THE PROFESSOR'S APARTMENT, CITTA DELLA PIEVE

Its time to return to our eventful weekend in Citta della Pieve in February 2013.

The hotel Vannucci, named after Citta della Pieve's most famous son, the Renaissance master Pietro Vanucci  and better known as Perugino - turned out to be a gem of a place to stay right in the middle of the old town. It had been booked for us by Laura our estate agent - she'd previously worked there several years ago and was able to get us a good rate. This thirty bedroomed boutique hotel, with every modern convenience and a wonderful setting right in the middle of town, is still privately owned. It was intriguing to discover that the core of the hotel (as opposed to the more recent extension at the back) was in fact a late nineteenth century villa set in private gardens, built for no other than King Vittorio Emanuele II in 1887. It was to be a holiday home for himself and his mistress. The hotel still reflects some of that late nineteenth century aristocratic charm and ambience and it wasn't difficult to understand why the site was chosen, sitting as it does, in a private landscaped garden overlooking the old town. It was easy to shut one's eyes and imagine balmy, summer evenings to be spent sipping wine on the terrace of the villa admiring the lovely view. It must have been a perfect retreat from frenetic Rome and the summer heat of the capital at the end of the 19th century. Today, it provides a quiet retreat for all who choose to savour its charms and we warmly recommend it.

THE HOTEL VANNUCCI - CITTA DELLA PIEVE

After our first night's stay at the hotel in a quiet room at the back overlooking the winter landscape of Umbria we enjoyed a wholesome breakfast and contemplated the itinerary for the day. We were to meet our estate agent at 9.30am and revisit a couple of the properties we'd liked in the previous visit and one or two new ones as well.

DINING ROOM AT THE HOTEL VANNUCCI

We went back to the village house (still liked it but it felt removed from where we now wanted to be) looked at the house with the three studios (still a very interesting property but decided it was too much work) and looked at a couple of other properties out of town - one in an amazing palazzo that had an impressive entrance hall and staircase and a wonderful loggia - but totally without a view! Back in Citta we looked at a town house that had splendid valley views but seemed pokey and another that had been renovated to a high standard and had the same view of the apartment we'd visited on the last trip but seemed expensive for what it was. Finally, I asked Jon if we should go back and look at the two bedroomed apartment we'd liked last time but dismissed it for being too big. Krister said yes this was possible and told us that it had in fact gone under offer since we'd been there last time, but had fallen through because of legal difficulties relating to the timing of its sale - it was thus back on the market. We took the short walk back to what we'd nicknamed the professor's apartment and our agent opened up all the windows so we could see it again in the glorious daylight of a sunny winter afternoon. We were both taken it with it again - just as we had been on the first visit. After a thorough look round we thanked Krister and walked back through the atmospheric narrow alley ways of Citta to the Hotel Vannucci on the other side of town. Co-incidentally Krister was going off to meet from the airport the lady who was one of the beneficiaries of the professor's estate and dealing with sale of this flat.

THE PROFESSOR'S APARTMENT - TOP FLOOR WITH THE CREAM PAINTED BALCONY

Over a cup of tea, we got down to reflecting on what we'd seen and  the business of discussing what we should do - if anything. We seemed to be left with one obvious choice - the lovely flat we had just seen. Though a wee bit tired - it hadn't been occupied for nearly a year - it seemed a natural thing to do to make an offer and we decided to ring Krister and try making an offer in pounds sterling which we knew it was possible to do given the beneficiaries were all based in England.  He said he'd speak to the vendor and get back to us and we assumed we would hear the news the following morning.

That evening we decided to eat in town and about 6.30pm made our way over to a restaurant Krister had recommended called Serenella which he said was a well kept secret and much frequented by locals and those :'in the know'.

