Spoleto

Spoleto is an ancient city in the Italian province of Perugia in east central Umbria on a foothill of the Apennines.
Spoleto was situated on the eastern branch of the Via Flaminia, which forked into two roads at Narni and rejoined at Forum Flaminii, near Foligno. An ancient road also ran hence to Nursia. The Ponte Sanguinario of the 1st century BCE still exists. The Forum lies under today’s marketplace.
Located at the head of a large, broad valley, surrounded by mountains, Spoleto has long occupied a strategic geographical position.
The Festival dei Due Mondi (Festival of the Two Worlds) was founded in 1958.
The festival has developed into one of the most important cultural manifestations in Italy, with a three-week schedule of music, theater and dance performances.
In the United States, a parallel festival — Spoleto Festival USA — held in Charleston, South Carolina was founded in 1977 with Menotti’s involvement. The twinning only lasted some 15 years and, after growing disputes between the Menotti family and the Spoleto Festival USA board, in the early ’90s a separation was consummated. However, following Menotti’s death in February 2007, the city administrations of Spoleto and Charleston started talks to reunite the two festivals which would climax in Spoleto mayor Massimo Brunini’s attending the opening ceremony of Spoleto Festival USA in May 2008. The mayor of Charleston, Joseph P. Riley, returned the visit and attended the opening ceremony of the festival in Italy, on 27 June 2008.
For a short period of time, a third parallel festival was also held in Melbourne, Australia.