Umbria is the green heart of Italy, a region that preserve strongly its medieval character and its attachment to nature. Amelia, its Latin name is Ameria from the name of his founder the King Amoroe, is a medieval town which offers to its visitors the charm of a town out of time with its origins dated around 1134 B.C. Amelia is famous for the very old Polygonal Walls (IV-III century B.C.) which surround it completely and are so strong that they resisted to the attack of Emperor Federico Barbarossa.
Among the illustrious citizens of Amelia the Bishop Alessandro Geraldini, spiritual consultant of Isabel Queen of Spain and a close friend of Christopher Colombus: it was him who convinced her to give to the famous navigator the boats to make his legendary journey. He has been the first Bishop of the New World and it is to believe that he found the name America from his hometown Ameria.
The many archaeological finds found in the city and nearby might be seen in a very interesting Archaeological Museum (www.sistemamuseo.it) which includes the bronze Statue of Germanicus, the son of the emperor Tiberius, one of the most important and complete bronze statues of the first century A.C. ever found in Italy.
The Cathedral, rebuilt in the Baroque style in 1629 after a devastating fire, has inside the Chapel of the Farrattini Family with the funeral monuments of the Bishops Bartolomeo II and Baldo and the Cardinal Bartolomeo III Farrattini. The Civic Tower dated 1050, the Palazzo of the Municipality, the Roman Cisterns and many Palazzos from the XVI century are all monuments that the visitor can enjoy.
Amelia is part of the Etruscan-Roman Road of the Wines for its wine production of the Amerians hills.
Some very nice restaurants offer local food specialties: l’Enoteca Porcelli, l’Enoteca Punto Divino, L’Osteria dei Cansacchi, La Locanda inside the walls of the city. Lo Scoglio dell’Aquilone, Anita, La Misticanza e Montenero outside the walls but in the vicinity.