TRATTORIA SERENELLA - Citta della Pieve

Tucked away down a narrow alley between the Via Vannucci and the main square of the town, this unpretentious little trattoria was another interesting discovery. Krister had told us that it is run by two hard working, not so young sisters, one doing all the cooking and the other serving the customers in the small two roomed establishment. We soon discovered there was no menu - just a list on a blackboard near the counter in the first room. We ordered pasta with ragout sauce which turned out to be wonderfully home cooked, robust and delicious - so much so we couldn't face a main course so we had tiramisu instead. We were just thinking about leaving and had paid the very modest bill, when in came Krister, Laura and the lady called Jackie who was over from England to deal with the legalities involving the flat we'd made the offer on. To cut a long story short - she'd decided, on behalf of all the beneficiaries, to accept our pounds sterling offer if we were prepared to sign the legal documents before she left for England. By this time we'd decided we definitely wanted to go ahead with the purchase of the apartment so we said yes, on the proviso we could visit it again the following morning and also get a survey done the following day as well. This was all mutually agreed and we all sat down in the little restaurant to celebrate. We'd made the big decision and things were moving forward quickly - unless we changed our mind overnight.

The following morning we hadn't changed our mind and we went back to the flat to have another look round and to meet Jackie again. It turned out she'd also invited a couple, Michael and Fran, who'd looked after the apartment for the english professor during some of his time there. We all got on well and decided to go out for a coffee in the town. Krister had organised the survey with a geometra for early that afternoon. By 4pm we had the preliminary results. The surveyor had been up on the roof as well as in the roof void - everything was fine with the flat. So the upshot was - we went to the estate agent's office at 7pm that evening and did the deed - jointly signing the preliminary contract to purchase the apartment - we to purchase it and Jackie to sell it to us. The documentation had all been translated into English for us and we went through it slowly, page by page; each time we all had to sign the page that had just been read. We agreed we would pay the ten per cent deposit to the sellers as soon as we arrived home and that a completion date would be set, probably in May, as soon as the professor's estate had finally been settled on the Italian side. It was a done deal as they say and I'm pleased to say that though we felt we'd been just a weeny bit reckless in the way we'd approached it all - there were no second thoughts. I now feel sure it was the best thing to do - recognizing that if we'd gone home without agreeing the purchase we'd probably have talked ourselves out of it and done nothing. After the hour long signing session we all went to another restaurant near the office for a joint celebration paid for by Laura and Kirster. It was a raucous and fun evening enjoyed by us all.

VIEW OF THE CHIANA VALLEY FROM OUR "NEW" APARTMENT

The following morning we felt slightly hung over but we were ready to meet Krister and Laura who  picked us up at the Hotel Vannucci to take us to Perugia airport to catch the flight home. It had been an eventful weekend.

QUOTATION;

"Once more on my adventure brave and new."

ROBERT BROWNING (1812-1889) from "RABBI BEN EZRA"

FLORENCE - A LATE WINTER VISIT

It's February 12th 2014 and once again the weather here in the UK is terrible! As I look outside my study window it's raining heavily and windy to boot. The media are telling us this has been the wettest winter for 250 years and the Thames Valley and Somerset Levels are flooded - thousands of people are either suffering water drenched homes or being evacuated to safer places! Not surprisingly my thoughts keep drifting back to Italy and I realize its exactly a year this coming weekend since we made our second journey there to contemplate the purchase of a holiday home. It's a good time to report what we decided to do during that eventful weekend. 

Once again we decided to travel to Umbria via Stanstead airport, but this time we thought it would be a change to fly to Pisa and to take the shuttle bus into Florence from there. We had a good Thursday afternoon Ryanair daytime flight and arriving in Pisa it was a delight to once again realize we were at a small airport with no marathon walks to undertake to get out of the place. The shuttle bus into Florence cost the modest sum of 6 euros each and took about an hour, dropping us right outside Florence's main city centre railway station - Santa Maria Novella. We'd booked in to a nearby hotel for the night deciding to journey down to Umbria the following day, so first we decided to have a quick look inside the station to get our bearings for our train trip next day.

