August 2017

This is an Italian hilltop town about an hour and a quarter’s drive away. You go down the E45 and it is signed off the E45 past the airport turn off. It is really easy to find. Parking at the height of August was very easy. We turned left around the City walls and there was a free car park on the left one level down the hillside. The walk to the centre of town is about seven minutes going past the Complesso Museale San Francesco. Don’t be fooled by the entrance appearing to be shut. The actual entrance is slightly further up on the left-hand side of the road.
I went around the museum and the cathedral on my own (obviously). Equally obviously my wife was engaged in propping up the local economy.
The museum, really an art gallery, was very good. It was almost totally deserted. Lots of 14th to 17th century paintings/frescos. No protected glass or covering in any way so lots of opportunities for close up photos. Look out for two pictures of the Madonna as you are going round the gallery which showed La Madonna getting ready to hit a nearby devil. Very odd to see her as an action figure.
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The cathedral (deconsecrated I think?) is lovely. It is a bit damaged and must have been a quite gorgeous sight before wear and tear took its toll. Really interesting sets of frescos over the alter which are in such good nick I thought they were modern repairs but apparently they are not – they are by Bernardo Gozzolo. In front it of there is a sort of processional arch – very odd but very striking. They also have something in the cathedral that I have never seen before, a selfie zone in an internal wall of the cathedral (with various frescos etc on the side of the wall behind where you stand so people could take selfies in front of he (reproductions of the) fresoes without stopping those who wanted to enjoy the church – very canny
I see from the Rough Guide book there are a number of other places to visit in Montefalco but this was as far as we got. Bought a coffee at a small restaurant to the right-hand side of the road of the central square (which is more of a circle).
We then had lunch at the restaurant Olevm in Corso Mameli. This street has got a row of shops plus a series of pink bicycles outside each of the shops – not sure if we ever figured out what the bicycles were signifying. I did manage to get double Italian “I spy” points for seeing a nun eating ice cream a she walked past while we were lunching.
Afterwards we visited Eat Montefalco. It was a bit further down on the right and bought some wine, olive oils etc. The woman selling us the wine assured us that since the wine was organic, once opened you had to finish it. It would simply not keep otherwise. It sounds like a great excuse to me.