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AMELIA |
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AMELIA , 11km northwest of Narni and plonked on top of a sugar-loaf
hilltop, is by far the most tempting local excursion if the ruins don't
appeal. Though not big on monuments, it's fairly interesting and
unvisited, noted mainly for its extraordinary cyclopean walls, claimed
as some of the oldest and mightiest in Italy. Supported by their own
weight and comprising vast polygonal blocks up to seven metres across,
they reach a height of over twenty metres in places and date back,
according to early Roman historians, to the Umbrian settlement of the
eleventh century BC. Most of the town's churches were ruined in the
nineteenth century, and art's thin on the ground - San Giacomo's double
cloister and a tomb by Agostino di Duccio are the only highlights - but
Amelia's charm is the typically Umbrian mixture of good views, medieval
streets and lovely countryside close at hand.
The tourist office is at Via Orvieto 1 (tel 0744.981.453 , info@iat.amelia.tr.it
). The local culinary speciality is a tooth-rotting combination of white
figs, chocolate and crushed nuts (only available in winter), but for
more substantial fare there are two good restaurants , both with rooms
to rent: Anita , Via Roma 31 (tel 0744.982.146, fax 0744.983.079;
L90,000-120,000/¬46.48-61.98; restaurant closed Mon); and, just 1km
north of town, Le Colonne , Via Roma 191 (tel 0744.983.529;
L60,000-90,000/¬30.99-46.48; restaurant closed Wed). For more elevated
food, try the Gabelletta , Via Tuderete 20 (tel 0744.982.159; closed Mon),
housed in an elegant villa 3.5km northeast, on the road to
Montecastrilli.
The drive on to Orvieto along the backroads is a treat: plenty of oak
forests and fine walks, and the chance to catch one of Umbria's
Romanesque highlights, the twelfth-century church of Santa Maria
Assunata at Lugnano in Teverina.
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