The site of Santa Maria Novella Station in central Florence

The front facade of Santa Maria Novella station in Florence.

Inside there is a vast top lit, wide and airy concourse giving direct access to the terminus platforms and plenty of information about arrivals and departures. I'd read back home that this is one of Italy's busiest stations dealing with approximately 59 million passenger visitors a year and if this afternoon was anything to go by then I could easily see that to be the case! There were trains listed on the boards destined for Venice and Naples and I had to pinch myself again that we were here at this Italian hub where we could, if we wanted, travel the length and breadth of the country.Architecturally the building is quite interesting, the front part of it being designed in 1932 by the Mussolini approved "Gruppo Toscano" - a consortium of Tuscan architects. It was completed in 1934 and replaced the former Maria Antonia station. Books dealing with Florence's 20th century history indicate the building was a work of the Italian modern movement and it certainly does have that plain but functional simplicity about it. I liked it a bit less on the outside where its stark, flat and austere front elevation face the back of the nearby complex of buildings which form the basilica of Santa Maria Novella. After looking backwards and forwards from one to the other and thinking of the centuries dividing them, it was time to set off to check in to our nearby hotel just a few minutes away.

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The interior of Santa Maria Novella Station in Florence

After dinner an evening stroll took us to the piazza directly in front of the church of Santa Maria Novella - the basilica which had lent its name to the railway station we'd been in during the afternoon. We'd visited this church on one of our previous trips, but it was a pleasure to call in on it this particular evening and see the flood lighting illuminating the beautiful medieval/Renaissance facade. A quiet evening like this was perfect for a contemplation of the detail of the amazing black and white marble design. I found myself thinking that I never seem to tire of coming to Florence to see these text book sights and once again it motivates both of us to think we are right to come back for this weekend. 

Evening view of the front facade of Santa Maria Novella church in Florence

The church was named "novella" (new) when, in the early 13th century, the decision was taken by two Dominican friars, to build a new church and cloister on the site of the 9th century oratory of Santa Maria delle Vigne. When it was largely completed in 1360, only the lower part of the marble clad front facade had been finished. The semi-circular arches which characterize this part of the front elevation, are essentially Romanesque/ early medieval in character and its interesting to contrast this part of the frontage with the upper section which is later in date and completed between 1456 and 1470 - almost a hundred years later. This was designed by Renaissance architect Leone Battista Alberti, sympathetically also in black and white marble, and following a commission from textile merchant Giovanni Paolo Rucellai. Here, paying respect to the lower section, it is more classical in its proportioning and detail and it pays homage to Alberti's interest in reviving the precepts of design advocated by classical Roman writer Vitruvius. The pediment and frieze are inspired by classical antiquity and other details, such as the flanking scrolls which contain billowing sails - emblems of Alberti's patron Rucellai - can be found on many other later churches all over Italy. Its a good comparison to make on just one elevation.

After a comfortable night and a hearty breakfast we had time  for another walk in the morning sunshine before returning to the station. We decided to amble over towards the the 19th century market hall near San Lorenzo which is always a fun thing to do. Outside the building the narrow street is always lined with tightly packed stalls selling traditional and brightly coloured leather goods of one sort and another and its a great place for people watching as tourists try on leather jackets in the street, or attempt to make a selection from the hundreds of handbags on offer. At the end of the street we walk across the Piazza San Lorenzo and I cast a sideways glance at the front of what was the parish church of the Medici family during the Renaissance. I imagine them taking the short walk from their Palazzo just across the road. Its fascinating to compare the front of this building which has a plain, rough stone appearance with that of the elaborately decorated Santa Maria Novella facade for it was never completed. Originally it was intended it would have a frontage designed by Michelangelo. Where the churches are similar, however, is on the inside for each has a magnificent interior stuffed with outstanding Renaissance works of art - lots of material for discussion in future posts. We stroll up the side of the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi and walk across another block to the east for I am looking for a shop we discovered just a few weeks earlier when we were in Florence for Christmas; its a small speciliast shop called Tissoti which sells beautiful paper and hand crafted stationery. (I was shocked to discover in January this year that it was no longer there!) I'm a sucker for this this sort of stuff and we spent the next hour making a selection of items to take back to the UK. By the time we'd finished it was time to get back to the hotel to pick up our bags and head for the train station. 

