THE TOWN

Located in the northwestern part of Umbria, Città di Castello is spread out along the Upper Tiber Valley, at the border with Tuscany and not far from the Marche. The historic town centre is surrounded by a medieval wall built in the 16th century and contains many interesting churches, museums and monuments.  

 

With its number of top quality restaurants Citta di Castello is a paradise for foodies.  The range of food available goes from good honest hearty Umbrian food to upmarket stylish modern cuisine.  The most popular are the restaurants where the menu changes every day and contains the "daily special".   Our particular favorite restaurant for a family is "Fes e Mauro" where you can get a pizza cooked in the wood fire pizza oven or a fixed menu of steak, chips, salad and a 1/4 litre of wine for €14.00.  You can find this restaurant easily by looking for the crowded noisy terrace and the queue along the wall waiting for a table to become available.  Another favorite is "Trattoria Lea" which is a large busy restaurant on the main square serving typical Umbrian dishes.  If you haven't booked a table in advance you don't stand a chance.

 

I often wonder how so many coffee shops survive in Citta di Castello as there are so many of them.  However, as well as serving the morning brioche and coffee they also serve an apperativo or cocktail at any time of the day.  Most of them have comfortable outside areas to sit and watch the stylish women of Citta di Castello parade by.  

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Citta di Castello's annual calendar is full of events such as the International Wine Festival in April with over 1000 wine growers from all over Italy exhibiting.  There is an animal fair in July, a medieval fair in August and an International Classical Music Festival which lasts for two weeks in August.  In September there is the cheese festival and in October there is a mushroom/truffle festival and also a chocolate festival.

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The Commune do a lot for their citizens.  Throughout the summer the stage in the main square put on all sorts of entertainment, dancing, bands and singing.  Andre Bocceli once sang in the square.  There are many shops selling high end fashion, shoes, jewelry, handbags, ceramics etc.   Each warm summer evening the town is full of families participating in the Italian "passagiata", meeting friends, eating ice cream and sitting in bars and restaurants until well past midnight. All the shops stay open until midnight every Thursday night throughout July and August. 

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On Tuesday mornings there is a Farmer's market in the center of town where locals sell their own home grown produce and on Thursday and Saturday morning there is a large market selling everything you can think of.  On the third Sunday of each month there is an Antique/Flea market in the town.

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ART AND CULTURE
The centre is full of elegant Renaissance architecture, courtyards and loggias of noble mansions such as Palazzo Vitelli alla Cannoniera (today the home of the Municipal Picture Gallery), in the cloisters and aisles of churches such as the monumental Cathedral (11th century), with the treasures of the Sacred Art Museum, or Santa Maria Maggiore, Santa Maria delle Grazie, San Francesco and San Domenico. But it is also found in the masterpieces by Raphael and Luca Signorelli, as well as in the sacks, wood, plastic and cracks of Alberto Burri, one of the great masters of contemporary international art, who left all his works to the town where he was born.

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Deserving of a visit in the historic center is the Municipal Picture Gallery, second in Umbria only to the National Gallery of Perugia for the importance of its collection. Recently enlarged with new rooms, it holds masterpieces by Raphael, Luca Signorelli, Ghirlandaio, Raffaellino del Colle and Pomarancio.

The complete collection of works by Alberto Burri can be seen at two exhibition locations, the Palazzo Albizzini and the Ex Seccatoi del Tabacco (former tobacco drying sheds). Other interesting visits include the Cathedral Museum, next to the Cathedral, which holds precious sacred art objects; the Weaving Museum, which covers the history of the Tela Umbra weaving mill, and the Grifani-Donati Printing Museum, with perfectly functioning printing machines from various periods in history.

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