/, and tickets here.

The city contains many hidden pleasures and layers of history, from the littlest vicolo to the grandest palazzo.

Amidst the ancient ruins and enchanting neighborhoods are a plethora of fountains encompassing any and all styles imaginable that often get overlooked.

Not the Trevi of course, which is undeniably breathtaking, but those forgotten fountains that are well worth taking your time to find.

They await you with replenishing, cold water all year round.

You’ll be surprised at what you find sitting there around the next corner!

Housed in the oldest Franciscan church in Perugia, la Chiesa di San Francesco delle Donne (1212), this textile workshop was founded in 1912 by the formidable Giuditta Brozzetti, who crisscrossed Umbria copying and conserving traditional decorative motifs from Medieval and Renaissance textiles.

Today the Brozzetti family consists of the fourth generation of craftswomen, who continue operating the workshop and school where they produce hand-woven fine jacquard cloth on antique wooden manual looms, many dating from the 19th century.

To visit the workshop is to step back in time…the loud click-clack of the looms working, the gentle light filtering through the enormous apse window, the stylized patterns of griffons, pomegranates, and twisting vines in all imaginable shades of color.

A rare sighting, indeed.

Domenico, son of Piramo-Amopir, is the grandson of another Domenico, great-grandson of still another Domenico and so on. He is the latest in a family that carries on this art for at least 5 generations and has produced at least 20,000,000 tiles by hand.

“Only 20 million, because up till 15 year ago we only worked in the summer” says Domenico; “winter was too cold. But in the summer we suffocate from the dust, and bake ourselves as well, continuously firing the oven. It is a kind of inferno. For the first 30 hours the temperature is not really high because the tiles have to dry out. Then, for 36 hours, the temperature is extreme: around 1000 degrees Celsius. Precisely 950”, says Piramo-Amopir, “and I don’t need a thermometer. I can tell by the color of the fire”.

Pianelle (floor and ceiling tiles) come out of the oven. There are also roof tiles and special pieces of all sizes and shapes. The Fedeli family (their name means “faithful” in English) keep the fede (faith) by honoring tradition. Their kiln, a deep pit dug into the hills of Castelviscardo, near Orvieto, has been in use since the Renaissance.

Some of the tiles gracing the antique buildings of Orvieto must come from this enchanted place. You can imagine hard working medieval artisans descending from palaces and churches to appear here, before your very eyes. If you’d like to see the firing and be taken back in time, you can inquire about firing dates by contacting Piramo via his website, fornacefedeli.com.

The answer is most definitely, yes! Streets, sidewalks and floors in Italy are full of patterns and colors, and are often works of art themselves.

If you’ve ever seen a cobblestone street being laid, you know that it requires skill, and must be a little like putting together a puzzle. And if you had never considered this before, locate an Italian piazza, sit down with a cappuccino, set up your camera with zoom lens, and ponder the pavement patterns beneath your own two feet.