The rough stone facade of the basilica of San Lorenzo, Florence

Back on the busy station concourse we checked the time of our train and picked up some things to eat on the train. I admire one of the sleek red and silver bullet trains bound for Bologna on a nearby platform and wish we were getting on such a glamorous mode of transport, but we are destined for a Trenitalia local train heading, stop by stop, for Rome where we will be getting off at Chiusi - about half way between the two cities. The expected journey time is 1 hour 35 minutes. This was the first time we'd done this so it was interesting watching the train leave the station  and starting to make its way north and then south. First stop was the recently constructed mainline station in the Florence suburbs where the high speed bullet trains travelling between Milan and Rome stop and then its out into the countryside first crossing the Arno and then following its valley for the first part of the journey. There are several station stops between Florence and Chiusi and after about 40 minutes we arrive in the broad Chiana valley famous for its beef cattle from which the equally famous Florentine beefsteaks are derived. I know we are getting fairly near Chiusi when we stop at Arezzo. At this point I have little knowledge of Arezzo other than that the oldest painting in the National Gallery, London, an oil on panel of a madonna and child with saints, was done by an artist from here and it is also renowned for its contemporary monthly antiques market. I will definitely be coming back here. A little further on and we stop at Cortona. The old part of town sits high up the mountain side to the left of our direction of travel and once again I am fascinated by the juxtaposition of new and old as this alluring and ancient hill town, which I'd read about in Frances Maye's books and studied in connection with the artist Pietra da Cortona, made me want to explore there soon. 

The hill top town of Cortona, Tuscany - visible from the train on our way to Chiusi

Another half an hour or so and we were ready to get off the train at Chiusi, the nearest town to our destination - Citta della Pieve. It had been a good experience and now, not having the luxury of a hire car, we had to take a 20 euro taxi ride to our destination a few kilometres away. We knew the route and where the hotel we were booked in to was, so it was annoying not to be able to make our driver understand exactly the directions we were giving him  and even more so when we knew at the top of the hill, that he took us the long way round the town to rack up the fare! No matter, we had arrived and this hotel had been booked and recommended to us by our estate agent Laura, so we were looking forward to finding out what it had to offer. 

PLEASE NOTE: IF BY ANY CHANCE YOU ARE READING THIS BLOG FOR THE FIRST TIME - YOU MIGHT WISH TO CONSIDER TRYING IT FROM THE BEGINNING WHICH INVOLVES GOING TO THE ARCHIVE AND STARTING WITH POSTING NUMBER 1. - THANKS, - IAN

A MAIOLICA RENAISSANCE POT TURNS UP IN A HOUSE IN SOMERSET, ENGLAND

After returning to the UK from Italy after our January house search we had talked over and over about what to do next and still had the three properties we'd looked at in our sight line to the extent we decided to go back and have a second look with the prospect of making an offer on one of them. Jon went ahead and booked for us to fly back to Italy during February from Stansted to Pisa. 

Italian Maiolica Dish - c1540

I'm passionate about the history of ceramics and have indeed been lucky enough to have written several books on the subject. I was thus looking forward with anticipation to being able to research and write about Italian ceramics. It's strange how when you become involved with something that all sort of co-incidences occur which bring related items and subjects together. So it was on the morning of February 16th last year when I picked up a stray copy of the Daily Mail during my morning commute in to London. On an inside page there was a picture of an Italian Renaissance ceramic dish of the type I have only ever encountered in major museum collections like those of the Victoria and Albert Museum or the Wallace Collection in London. The illustration was accompanied by a short article entitled "THE RENAISSANCE COMES TO SOMERSET". Here was a story to cause salivation in abundance for anyone interested in Italian pottery for this piece was a rare and important dish.

