Umbria's southerly reaches border on Lazio, the province of Rome. The flat plains of the Tiber and other rivers are interrupted only by the green swath of long-sacred mountains (national parkland today) to the east and outcroppings of volcanic tufa to the west, atop which are perched towns that were already ancient when Rome was founded. Within an hour's drive of Rome's outskirts, southern Umbria boasts a heritage deeper, more complex, and more jumbled than its Latin neighbor, having served for millennia as a buffer zone between Rome and its expansion up to central Europe -- and the barbarians' later push south to conquer Rome. The popular culture and architectural legacy of this region draw threads from its many epochs, from the Stone Age through early Umbri settlers, powerful Etruscan colonists, haughty Roman conquerors, iron-fisted Lombard dukes, and centuries of politically active scheming popes who used Spoleto and Orvieto as homes away from the Vatican.
Orvieto tempts with brilliant Signorelli frescoes and cool white wine, while Todi offers the stoniest medieval town within Rome's reach. Spoleto plays down its Roman theater, medieval remains, and Renaissance art to promote instead its urbane attitude -- exemplified by the annual Spoleto Festival, one of Europe's most important and anticipated carnivals of contemporary music, art, dance, and theater.
