Discover Umbria

In the central area of Italy bordering Tuscany, one can find the Umbria region. This is one of the 20 regions of Italy and covers an area of 8,456 square kilometers and Perugia as its capital. Most of the region is covered by the foothills to the Apennines, as well as parts of the mountain range themselves. The highest point in the Umbria region is that of Monte Vettore, which can be located on the western edge bordering the Marche region. It stands at 2,476 meters above sea level. However the Tiber Valley Basin can also be found here with a height of only 96 meters above sea level.

In between Umbria and Lazio, one can find the Tiber river. However due to the erratic changes of course the Tiber goes under on a regular basis, there are very few towns that have been built upon its shores. Several rivers flow into the Tiber in this region including the Chiascio which travels through many uninhabited areas of the country, the Topino which cuts through the Apennines at the Via Flaminia pass as well as which flows into the Tiber near Valnerina

It is here in Valnerina where many people agree is one of the most majestic and scenic areas in the whole of the Umbria region. Even if you are choosing to stay in Tuscany, it only makes sense to spend a day or two visiting the sites of the region as there are many beautiful spots that must be seen before you return home. Valnerina was one a pair of lakes that were drained by the Romans initially, but after the fall of the great Roman Empire and a couple of devastating earthquakes, the region once again filled up. However, Benedictine monks would once again drain out the lakes starting in the 13th century but the project was not completed until the 18th century.

The region of Umbria is known as the green heart of Italy for a reason. While the namesake was derived from a Giosuè Carducci poem, it has stuck ever since. Of course the poem was not about the region, but due to the fact that other then August and September the area is always green and like in the poem, it is not bordered by another foreign country.

The Umbria region’s name can be dated back to protohistoric times in which it was named after the Umbri tribe who called it home back in the 6th century BC. It was during this time that the town of Terni was founded which was in 672 BC. The Umbri tribe’s chief enemy was the Etruscans who in the 7th century BC invaded the region from the west and moved to the north as well as the east. This invasion was eventually completed in the 5th century with the Umbrians taking shelter in the Apennines.

When the Etruscans finally fell, the Umbrians offered their assistance to the Samnites to battle the great Roman empire. However due to Narni, a Roman fort built in 298 BC, communications were almost completely cut off and when the battle of Sentinum occurred in 295 BC, the Umbrians did not really help as much as they had wanted to. As a result, the Romans won and took control of the region. From there, control was then transferred to the Pope who reorganized the region’s political structure to what it is today and by 1927, the geographical lines dividing Umbria from surrounding Italian regions was officially drawn.