Splendid Scheggino and Fabulous Ferentillo

Today I decided to see some more of Umbria and I still wanted to see Monteleone di Spoleto, but right after the tunnel there was a sign to the Truffle museum in Scheggino with a punta vendita, which seemed very attractive so I ended up in Scheggino instead.

Wrong decision, because it only opens on saturdays and sundays. But as Scheggino was very lovely  and I certainly will come back, it didn´t matter too much. Scheggino, situated on the Nera banks – if you like rafting, go there – offered the usual steep alleys, very well kept, a nice church (closed) and a medieval wall. In the centre of the village was a small canal and in it was a man with a scythe, cutting the weeds. I took a picture but it seemed a little impertinent to approach him while he was working so hard in this wretched heat, so the picture is not very good.

After Scheggino the road went to Ferentillo, and since I have always wanted to see the Abbazzia San Pietro in Valle, I decided to skip Monteleone definitely (this time). It takes some patience to get there, for the road up is steep, narrow and you can make sure there will be a farmer driving 30 kmph in front of you, and it ends in an unpaved road, but when you have endured all that, you sure know why you did it.

The Abbazzia is wonderful, it has fresco´s on both sides, on the right all scenes from the New Testament, an altar on the left with two very small, low and narrow entrances, a Lo Spagna fresco and several tombs that are well kept and beautifully decorated.

The entranceticket was also valid for `The Mummies` at Ferentillo. It sounds like a movietitle, but in fact the museum was very nice. It is situated in a former church that also contained the graveyard, but after a law prescribed that all graveyards ha to be moved outside the citywalls, they dug up the bodies and they appeared to be mummified, because of a micro-organism that withdraws the liquids from a body and keeps the rest intact. This mummifying process only takes about a year.

Each mummy had its own story or legend, mighty interesting...though I hope I can still sleep at night...

And no pics allowed, so go there and have a bad dream too..

After that I had a great lunch at Trattoria di Marilu in Piediluco, with a view of the lake. Fish, of course, so I got company. Too bad for him I had just finished it all. 

Assisi and its arts and craftsmuseum

Do you know this sensational, exited feeling when you discover a completely new spot located where you never expected it? This happened to me. I visit Assisi a few times each year for the past twenty years, showing the city to my guests or sometimes just to have a quick look at the Santo Stefano and its small garden (my favourite church in Assisi).

Assisi of course is a `no-to-be-missed` city when you are lucky enough to be in Umbria. This time though, I particularly enjoyed it because I found the 

Museo Arti e Mestieri dell´Umbria.

Founded by Davide Costantini and inaugurated in 2012, the museum tells the story of the Umbrian citizens´ daily lives, rich or poor, and the every day objects they used.

(c) Jan Vos

The museum is situated half way the Corso Mazzini, right next to the San Francesco Piccolino in the eponymous square. It´s a unique spot, not only because Assisi´s worldfamous saint San Francesco was born there, but also because inside the museum you will find the remains of a medieval house.

In the middle of it, there´s a medieval well, it shows an aquaduct and it has medieval walls as well as remains of the original pavement.

I could think of no better location to show the tools that were used in the kitchen at those times, covering not only the Middle Ages but a larger period as well, or the furniture people used in their homes, like a table dated at 1400, but one can also admired the toys used to keep the children busy.

Some of the exhibited possessions are really rare and shall not easily be found anywhere else.

Which means that even now, I felt jealous of a few objects shown, like the fabrics that must have been of an excellent quality, considering de state they´re in ages later.

An especially nice gesture you become when leaving the museum: an attest, signed by both the founder, Assisi´s mayor and the Regionn of Umbria on which you can fill your own name.

If you want to learn more and see a lot better pictures:

The museum´s entrance is free. It´s open every day from 9-13.00 and 13.00-18.00.

Its website is very informative.