th
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holds relics of the Saint.
Another important building is the Romanesque-Gothic Church of
the Annunziata, flanked by
a slender bell tower from
1753 and holding a rich
collection of paintings. It
has a beautiful courtyard,
built in 1524 to plans by
the architect Michele Sammicheli, and a well from
1604 by Ippolito Scalza.
tradition, the adolescent
philosopher was cured
here after his mother had
invoked Francis of Assisi,
who had just recently died
(on October 3, 1226).
The name
Balneum regis, literally
“King’s Bath,” is a place
name of Gothic-Lombard
origin that defines a king’s
property and appears for
the first time in 599 in a
At the eastern edge of letter from Pope Gregory
the Belvedere, where the the Great to the Bishop of
Franciscan convent once Chiusi Ecclesio.
stood, there is a cave dug
into the ground, called There may be a connection
the “grotta di San Bona- with a thermal spa, regarventura.” According to ding which there is scarce
60 | WE THE ITALIANS
www.wetheitalians.com
evidence.
According to legend, the
salubrious waters of the
baths healed the wounds
of the Lombard king Desiderius.
The product
Excellent pork products,
because they are processed entirely using time-honored
traditional
methods, both fresh and
cured meats (prosciutto,
sausage, capocollo and
lombetti, rolled bacon
with herbs and spices, porchetta spiced roast pork).