It was made from a type of ceramic ware called tin-glazed earthenware and it was hand-painted in a colourful Mediterranean palate with a narrative scene. A representative from Charterhouse auctioneers in Sherborne, Dorset had visited a Somerset cottage in November 2012 to do a general appraisal and found this dish hanging on the kitchen wall by a slender wire the likes of which gives anyone with an interest in historic ceramics palpitations! The valuer knew he had made a massively important find and immediately told the owner, subject to confirmation, that it could be worth as much as £100,000 at auction. The dish was subsequently examined by an Oxford museum curator who confirmed it to have been made in Urbino, in about 1540. Measuring 16.5 inches across the dish's colourful subject matter was also identified by the curator as being biblical - the story of "The Feast of Herod" and probably painted after an engraving made by a German print maker, Sebald Beham (1500 - 1550). The piece was in excellent condition apart from a single re-stuck chip to the rim. 

Detail of the chip on the rim of the 16th century dish

The dish was finally put up for sale by the auctioneers in their Dorset rooms on February 14th 2013 in a single lot sale. It sold for the magnificent sum of £460,000 plus 19.5% buyer's premium taking its sale price overall to £587,000. It was bought by a Bond Street specialist. This wonderful dish had turned out to be a very special and important type of pottery known as "istoriato" maiolica made in Renaissance Italy in the mid 16th century and owned by the likes of the powerful Medici family. How on earth had it ended up on the wall of a humble cottage in Dorset, England? No one will ever know the answer to that simple question.


Well - that's a small introduction to the subject of Italian ceramics and I'll be back with more about this topic in another posting.

DISCOVERING CITTA DELLA PIEVE & MONTEPULCIANO

It was Sunday morning, the day before we were due to return to the UK, the weather was once again glorious and Lake Trasimeno sparkled in the sharp early morning sunlight. How lucky we were to have chosen these few days - evidently this sort of weather in January was unusual by any standards. It was good to have the opportunity to get to know the local area a bit better and to take a rest from property viewings or even talking about them. We thought we'd start off by driving back to Citta della Pieve and stop off for a coffee there before deciding where to go. 

After breakfast we drove back to Citta along the ridge road with views of the Lake on one side and the Chiana valley on the other. Even at this time of year it was easy to see what a lovely area we had arrived in. Though grape vines were bare and stick like, the oranges on the trees in house gardens looked ripe and ready to eat. Occasionally we'd see individuals or couples tending to their olive trees, pruning tools to hand. Soon we were ascending the hill which would lead up to Citta della Pieve again. From the ground its impossible to see the overall shape of the town, but an aerial view like the one seen in the photograph below, reveals it to be bird like in appearance, complete with head, wings and tail. One legend I'd read about Citta suggests the town was, using the landscape contours, configured in this way to represent an eagle, allying itself during the medieval period with the forces of the Holy Roman Emperor rather than those of the Pope. It's an appealing story. 

Aerial View of Citta della Pieve

In Citta itself we parked the car in one of the municipal car parks outside the town walls and strolled towards the centre where we soon ended up in the main square. It was mid morning by now and quite busy - though the cathedral church, the duomo, was boarded up and a sign indicated the interior was under renovation. Across the square the worn but imposing stonework and classical architectural features of the Palazzo Corgna drew us nearer so we could take a closer look and a peek through the lower floor windows revealed pastel looking frescoed ceilings; we made a note to come back for a further investigation on another occasion. Strolling back across the square an interesting plaque high up on a wall above a shop revealed the birthplace of Renaissance master painter Pietro Vannucci - Perugino - the artist who was not only famous in his own right but also tutor to Raphael. 

