Regional info

Italy

This region is in central Italy and therefore has no coastline.  It is  a large province and home to a wide variety of cultures. The Mediterranean and the Adriatic are a two-hour drive away.  The cultural cities of Florence and Rome are not far, making Umbria an ideal base for touring.  The green hills surrounding the Tiber valley produce good quality olives and great wines. The region is home to Lake Trasimeno, the fourth largest lake in Italy covering 130km² in total, although its western shores are actually in Tuscany.  The lake is was made famous by the 'Battle of Lake Trasimeno', which was fought between the Roman armies and those of Hannibal.  Hannibal had lost all his elephants when crossing the Alps on his way to Rome but he still had a few tricks in hand.  The Romans thought they would make ground by going along the narrow north bank of the lake as they thought that Hannibal and his men were still in the mountains by the fires they could see.  This was just a clever strategy by Hannibal and the Romans were ambushed beside the lake.  It was a bloody battle and the Trasismeno lake was red from the blood for weeks afterwards.  There is a museum near Tuoro about the battle.