Property for sale in Umbria

If you are looking for a property for sale in Umbria, please read the following area guide

Umbria calls itself "the Green Heart of Italy," and the name suits it well. Bounded by Tuscany, Le Marche, and Lazio, this is the only region of Italy that is both landlocked and shares no border with other countries. Because of this, Umbria has preserved a rather insular, traditional, land-based culture with fewer foreign influences than one finds elsewhere -- a point of regional pride. On the map of Italy, Umbria nestles deep in the calf of the boot. The Apennine mountains run through it, giving it wildness and rivers and rain, foothills thick with forests, and verdant fertile valleys.

Stand on a hilltop in Umbria and you see green all around you.

Though not vast, Umbria's geography is varied and classically beautiful: against a backdrop of snowy mountains stand high wooded hills crowned with stunning medieval villages built from the stone they cling to; below them lie wandering rivers (including the Tiber!) and rushing streams, lush valleys rising to rolling vineyards, wheatfields so brilliantly green in May that they blaze with flames of scarlet poppies.

Even in winter there's colour on this land -- the golds and russets of autumn woods give way to the green of winter wheat, and always, everywhere, silvery-green olive leaves gleam against their ancient, twisted trunks. By late February exuberant yellow Mimosas bloom, assuring us spring is on the way.

Soon after, wildflowers glimmer on hillsides and in the untilled fields, and roadsides and hedgerows start frothing with hawthorn blossoms, and then we're well on our way to a sumptuous summer.

Like everything else in this changeable land, that depends on just where you are and when, and what you like. "Average" is not a word that makes much sense in Umbria. Like each extraordinary village that has its own proud history, own dialect and own kitchen specialties (even though it may be only 2 km down from the next little town) much depends on elevation and lay of the land. A hilltop morning that is crystal clear and warm may be cold and foggy below; or on a sunny, blooming day in the valley you look up to see new snow on the surrounding hills. Around Lago Trasimeno, Italy's 4th-largest lake, a milder, more "Mediterranean" micro-climate prevails. July and August, certainly, do tend to be hot everywhere -- roughly mid 20s to mid 30s Centigrade (80s to low 90s Fahrenheit) and sometimes spike higher -- but whether that constitutes heaven or Hades depends on your personal preferences. Apart from the hot dry summer, true, it sometimes rains in Umbria -- hence the "Green" Heart! Just pack a mini-umbrella, and enjoy the delicious shades of stone beneath your feet and all the refreshed geraniums blooming around you. Buying an authentic Umbrian villa in or near to an Umbrian village can definitely be a good move.

Umbria is now regarded as one of the most visited areas of Italy.

Unique points

Where to go? Where to start?
There are fine museums in Umbria, but as you will find world-class architecture and art at every turn, you don't need to ever enter a museum unless that's your cup of tea. Virtually every town has cultural treasures to see just by wandering into its churches and piazzas, by paying attention to the walls you walk among. Much of Umbria never made way for the fads of the late Renaissance and after, so this land is a treasure trove of Romanesque and Gothic architecture -- often on a scale less grand and more human than one finds in, say, nearby Tuscany.

Speaking of human, leave time to indulge in the wine and food of Umbria, which is notably hearty, traditional, and simply delicious. "Simply" because Umbrians don't go in for complex, fancy fare. Someone once said that the ideal Umbrian dish uses only 4 ingredients -- not counting the superb local olive oil which is its basis. The pride and foundation of Umbrian cooking -- natives would scoff at the pretension of "cuisine" -- is the high quality of its basic materials. Ideally these are the most local ingredients you can obtain: olive oil from the trees on your own land, hand-made pasta, wheels of artisan cheeses; lamb and other local meats grilled over olive wood in the fireplace; an abundance of fresh vegetables and fruits growing in backyards or thoughtfully chosen from carts and neighbourhood alimentari and weekly farmers' markets. Like all Italians, Umbrians truly appreciate food as the foundation of life, health, and community. The little town of Norcia is renowned for the finest salumi in all of Italy (salumi are cured pork creations like salami and prosciutto); the colour-splashed plain of Castelluccio is famous for its lentils, and everywhere pensioners scour their secret hunting grounds for wild mushrooms and wild asparagus in season. With ingredients this flavourful and fresh, who needs rich sauces?

"Sagras," food-based festivals that spring up in one village after another from Spring till winter, celebrate local specialties, featuring cherries to chestnuts, strawberries to snails, the humble potato to the treasured black truffle. Festas with a religious focus instead, especially those of the towns’ Patron Saints, which are many and fascinating throughout Umbria, generally culminate in spectacular fireworks instead of dinner. Enjoyed in long lingering meals with friends, of course this Umbrian food cries out to be partnered with Umbrian wines. Orvieto is the delicious and most famous white, and Sagrantino di Montefalco is one very rich and powerful red. But you can find many worthy though lesser vineyards too, and you can tour small wineries, sampling their offerings of Sangiovese, Trebbiano, Grechetto, and more varieties. Though best of all is to share someone's home made wine.

But what to SEE?

Start small. This region abounds in so many interesting communities, each with its own unique story and atmosphere, that it's hard to go wrong. This is a land that welcomed wave upon wave of settlers for thousands of years -- the Umbrians, Etruscans, and Romans for starters.

Anyone interested in history will find bountiful ruins and remains from every era. But if you want to sample some of the loveliest towns and villages, like a platter of delicious Umbrian appetizers, don't miss these:

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