Spello (in Antiquity: Hispellum) is an ancient town and comune (township) of Italy, in the province of Perugia in eastern-central Umbria, on the lower southern flank of Monte Subasio. It is 6 km (4 mi) north-northwest of Foligno and 10 km (6 mi) south-southeast of Assisi. It is one of I Borghi più belli d'Italia ("The most beautiful villages of Italy").
The old walled town lies on a regularly northwest–southeast sloping ridge that eventually meets the plain. From the top of the ridge, Spello commands a good view of the Umbrian plain towards Perugia; at the bottom of the ridge, the town extends beyond its walls into a small modern section (or borgo), served by the rail line from Rome to Florence via Perugia.
History Antiquity
Although no mention of Spello (Hispellum) is found before the Roman Empire, it was an important sacred place where Umbrian tribes gathered from at latest the 3rd c. BC as shown by archaeology. The sanctuary of Venus was first monumentalised in the Republican age (2nd-1st century BC).Villa Fidelia https://www.hispellum.eu/experience/villa-fidelia.html
Pliny, in his list of Umbrian towns, calls it a colony established under Augustus, a status also supported by numerous Roman inscriptions in which the town is named Colonia Iulia Hispellum. Augustus is said by Pliny to have granted Hispellum the spring and river Clitunno, although they lay 12 miles away, with the territories of Bevagna and Foligno in between; the people of Hispellum are also said to have maintained a bath and a hospice there. In the Roman period the town belonged to the Lemonia gens.
A well-known rescript of Emperor Constantine the Great, together with the Caesars Constantine and Constans, ordered that the city be called Flavia Constante, that a temple of the Flavia gens be erected there, and that gladiatorial and circus games be instituted. The temple was most likely that found recently in the sanctuary of Venus.Cult mentality: Professor makes monumental discovery in Italy https://phys.org/news/2024-01-cult-mentality-professor-monumental-discovery.html From that period, inscriptions refer to the town as Colonia Urbana Flavia, a wording which, according to the source, led some writers to incorrectly suppose that Spello had received a second colonial foundation under Vespasian.
Christianity was preached in the town from an early date. By the 3rd century Spello is recorded as an episcopal see. Its first bishop is given as , martyred under Diocletian and Maximian and later regarded as the city's protector. A second bishop, Saint Epiphanius, took part in the Roman synod held in 487 by Pope Felix III. A third, Venerius, attended a synod in Rome called by Pope Symmachus between the 5th and 6th centuries.
Middle Ages In the 13th century Spello formed part of the Duchy of Spoleto and was under the Papal States. It was repeatedly chosen as the seat of the court, and archival records from the same period note the presence of a chief magistrate and a deputy.
In the early 13th century Emperor Otto IV, while taking many places from the Church, is said to have shown clemency towards Spello, which in that century was a loyal ally of Perugia. In 1289 the city again asked to be received under Perugian protection and to be sent a new podestà chosen by Perugia’s council; Perugia complied by sending Porticcio di Porta Borgne. In 1298 the people of Spello appealed to Perugia for help against the vicar of the Duke of Spoleto, then Bertoldo Orsini, who had proclaimed war against Spello, claiming it was subject to the duchy, whereas Spello had placed itself under Perugian protection. Perugia sent ambassadors to Spoleto and, together with Nocera, repeatedly sent envoys to Rome asking the pope to intervene to settle the dispute.
In 1358 Gil Albornoz ordered the construction of a fortress and added a new stretch of walls. In that same context, he carried out a legal and administrative reordering in Spello in accordance with wider reforms being implemented across the Papal State.
From the 14th century the town's political life included two councils, a chancellor, and a chief magistrate, who oversaw town leaders, the militia, councils, and offices, and held full authority over justice. Over time, however, the chief magistrate's powers were increasingly constrained by oversight from the papal vicar or governor.
Factional conflict, especially between Guelphs and Ghibellines, troubled Spello, particularly in the 14th century and during the Western Schism, when the town withdrew from obedience to the legate of Perugia. After the schism ended and Martin V recovered the Church's territories, Spello returned to papal rule; on 17 September 1424 its capitoli were signed at Deruta, where the cardinal legate had relocated from Perugia because of an epidemic.
From the 14th century Spello sought Perugia's backing against Foligno, and a pact of submission required that the chief magistrate be Perugian. In the course of subsequent factional shifts, rule passed in turn through Braccio Fortebracci, the Visconti, Ceccolino Michelotti, and again Braccio Fortebracci da Montone. After Braccio’s death in 1424, Spello returned to direct control by the Church.
On 16 February 1449 Pope Nicholas V granted Spello in fief to Nello Baglioni of Perugia.
Early Modern and contemporary eras
In 1527, after the Sack of Rome, Philibert, Prince of Orange, marched toward Perugia to expel Malatesta Baglioni and camped at Spello; the town was sacked by soldiers and killings of inhabitants are reported.
During the Perugian War in 1534 under Paul III, the pope ordered the walls and towers of Spello to be dismantled. After the Baglioni line died out in the 16th century, Gregory XIII recovered Spello and nearby Bastia for the Church, and they thereafter remained dependent on it.