A walk down the cobbled and charming main street brought us to another square with more large and imposing characteristically red brick municipal buildings, including a grand looking market hall with large metal double doors and then a new looking branch of the local Umbrian bank which we would later visit to open a bank account. Across the street an attractive looking cafe/ bar with seats outside drew us closer. This was the Cafe degli Artisti - a place we would also come to know well during later visits. This morning it was the perfect place to stop for a coffee and watch the world go by. Though the interior was attractive and welcoming we chose to sit outside and enjoy the warm sunshine; already people were coming out of the little church opposite where mass was just finishing and visitors to the town were ambling up and down. Seated at one of the tables a perusal of the map we'd brought with us made us aware we were not that far from the renowned Tuscan hill town of Montepulciano, so we decided we'd head there for a late lunch and an afternoon walk. 

Interior of the Cafe degli Artisti - Citta della Pieve

It took about three quarters of an hour to make the short journey down the hill again and cross the Chiana valley to head north west to Montepulciano. This delightful medieval walled town, known the world over for its fine Tuscan wines, occupies a strategic position high up on a ridge  separating the now familiar Val de Chiana from another valley - the Val d'Orcia. The area was once occupied by both the Etruscans and the Romans, but it was during the medieval period that the town's importance as a settlement, surrounded as it was by rich, fertile and productive land, made it a target for both Siennese and Florentine domination. An alliance forged with Florence in 1390 led to a sustained period of economic, political and cultural stability which was to last 200 years and it became known locally as the "Pearl of the 16th century". 

Montepulciano

An interesting legend tells a tale which links Montepulciano with Citta della Pieve. The story goes that following the collapse of the Roman Empire and the continual invasion of the Chiana valley by barbarian forces from the north, the local communities sought refuge in the hills surrounding the lower ground. The social elites - the patricians - are said to have moved to the mount that took the name of Mons Politicus which later became Mons Politianus and later still Montepulciano. The lower social classes (plebeians) according to the legend, moved to the other side of the valley establishing the settlement of Civitas Plebis - which later became Citta della Pieve.

We arrived at the main entrance to the old part of town, the Porta al Prato, a huge arched structure built by Sangallo the Elder in the 16th century. Though cars were making their way through the arch we decided to park our car in the bays outside the gate and later I was thankful we did as the narrow main street would have made for some difficult manoeuvring for Jon. The low wall near where we put the car provided some splendid views over the valley below. 

Inside the gate we could see ahead of us the main street, the Via di Gracciano del Corso which we had noticed from the town map wound up in circular fashion to the main square at the top. Here at the bottom was an unusual columned stone structure bearing carved Griffins and Florentine 'marzocco' - symbolic of Montepulciano's long association after the treaty of 1390 with the city of Florence. As is the case with many town monuments, these are copies of the originals which are now in the town museum. Montepulciano is a major tourist destination so here there are also many small artisan shops selling locally produced foods and of course wines as well as others with the usual selection of tourist tat. Most of them are open, even at this time of year. 

Pozzo dei Griffi e dei Leoni
The Griffins represent Montepulciano - the lions the city of Florence

We set off up the atmospheric main street noting several imposing stone palazzi - evidence of Montepulciano's aristocratic families who'd played a significant part in the city's history over the centuries. In the Piazza Michelozzo, a little bit further up, we stopped to have a look at the Rennaissance facade of Sant' Agostino - shame we couldn't get inside at this time of day. On the nearby crenellated tower stood a figure I'd read about and made from carved wood in the 1520's and covered in sheet metal. Every hour and half hour it strikes the adjoining bell. It's affectionately known as Pulcinella because of its resemblance to the Commedia dell Arte character from Naples. 

Renaissance facade of Sant Agostino - Piazza Michelozzo

Torre dell 'Orologico - 'Pulcinella'

 It was about now that I noticed that the main street was now starting to rise sharply and I knew at this point that we probably wouldn't make it to the top. Though my health is good these days I still need to pace myself and this street was much steeper than those we'd encountered in Citta. I made a pact with myself that one day I would walk it to the top. We carried on and I was taken by the views up and down narrow alleys to our right and left. On one side - dark narrow stone staircases led upwards, steeply to streets at higher level and on the other stone stairways leading downwards with glimpses of the bright light and landscape of the sunny Chiana valley visible. I thought of how hard life must have been in past times for the elderly and frail. You would have had to have a good pair of lungs to do this on an everyday basis. 

