Montefalco

The town sits on a hill with a clear view over most of the Umbrian valley, which is why it is called the ringhiera dell'Umbria, the railing of Umbria. Sagrantino, a thick-skinned red grape with very high tannin found essentially nowhere else, was traditionally dried and made sweet for feast days, and had shrunk to a handful of hectares by the 1970s before producers revived it as a dry wine; it received DOCG status in 1992. The former church of San Francesco is now a museum holding Benozzo Gozzoli's 1452 fresco cycle on the life of St Francis, painted before his better-known Florence work.

History

The origin of the name is disputed: local historians derived it from Mons Faliscus, while Francesco Torti held that the town was first called Corcorona and was named Montefalco after Emperor Frederick I invested Ranaldo de' Ranaldi of Foligno with the county. Its museum, in a former church, keeps a fresco cycle on the life of St. Francis painted by Benozzo Gozzoli between 1450 and 1452 (Wikipedia, Montefalco).

What you'll find

• The valley view - a panorama that gave the town its nickname.
• The Gozzoli frescoes - a 1452 cycle on St Francis in the museum church.
• The Sagrantino cellars - producers of a grape revived from near extinction.
• The circular plan - a small walled town of streets radiating from one square.

When to go

April to October; harvest and wine events fall in September, and Settimana Enologica is in Easter week. Winter closes many tasting rooms.

Things to know

The town is very small, walked in an hour. Cellar visits need booking. Sagrantino is a tannic wine that not everyone enjoys young.

Nearby

Bevagna lies below; Spello is north.

Key facts