Visit Perugia – Umbria’s capital

Markets Perugia

Why go to Perugia

You should visit Perugia for it’s beauty, it’s markets, it’s chocolate, festivals, jazz and history that would make for a perfect movie script. Perugia is full of cobbled alleys, stairways with aqueduct archways, piazzas, gothic churches and has magnificent views across the countryside from the Etruscan wall that surrounds it.

Perugia is home the University of Perugia that opened it doors in 1308, the University of Foreigners and di Belle Arti Pietro Vannucci (or Umbria’s academy of fine arts). Because it it is a university city there are young people everywhere that keep the city vibrant and fresh.

Perugia has culture and the arts at it’s core. The city hosts the famous Eurochocolate Festival, the Umbria Jazz Festival and the International Journalism Festival. Each gallery and museum host changing exhibitions so it’s worth keeping an eye out for what’s on when you visit.

Umbria is beautiful, its full of traditional villages, rolling hills and history. Perugia is perfect for day trips in the region so it’s easily to travel to Assisi, Spoleto, the medieval city of Passignano sul Trasimen, Lake Trasimeno and Deruta to buy some traditional ceramics.

Getting to Perugia

To visit Perugia you can fly into Perugia’s small airport, drive or do as I did and catch a train from Florence or Rome. To travel by train it takes about 2 hours 15mins from Florence and about 2 hours 30minutes from Rome. Visiting Perugia in one day is possible but I’d recommend a few nights that way you can easily take in the sights of the historic city and then take a trip to other parts of Umbria.

Getting to the Perugia’s historic centre

Perugia sits 493m up on top of hill that is protected by a huge fortress. To get to the top you will need transport unless you love a very hilly challenge with suitcases! The Mini-metro is the answer.

The Mini-Metro connects the main train station with the city and when you get to Pincetto you can continue to the Perugia’s historical centre via an inclined elevator or a series of escalators. The Mini-Metro has 7 stations, 25 cars that take 25 passengers, travels at 25km/h and a new car arrives every 1.5minutes so you don’t have to wait long. Go on it just for the fun of it and it costs only about 1.5Euro.

You really should read about it here https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/110126-perugia-italy-energy-minimetro. As you can see even the National Geographic sings it’s praises as an energy saving marvel.


Perugia’s sunny Piazza Novembre

Piazza Novembre is the heart of historic Perugia. It is usually full of university students sunning themselves and chatting on the steps of the cathedral. It is here that people meet to enjoy the sun and catch up with friends.

Piazza Novembre was the site of the ancient Roman Forum in the Middle Ages but there is not trace of that today and was the place of political and religious power and housed the municipal government buildings.


Fontana Maggiore

The medieval Fontano Maggiore is at the centre of Piazza Novembre. The fountain celebrates the completion of a new aqueduct for Perugia. The Fontano is a result of the artistic vision of two sculptures (1278-1280 Nicola and Giovanni Pisano), and architect ( Fra Bevignate) and a hydraulic advisor (Moninsegna Veneziano).

“It consists of two overlapping concentrics tanks, decorated in 50 bas-reliefs and 24 Statues.  The lower basin bears a bas-relief scenes from the agrarian tradition, the months of the year with zodiac signs, the Liberal Arts, the Bible and the history of Rome.  The upper basin is made up of twenty-four plates separated by statues representing allegorical, sacred and historical figurines”. http://turismo.comune.perugia.it/poi/fontana-maggiore

The San Lorenzo Cathedral – the outside

A visit to Perugia must include a visit to the Cattedrale di San Lorenzo. The Cathedral dates back to 939 but the original cathedral no longer stands. Today’s church was built between the 11th and 12th century and sits on the same footprint.  It is a Roman Catholic church and dedicated to Saint Lawrence.

The expanded cathedral was the brain child of Fr Bevignate in 1300 but they didn’t start building the church until 1345 and took nearly two centuries to complete. The church still looks unfinished on the outside today. Some of the fresco work that includes the lovely pink stone found in villages around Perugia is complete but most of the exterior walls are unfinished.  There is a bronze statue of Pope Julius III by Vincenzo Danti and to the right of that is the unfinished pulpit for roving St Bernardino of Siena. Weirdly enough the wall facing the Piazza is not the front of the church, the front of the church faces Piazza Danti.

San Lorenzo – inside

The sacristy is beautiful. It was created by Giovanni Antonio Pandolfi. Each of the vaults on the walls tell the story of San Lorenzo. Keep an eye out for the stunning frescoes by Pinturicchio and a painting by Perugino surround the alter. The style of the frescoes reflects that of Michelangelo’s use of models to tell the story of S. Lorenzo and to celebrate the great bishops of the time.

In the 18th and 19th century the church was renovated to include new frescos throughout the church but the columns were decorated in faux marble – not sure how I feel about that!