A little further on, on the left hand side, we came to an impressive shop frontage the Caffe Poliziano - it looked interesting and we decided this was an ideal place to stop for refreshment. It turned out this cafe was famous and dated back to 1868. Over the decades it had played host to many famous celebrities and even now there were posters advertising up coming 'artistic' events of one sort and another. It had an interesting late 19th century ambience about it, no doubt set off by the dark wood fittings and the organic looking mouldings. Our guide book described it as a 'Liberty' cafe and I knew this to be the Italian term for the progressive style of late 19th century France - Art Nouveau. In Italy they chose to name this progressive taste after the progressive London department store. There was a a large glass covered counter near the entrance area full of produce and in one case cafe pastries which all looked delicious and beyond seating areas which ended with glass windows which looked out over the valley. We ordered paninis and coffee and managed to get a table where we could take in the wonderful view.

Caffe Poliziano (1868)

The delightful and atmospheric interior of Caffe Poliziano restored in 1992

It was only at this point we decided to have another chat about what we might do about properties. The first question to answer was would it be France or Italy for our new holiday home? This one was easy and we didn't need to each twirl cards with France on one side and Italy on the othe to see if we had made the same decision - as they do on the TV programme about emigrating to Australia. We both agreed that Italy had won hands down. After going through the list of properties we'd looked at and thought about we thought there were three possibilities, the village house, the house with studio apartments and the professor's apartment - the latter two both in Citta della Pieve, the little hill town we had fallen in love with. After spending an hour or so going backwards and forwards and with more cups of coffee, we decided we must not be precipitate and plunge in head first the following morning. In true English fashion - we thought we should go home and reflect and make sure it was right for us to go ahead with the big decision to buy a property in this part of Italy. That was the decision - little did I know at this point that we would be back within a couple of weeks to take things further.

UMBRIA BOUND PART 3 - THE PROFESSOR'S APARTMENT

Lunch over it was time to carry on with our afternoon viewings. The two properties we were to see were in parts of the old town of Citta della Pieve either side of the Via Vannucci. 

Restaurant Silvana where we had our lunch in Citta della Pieve

The first property proved to quite interesting and it had only just come on the market. Laura had literally just received the keys for it that day. It was just a short walk from Krister's office and the main entrance was on a small lane just off a routeway from the Via Vanucci which led through a tunnel and enclosed staircase to the road just the other side of the city walls. It was a period building divided into three separate studios each with an access from a common, generous staircase and each with separate kitchenette and shower room. The studio on the top floor was let out to a local man for 300 euros a month. The other two were quite spacious and had interesting barrel vaulted ceilings in the main room. The principal feature of the lower flats was that each had the use of a large tiled terrace approached through french windows from the lower studio or from a doorway on the way up to the middle one. It would have been possible to make it into one huge outside terrace. The terrace was in fact sitting on top of the old city walls but the downside was that the main road was just below so it was a tad noisy. Also the overall view, though pleasant and overlooking the back of the Vannucci hotel, wasn't long distance. The aspect to the sun wasn't ideal either and I suspected it might have been a bit dull when the sun was low in the sky during the winter months. At 185,000 euros though, with a bit of general refurbishment, the overall impression was one of potential and the property seemed another good contender. It also had the benefit of an income to be had from the letting out of the top flat as Krister had indicated the tenant wanted to stay if at all possible. 

