a few other standouts include spoleto, best known for its annual music festival; cittÀ di castello, renowned for its thermal baths; and terni, known for the roman engineering mistake that created a magnificent waterfall.

---

sights to behold
umbrians have a talent for incorporating elegant hotels and restaurants into ancient buildings without compromising their historic value.

---

la badia di orvieto was once a benedictine abbey. across a valley from orvieto, it dates to the sixth century. its tower was built in the twelfth; its frescoes were painted in the thirteenth and fourteenth. the sisters who run the hotel and restaurant like to talk about the celebs they claim have stayed there, including richard gere and brad pitt. from $275 a night; 011-39-0-76-3301959, www.labadiahotel.it

the restaurant redibis, in the town of bevagna, was built in what remains of a tunnel from a first-century roman theater. the tables sit in a passageway that was used by gladiators on their way to the arena. dinner might include chickpea soup with crunchy pork cheek, barley with braised chicory in sagrantino sauce, stuffed guinea fowl, and several glasses of red montefalco wine. expensive to very expensive; 011-39-0-74-2360130, www.redibis.it

castello dell'oscano is a medieval castle in a wooded area outside perugia that has been converted into a hotel. among the menu offerings: prosecco, parmesan cheese chipped from a giant round, soft goat cheese with figs on a spoon, salad with truffles and potato mousse, risotto with saffron, and veal steak wrapped in pancetta and served over a potato stack. from $261 a night; 011-39-0-75-584371, www.oscano.it