Plain Below Trevi

Pietrarossa, Bovara and Fonti del Clitunno

The station is a good starting point if you propose to explore the plain below Trevi.  The railway line follows the route of the Roman Via Flaminia and the Roman colony of Trebiae probably extended along it, from Pietrarossa to Bovara.   The Roman resort at Fonti del Clitunno was on its border with Roman Mevania (Bevagna).

The directions below are for those hardy souls who decide to do this itinerary by foot.  You will end up at Campello station, between Trevi and Spoleto, but you will need to have checked the times of the infrequent trains in advance.  A practical alternative (if you do not have a car) is to organise a taxi.  You can cover the sites here and those in Detour I and Detour II in a half day.

Pietrarossa

Pietrarossa is 2.5 km north of the station, towards Foligno.  Leave the station along Via Cannaiola, towards Trevi.  

  • Turn left to follow Via del Vivaio, parallel  to the railway track, for about 1 km.
  • Turn right at the end to cross the track and then  left along Via Canapine for about 700 m.
  • Turn left to cross the track once more along Via Pietrarossa in Borgo.

Pietrarossa seems to have been the  site of the centre of Roman Trebiae.   It was also the site of a Lombard cemetery in use in the 5th and 6th centuries, which was excavated in 2005.  There is an intersting exhibit devoted to these excavations in the Museo della Città. 

This cemetery is just in front of the church of  Santa Maria di Pietrarossa, which houses the miraculous red stone for which the area is named.

Bovara

Bovara is 3.5 km south of the station, towards Spoleto.  Leave the station along Via Cannaiola, away from Trevi.  
  • Turn left along the SP447 and cross the railway line.
  • Turn right at Via Faustana (Borgo) and continue on Via Faustana in Bovara ( atotal of about 900 m).

  • Turn left toward Località Fossato (about 1 km).

  • Turn left along the SP425  for about  750 m to Località Colle Alto. 

  • Turn left again.  You will see the distinctive campanile of the Abbazia di San Pietro in Bovara (see below) ahead.

A number of archaeological finds have been unearthed in this area, indicating that there were very ancient settlements here. 

  • The Stele of Bovara (late 3rd century BC) was discovered in the 1950s near the Abbazia di San Pietro in Bovara and is now in the Località Colle Alto. 

  • A Roman mosaic has been unearthed on several occasions and successively covered again by flooding.  The last time it was unearthed was in 1943-44.   Since then it has been abandoned beneath a layer of soil, not far from the ancient Roman road that ran from Trevi to the ‘lapideo’ bridge that gives its name to Lapigge, on the river Clitunno.

The most important building to see is the abbey of  San Pietro di Bovara.  An ancient olive tree (the Olivo di Sant' Emiliano) nearby stands on the presumed site of the martyrdom of St Emilianus, some 200 m below the church.

Tempietto and Fonti del Clitunno

The Tempietto del Clitunno is 4 km south of Bovara. 

  • Retrace your steps to Località Colle Alto and along the SP425. 

  • Turn left along the old main road and follow it for about 2.5 km.

  • The station at Campello (with infrequent trains to Spoleto and Foligno) is about 2 km further along (turn right at Viale Roma).

The river Clitunno was much more important in Roman and pre-Roman times than it is today and indeed it was navigable from Rome.  There was an important sanctuary at its source (the Fonti del Clitunno).  Despite its proximity to Trebiae, this sanctuary had  probably belonged to Mevania (Bevagna) until 41 BC, when the Emperor Augustus gave it to the new  Colonia Iulia Hispellum (modern Spello). 

The Tempietto del Clitunno stands on the river bank, some 600 m from the source.  It is one of the oldest surviving churches in Umbria and  for many centuries was believed to have been adapted from a pagan  temple.  However, recent study has shown that it was built as a church, albeit that it may contain architectural fragments from some of the many pagan temples that stood nearby.

Return to the main page on Trevi.