SPOLETO (anc. Spoletium), a town and archiepiscopal see of the province of Perugia, Italy, 18 m. N.N.E. of Terni, and 88 m.
N. by E. of Rome by rail. Pop. (1931) (town); (commune). It is situated on a hill, so that the lowest part is about 1,000, the highest 1,485 ft. above sea-level, at the south end of the open valley of the Topino, a tributary of the Tiber, which it joins near Assisi. The principal industries are the col lection and preparation of truffles and preserved foods, also tanning and the manufacture of earthenware, cotton and wool spinning. Spoleto is also the centre of an agricultural district, and contains a government experimental olive oil factory. There are few towns of Italy which possess so many Roman remains in good preservation under the medieval buildings, and few medieval towns with so picturesque an appearance. There are considerable re mains of pre-Roman polygonal walls. There are remains of a Roman theatre, over 37o ft. in diameter, and an amphitheatre 390 by 295 ft. A Roman bridge of three arches, 8o ft. long and 26 ft. high, exists at the lower (north) entrance to the town.
The rock above the town was included within the polygonal walls: but Totila fortified, not this rock, but the amphitheatre, which remained the citadel until 1364, when Cardinal Albornoz destroyed it and erected the present Rocca, which was enlarged by Pope Nicholas V.; it is now a prison. The Porta Fuga (the name alludes to the repulse of Hannibal) occupies the site of a Roman gate, but is itself medieval: while the medieval enceinte encloses a somewhat wider area than the ancient. The Piazza del Mercato represents the Roman forum; close by is a triumphal arch of Drusus and Germanicus (A.D. 21), and a temple (?) over which is built the church of S. Ansano. A Roman house in the upper part of the town, with mosaic pavements, probably be longed to Vespasia Polla, the mother of the emperor Vespasian. The Palazzo Municipale, above it, contains the archives and pic ture gallery. The cathedral of S. Maria Assunta, much modern ized in 1634 by Bernini, occupies the site of a church of the Lombard dukes erected about 602. The present church was con secrated in 1198; the facade with eight rose windows belongs to the middle of the 12th century. Over the main entrance is a. large mosaic of Christ enthroned, with the Virgin and St. John, by the artist Solsernus (1207). The Early Renaissance vestibule (after 1491) is fine. In the choir and on the half dome of the apse, are the finest frescoes of Fra Filippo Lippi (scenes from the life of the Virgin) completed after his death by Fra Diamante: his tomb, erected by Lorenzo de' Medici, with the epitaph by Politian, is on the left of the choir. The fine stalls and panelling in the winter choir date from 1548-54. The Campanile is beautiful.
The church of S. Pietro, outside the town, has a facade richly sculptured with grotesque figures and beasts, of two different dates, about i000 and about 1200. The little church of SS. Giovanni e Paolo (12th century) contains frescoes of the 12th 14th centuries notably an early representation of the martyrdom of S. Thomas a Becket and a portrait of S. Francis of Assisi. S.
Domenico is a fine example of later Italian Gothic with bands of different coloured stone. Both the church and its crypt contain 14th century frescoes. The triple-apsed crypt of S. Gregorio prob ably dates from the 9th century; the upper church was consecrated in 1146 and the Romanesque work covered with stucco in the restoration of 1744. S. Nicole is a beautiful example of Pointed Gothic. The basilica of S. Salvatore (il Crocefisso) at the ceme tery belongs to the 4th century A.D. The fine sculptures of the façade, with its beautiful windows, as also the octagonal dome, all belong to this period. It was restored in 1815. S. Ponziano, not far off, belongs to the 13th century. The city is still supplied with water by an aqueduct, to which belongs the huge bridge called the Ponte delle Torri, crossing the ravine which divides the town from the Monte Luco (2,723 ft.). The bridge is 253 ft. high and 755 ft. long and has ten arches: it was erected in After the battle of Trasimenus (217 B.C.) Spoletium was at tacked by Hannibal, who was repulsed. It suffered greatly during the civil wars. Sulla, after his victory over Crassus, confiscated the territory of Spoletium (82 B.c.). Under the empire it again became a flourishing town. It was situated on a branch of the Via Flaminia, which left the main road at Narnia and rejoined it at Forum Flaminii. An ancient road also ran hence to Nursia. Martial speaks of its wine. Aemilianus, who had been proclaimed emperor by his soldiers in Moesia, was slain by them here on his way to Rome (A.D. 253), after a reign of three or four months. The foundation of the episcopal see dates from the 4th century. Owing to its elevated position it was an important stronghold during the Vandal and Gothic wars. It was beautified by Theo doric (493) and fortified by Belisarius (536) but its walls were dismantled by Totila (546). Under the Lombards Spoleto became the capital of an independent duchy (from 57o), and its dukes ruled a considerable part of central Italy. Together with other fiefs, it was bequeathed to Pope Gregory VII. by the empress Matilda, but for some time struggled to maintain its independence. In "55 it was destroyed by Frederick Barbarossa. In 1213 it was definitely occupied by Gregory IX. During the absence of the papal court in Avignon it was a prey to the struggles between Guelphs and Ghibellines, until in 1354 Cardinal Albornoz brought it once more under the authority of the Church. In 1809 it be came capital of the French department of Trasimene. In 186o it was taken by the Italian troops after a gallant defence.
At Monteleone di Spoleto a circular tumulus was found in 19o2, with a rectangular chamber in the centre, and in it was the famous biga (two horse chariot), the only ancient one found in a complete state, which is now in the Metropolitan Museum at New York. (T. A.)