In the early 17th century central papal authorities exercised growing influence over Spello through the Sacred Consulta and the Congregation of Good Government.
In 1774 Clement XIV detached Spello from the Diocese of Spoleto and incorporated it into the Diocese of Foligno.
After the Napoleonic period Spello became part of the Delegation of Perugia. Municipal statutes were abolished, and institutional offices were paired with church deputies tasked with safeguarding the interests of the Church. In 1828 Spello was made a city by a papal brief issued by Pope Leo XII.
On 9 November 1860 a plebiscite recorded overwhelming support for the unification of Italy.
In 1895 Spello had a population of 4,932 inhabitants.
Geography
Spello lies on the southernmost slope of Monte Subasio, about from Foligno and about from Assisi, at an average elevation of above sea level. A road from Foligno toward Florence passes by the open square in front of Porta Maggiore.
Its streets are described as steep throughout. The town is reported as having a temperate climate, with prevailing winds from the south and east.
Among Spello's features are thirteen caves of uncertain but ancient date, opening on the slope of the hill on which the town stands, on the north and west sides. One of these caves communicates with the highest point of the hill, where the seat of the ancient acropolis is suggested to have been located.
Subdivisions The municipality includes the localities of Acquatino, Capitan Loreto, Collepino, Crocefisso, Limiti, Navello, Ponte Chiona, San Giovanni, Spello.
In 2021, 2,429 people lived in rural dispersed dwellings not assigned to any named locality. At the time, the most populous localities were Spello proper (4,116), and Capitan Loreto (1,027).
Archeology
Spello preserves extensive remains from the Roman period within and around the present town. A Roman road runs between the southern gate and the gate opposite the Church of San Ventura, and many archaeological remains along this route show that Roman Hispellum extended beyond the area of the modern settlement, occupying part of the adjoining plain near the road.
The town includes three Roman Late Antique gates (Porta Consolare, Porta di Venere and the "Arch of Augustus") and traces of three more. The town incorporated the remains of an amphitheatre.
The great Sanctuary of Venus on 3 terraces was incorporated into the present Villa Fidelia.
Roman walls and gates
Spello's Roman walls survive for a considerable stretch, built of carefully squared and fitted limestone blocks laid in parallelepiped courses. They are visible along much of the lower part of the town, including the southern side, and are more extensively preserved on the west, where traces of a rectangular tower remain.
Three ancient gates open through these walls. The central gate, opposite the Church of San Ventura, is the most intact and has a single passage.
Porta Venere dates to the Augustan age and is built in the form of a triumphal arch. It is flanked by the two dodecagonal Towers of Propertius and is one of the town's most monumental survivals of Roman fortification architecture. The right-hand passage retains traces of the arch above it, and above this are a pilaster and part of a Tuscan-order entablature. The gate as a whole measures in length.
Porta Consolare, dated to the 1st century BC, is the monumental gateway through which the Via Flaminia entered the town. It forms a key point of access to the historic center and is associated with the route that follows the line of the ancient rising street through the urban core. The gate also has three passages; in modern times three corbels were added there to support three marble statues found nearby, one representing a matron and the other two depicting municipal figures in togas.
Within the built-up area, in Via Giulia, there are remains of another ancient gate. In Via dei Cappuccini there are remains of the gate that led up to the Arx.
Belvedere and the Roman forum area The Belvedere is an ancient terrace on which the Roman forum was built. From here there are views across the Topino valley and the line of hills stretching from Montefalco to Assisi.
Villa dei Mosaici
The Villa dei Mosaici was uncovered in July 2005 just outside Spello's walls during works for a public car park. Excavation revealed a large Roman villa whose central sector covers about . Of the twenty rooms brought to light, ten preserve polychrome mosaic floors with geometric and figurative motifs including human figures, animals, and fantastic creatures, while the entrance area has been lost.
The rooms are arranged around a peristyle, with spaces commonly identified by their mosaic themes, and an ample triclinium features a central scene of wine-mixing accompanied by personifications of the Seasons and figures linked to the Dionysian retinue. Two construction phases are noted: an Augustan phase and a later phase towards the end of the 2nd century AD.
Other ancient sites On the left side of the Roman road, toward Perugia, ruins of several tombs remain, aligned along the roadside. Near the tomb remains are surviving traces of an amphitheatre. Opposite the Villa Tani Menicacci, along the same road, a large semicircular ruin survives, possibly belonging to the cavea of the ancient theatre.
Ancient aqueducts and baths are present, as well as an ornate arch honouring the emperor Macrinus.
Also noted are the ruins of the Sanctuary of Venus.
In the plain, near San Claudio, are the remains of a semi-excavated Roman amphitheater; and a small valley to the east of the town is remarkable for its traces of Roman centuriation.
An ancient Roman temple, dating to the 4th century AD, was discovered by researchers in 2023 underneath a carpark in Spello. According to Professor Douglas Boin, who announced the discovery at an Archaeological Society of America meeting in early 2024, the temple dates to Constantine's period and marks the transition of the Roman Empire to Christianity.
Religion San Lorenzo