The property with studio apartments - Citta dell Pieve

Ground floor studio 

Studio aparment terrace and view to the Vannucci hotel

The short journey to the second property revealed more of the nature of this charming little town. We walked back across the Via Vannucci and entered a narrow walkway which led, via a gentle slope, to another narrower street lined with brick built terraced properties with little in the way of architectural detail or ornamentation. There were charming and  interesting vistas up and down the street, in one direction an arcaded tunnel which we had to walk through to get to the building where the apartment was situated. 

One of many narrow streets in Citta della Pieve

We arrived in front of a pair of stained and varnished wooden entrance doors which Krister unlocked. Inside was a dark hallway containing a marble staircase with a modern looking painted iron balustrade and wooden hand rail. There proved to be three apartments in the block, one below the entrance level, one up the first flight of stairs and the one we were going to see on the floor above. After a few moments during which our eyes accustomed to the gloom we set off up the stairs to the top floor. Whilst Krister went in to the apartment to open up the shutters we stood on the outside landing and I nudged Jon and said - "What on earth have we come to see here?" and he grinned and replied "I wouldn't hold your breath about this one." Neither of us had viewed it on the internet so the whole thing was going to be a complete surprise. 

The Approach to the Professor's Apartment

Front door to the Professor's Apartment

  On entering the apartment we were immediately stuck by its light atmosphere and its spaciousness. There were six rooms altogether including a modern refurbished kitchen and a bathroom and all the main rooms faced away from the street side and looked out across the magnificent Chiana valley. One of the smaller rooms, presently being used as a little snug, had a pair of French windows and Krister had opened these to reveal a small balcony big enough to walk out on to and accommodate a small table and chairs. The views from this side were truly amazing, acccentuated by the fact that on this side of the building we were not on the second floor but in actual fact the fourth floor. Below the two apartments below this one there was a ground level which accommodated a large garage at street level and it belonged to this flat!

Though the flat itself was a little dated (I didn't particularly care for the 70's black and white floor tiles) it really was in good condition and we both couldn't take our eyes off the marvellous views from the tall windows. It was starting to cross my mind that we could be looking at this view on a daily basis should we buy this splendid flat. 

Professor's Apartment - the top floor of this block

The Chiana Valley - view from the Professor's apartment windows

Archway below the Professor's apartment which leads to lower street level

It turned out that the apartment had belonged to an English Professor of Medieval History who had taught at one of New York's leading universities. He'd owned it for about ten years and passed away in 2012. The flat was being sold by his beneficiaries. Much of the Professor's furniture was still there and the bookcases contained many interesting volumes on medieval and Renaissance history and art. The property was still the subject of complex Italian inheritance proceedings which he explained was one of the reasons a previously negotiated sale had not proceeded to completion. In Italy, as I understand it, if a person chooses to leave an estate to others than the immediate next of kin, it can take months for all the proceedings to be settled and involve notaries from different citys. This was the case with the Professor's flat and another visit to Citta by his sister in law was imminent to deal with the final stages. 

We left the flat at this point to view the property from the outside at lower street level and to have a look at the garage. Outside the exterior door it involved a short walk down through the arcaded tunnel and a left turn down a slope to the level where we could inspect the garge which proved to be huge. 

It had been a long day and we had much to think about so we left Krister to return to our car and make the trip back to the hotel in Castiglione del Lago - we spent the rest of the evening enjoying a pizza in a restaurant in the old town and going over what we had seen. What to do now??

P.S. I forgot to mention the asking price for the Professor's apartment. When it first went on the market the asking price was 185,000 euros but after 12 months and a buyer pulling out because of the legal perambulations Krister told us the beneficiaries would accept a figure of 160.000 euros for the apartment and garage. Interestingly he also told us that the garage could be separated from the apartment and sold off for somewhere in the order of 25,000 euros. 

UPDATE - A recently broadcast BBC2 programme themed "Escape to the Continent" with an episode which featured the Lake Trasimeno area suggested (figures related to autumn 2013) that properties in Umbria were generally selling for approximately 13% less than the asking price. They also indicated that any prospective purchaser should set aside between 7 and 10 % of the achieved property price for taxes, legal fees etc.