Spoleto is a hill town in Umbria with a past much longer than most people expect. It was a Roman colony, then the capital of a Lombard duchy, and the Lombards, who came into Italy in the sixth century, ruled a great swathe of the peninsula from here. The basilica of San Salvatore lies just outside the old centre, below the hill, and few churches in Italy are older, dating from the fourth or fifth century and reshaped in the early Middle Ages. Its pale, plain facade looks classical, with a triple doorway and carved frieze, because its builders reused Roman fragments and copied Roman forms.
Inside the building is spare and quiet, with a high nave, a vaulted ceiling and bare walls, and it feels very old in a way that polished churches do not. The church is part of the group of Lombard sites in Italy inscribed on the World Heritage list in 2011, which recognises how the Lombards blended Roman, Christian and Germanic traditions. It sits next to a cemetery, which adds to the stillness, and the cypresses around it frame the view toward the hills.
Spoleto itself is a joy to ride to. Approaching from the Via Flaminia, the old Roman road that still runs through the town, you pass olive groves, small hill villages and views of the Apennines. The roads south toward Terni and east toward Norcia are good riding country, with smooth asphalt, long curves and little traffic outside holidays, and the Valnerina valley is especially fine. The old town has steep lanes, and traffic restrictions apply in the centre, so park outside the walls and walk.
With nineteen thousand inhabitants Spoleto has petrol stations and trattorias, many serving strangozzi pasta with truffle and local lentils. Choose spring or autumn, with clear air and hills in green or gold, and avoid late June and July if you dislike crowds, because the festival fills the town. The stone steps up to the fortress, the Rocca Albornoziana, and across the great Ponte delle Torri are a good way to work off lunch.