News Monteleone di Spoleto

Near by Monteleone di Spoleto, in the locality Colle del Capitano, in 1902 was brought to light the famous ''Biga di Monteleone'', a find from the Etruscan period which is exposed now at the Metropolitan Museum at New York.

It is an exceptionally beautiful and well-built object which was found in a tomb and dates back to about the 6^th century B.C.

It was completely carried out of wood and covered with thin layers of gilt bronze, adorned with rich decorations and precious irregular ornaments. The complexity of its workmanship shows that it was intended to have a mere representation function, to be a representative means to accompany the deceased to afterlife.

At Monteleone di Spoleto they keep a copy of the Biga in the original size in the basement of the monumental complex of San Francesco, a building from the 14^th century compound by a church and a convent.

The pictures on the body of the cart show scenes from mythology, like the image of Thetis on the central panel, who hands over the arms to Achilles, on the right panel Achilles and Memnon who fight over the body of Antilochus, while on the left panel is shown Achilles rising to heaven as a demigod.

The Convent of San Francesco at Monteleone di Spoleto - It is certainly the most important monument of Monteleone di Spoleto. The conventual complex was found in 1280, to be integrated and restored later to adapt it to n...
The Spelt of Monteleone di Spoleto - This area in the territory of Monteleone di Spoleto is particularly suitable for the cultivation of a kind of wheat which is quite typical for this zone, the spe...