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passignano |
| PASSIGNANO , a newish town with a medieval heart, strung out along
the northern shore, is the lake's most accessible point, being served by
seven daily buses and by hourly trains from Perugia and Terontola.
Popular with those Italians whose idea of an outing is to spend the
whole day in a car, the town in summer often resembles nothing so much
as a big traffic jam. In the evenings, however, when people come
flooding in from the surrounding campsites, the joint is jumping, with
bars, discos and fish restaurants aplenty. There's a tourist office at
Via Roma 38 (June-Sept daily 9am-noon plus Mon-Wed & Fri & Sat 4-7pm;
Oct-May Mon-Fri 9am-noon & 3-6pm, Sat 9am-noon; tel 075.827.635), and
about a dozen hotels - the best value of which are the Florida , Via II
Giugno 2 (tel 075.827.228; L90,000-120,000/¬46.48-61.98) and Del
Pescatore , Via San Bernardino 5 (tel 075.829.6063;
L90,000-120,000/¬46.48-61.98), both comfortable places where all rooms
are en suite, and the larger, smarter three-star Trasimeno , Via Roma
16a (tel 075.829.355, fax 075.829.267; L90,000-120,000/¬46.48-61.98).
Somewhere along the lakeshore towards Tuoro, probably at Sanguineto ("the Place of Blood") or Ossaia ("the Place of Bones"), is the spot where the Romans suffered their famous clobbering at the hands of Hannibal in 217 BC. Hannibal was headed for Rome, having just crossed the Alps, when he was met by a Roman force under the Consul Flaminius. Things might have gone better for Flaminius if he'd heeded the omens that piled up on the morning of battle. First he fell off his horse, next the legionary standards had to be dug out of the mud, then - and this really should have raised suspicions - the sacred chickens refused their breakfast. Poultry accompanied all Roman armies and, by some means presumably known to the legionnaire in charge of chickens, communicated the will of the gods to waiting commanders in the field. With the chickens against him Flaminius didn't stand a chance. Hannibal lured him into a masterful ambush, with the only escape a muddy retreat into the lake. Sixteen thousand Romans, including the hapless commander, were killed. |