While I was staying at Lago Trasimeno I visited many of the little villages in the surrounding area, as well as Perugia and Siena. Sometimes riding around you can come across some treasures purely by chance, such as Castiglione de Lago and Chiusi.
Castiglione de Lago (The Castle on the Lake) was first built around the Etruscan era, expanded by the Romans and then again in the 1500’s. Around 1530 the pope granted a fiefdom to a duke for the area so he built a palace for himself next to the castle, which still has the original paintings and frescos on the ceilings and walls. He built a covered walkway from the palace to the castle because sometimes he would annoy the locals and they would surround the palace, so he would hide in the castle. He died in debt and his son tried to redeem his debts but died penniless and less than 100 years after being established, the state took back the castle and palace.
I also visited Chiusi, where I had to drop the bike at the Honda dealer for a service. Noticing there was a Cathedral nearby, I went for a look – and it was stunning. Built around the 1300’s, it has the most wonderful mosaic tiles decorating the interior. They also had a small museum in the Cathedral, with artifacts from the 1400’s, including around 20 hymn books from the 1400’s which the monks printed and drew by hand showing the words, the notes and a small picture on each page.
I was the only visitor so the curator gave me a guided tour, which was unexpected and highly appreciated. This also included the tunnels underneath the Cathedral. Build around 2BC by the Etruscans, they were made as water cisterns, and later wine storage. The Romans also built a large brick cistern around 1 or 2 AD, and while you stand looking at the vaulted ceiling, bats are quite happily flying around. After this I was allowed to go to the top of the clock tower. The base was built around 2AD but the clocktower was built on top of it around 1535. It’s amazing what you find without actually trying.
Perugia and Siena were great, and as you would expect, full of tourists. Well, it is summer but it was definitely worth going. The main attractions were obviously busy, but you only need to wander around and you can find some hidden gems in the backstreets.
The bike service was fine and I’m good for a few more thousand miles, but my rear tyre is starting to look a bit tired, so sometimes in the next few weeks I’m going to have to get it changed. Probably in Greece. Other than that, the bike is great.