San Lorenzo’s history is more colourful than it’s exterior lets on

St Bernardino

St Bernardino a fire and brimstone preacher in Perugia's early days.
St Bernardino a fire and brimstone preacher in Perugia’s early days.
San Lorenzo – Decent for Christ from the Cross – Federico Barocii

St Bernardino was a guy that clearly took things too far but he had an audience. He preached to huge crowds in the Piazza that stood around outside listening to him for 3-4 hours at a time. Bernardino preached that to be a true Christian, women should burn their wigs, give up reading books, give away their fine clothes and stop enjoyable things in life! Then he encouraged his listeners to burn their belongings is the Bonfire of the Vanities – and they did! He created havoc in the streets of Perugia long before the famous Girolamo Savonarola lit the famous bonfires in Florence that were much smaller. Savonarola is legendary for burning thousands of things associated with vanity, temptation and sin in a huge symbolic bonfire.

The Chapel of St Bernardino is the most famous because it contains on of the most important artworks in Perugia. Ferderico Barocii’s famous Descent of Christ from the Cross 1535 – 1612). The Chapel belongs to the Collegio della Mercanzia or the College of Merchants representing one of the guilds in Perguia selling wool clothes.

Pope Julius III

Pope Julius III

The statue of Pope Julius III commemorates his restoration of civic rights after a time of suppression by Paul IV. He also wanted to impose Papal rule on as much of Italy as possible.  However, Pope Julius was also famous for being a canny soldier signing many men up to go into battle with the Pope, including his cousin Gentile.  They attacked Perugia and won.  Pope Julius’s plan was to push the current rulers, the Baglioni, out of Perugia and as a result of that battle, the Pope was successful and he got another 500 men to add to his army.

The history is more complex than that of course and you can pick which version you prefer depending on the account of various historians. A key question though is whether Pope Julius III was a liberator or a ruler who had taken over regardless of state sentiment.

Chapel of Saint Joseph and the Holy Ring

When you enter the Cathedral, look at the Chapel on the left. The chapel that you see is dedicated to Saint Joseph. This is the Chapel that guards the ‘Holy Ring’ of the Madonna which is kept in a vault 8m above the sacristy. The Holy Ring is said to be a gift from Joseph to the Madonna on their wedding day and is considered sacred by the Catholic church. The vault was decorated by Giovanni Antonio Pandolfi of Pesaro.

Stained glass windows

The stained glass windows of San Lorenzo are a wonderful mix of old and new styles that send beautiful rays of colour throughout the church. The older style windows tell the traditional story of the birth of Christ while the new have a modern take on stories from the New Testament.  

A great site to get more information is from the from cathedrals own website: http://www.cattedrale.perugia.it/

The Chapter Museum

Ancient Manuscripts

I’m not sure why I’ve taken a liking to the Museo del Capitolo (or the Chapter Museum) during my visit to Perugia. I was captivated by ancient manuscripts and 1km maze of passages uncovered by 30 years of excavation. The passageways that run under the church were used by Etruscans, Romans and Byzantines as well as the Middle Ages.

The Missal

The manuscripts captivated me first. There are 40 in total but not all are on display. The history contained in the pages of these manuscripts is simply mind boggling. If you imagine the artisans who created them and the hands that have held them throughout history. The calligraphy is perfect, the decoration is highly skilled, they are coloured with expensive pigments, the symbols are intricate and meaningful. There are no printing presses used here! How has handmade parchment and fine leather pages lasted all these years? How have they survived hundreds of years?

The manuscripts are dated from 6th Century AD to the15th Century but where some have come from remains unknown. One manuscript is known to have come from the city of Acre in the Holy Land. Another is called a Missal that includes songs and verse that are used by priest during Mass that dates back to the 13th Century.

Read Geraldine Brookes novel ‘People of the Book’ – a stunning story of a Jewish book follows hands it has passed through and the tales of the time. A must read.

The Museum

The 25 rooms in the museum were home to priests and Popes and I’m sure you could imagine the stories that each room could tell if they could talk! The rooms are full of furniture and objects used by clergy over hundreds of years.

Ancient archeological site

The archeological site winds its way under the cloister of San Lorenzo. People have used this place for over 2500 years including the Umbrians, Etruscans and Romans who used this place for religious ceremonies and civil matter for years. www.cattedrale.perugia.it lists sites that have been uncovered during the last 30 years:

  1. Palace of the public administration in the municipal Middle Ages
  2. Podium of the Etruscan temple
  3. Large medieval hall
  4. Large Etruscan terracing wall
  5. Base of the Byzantine tower
  6. Etruscan-Roman road
  7. Roman house
  8. More to come…

Notable People who have impacted Perugia’s history

While I was doing research for this blog I came across a list provided by https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perugia#Notable_people that lists about 30 notable people associated with Perugia.  I’ve listed them below in case you might want to learn more about some of the characters that have ‘contributed’ to the history of Perugia over time from 206 to 1924.

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