|
Once around the hotel, move across
into the left-hand lane and continue
to the T-junction at the top with
traffic lights. Turn left here and
get into the right hand lane. The
right lane feeds around to the right
(uphill again), next to a sign for
the Centro. Continue uphill until
you come to a traffic light with a
no-entry sign ahead of you. Turn
left here (there is also a sign for
the Piazzale Europa car park). Get
into the right hand lane and you
come to a T-junction on a sweeping
curve; turn right here.
Keep going for the next 1.2km along
the tree-lined road (ignore signs
for the Piazzale Europa car park).
The road briefly becomes single lane
and one-way before opening out into
3 lanes. Get into the left-hand lane
and shortly after, turn left into
the Parcheggio Partigiani, (Partisans’
Car Park). You may have to wait a
few minutes to get in.
 Walk
Synopsis
(A) From the car park head up into
the Underground City.
(B) Leave the underground city and
follow the Corso Vannucci to the
Palazzo dei Priori.
(C) After exploring the Collegio del
Cambio head to the Piazza IV
Novembre.
(D) A short walk takes you to the
Etruscan Well.
(E) Another short walk takes you to
San Severo and an early fresco by
Raphael.
(F) Head through narrow alleys to a
great view from Piazza Gio Battista
Rossi Scott.
(G) Go down some steps and arrive at
the Etruscan Arch.
(H) Go past the University for
Foreigners and climb the medieval
aqueduct.
(I) Head through streets and alleys
arriving at the Oratorio di San
Bernardino.
(J) Climb back to the Corso Vannucci
(C).
(C) Visit the Galleria Nazionale
dell’ Umbria and then return via (B)
to the car park (A).
Start (A)
0:00
Leave the car park, (take your
ticket with you) and head for the
pedestrian exit, walk straight along
the underground corridor following
signs for Centro and Scala Mobile (escalator).
At the end of the corridor, turn
left onto an escalator. Immediately
after this, go up a ramp directly in
front of you. Turn right and go up
the next escalator, at the top, you
walk past some market stalls; it is
now 3 minutes since you left the car
park. Follow the footpath, you enter
a tunnel and ride a series of
escalators taking you up. 4 minutes
from the stalls you arrive in the
Underground City (B).
The Underground City
0:07
The Underground City is an
extraordinary sight, vaulted brick
ceilings have been constructed over
medieval streets, houses and
churches. This is all that remains
of the Rocca Paolina, the papal
fortress built to subdue the city by
Pope Paul III. In 1540 the Pope
deliberately provoked the Perugians,
who were led by the bloodthirsty
Baglioni family, into a revolt. He
achieved this by breaking his
promise not to raise the tax on salt.
In doing so, he could finally end
the city’s independence from Rome.
He could also avenge himself of the
murder of a Papal envoy, commited
six years earlier by a member of the
Baglioni family. The Papal army
quickly captured the city and once
all the nuns of the city had kissed
his feet the Pope built the Rocca
Paolina straight over the houses of
the Baglioni and their neighbours.
The Rocca Paolina was torn down in
1860, when Garibaldi liberated the
city from Papal control. A year
earlier, the Swiss Guard massacred
around two thousand citizens who
were participating in a
pro-unification demonstration. After
Garibaldi had captured Perugia, the
Papal soldiers were escorted out of
the city to prevent the citizens
from getting their revenge.
At the top of the escalators, turn
right down Via Bagliona, the
underground street. After a minute
you emerge through a door into the
open air, walk down the steps and
then turn around. The door you
walked through is set into an arch,
the Porta Marzia (Gate of Mars). The
lower blocks date back to the
Etruscans and the upper part is
Roman. The Pope’s architect,
Sangallo the Younger, liked the arch
so much that he dismantled it and
incorporated it into the walls of
the fortress. Originally, it would
have been the city’s southern
entrance.
0:08
Return through the gate and make
your way back up Via Bagliona. You
can spend a while wandering around
the fortress. Once you have finished,
go straight past the escalators that
you arrived on, and you come to
another escalator going up to the
right. This takes you up to Piazza
Italia; all the buildings here date
to the period after the demolition
of the Rocca Paolina, the 1860’s and
70’s.
0:10
If you came straight here from the
Porta Marzia, the walking time is 2
minutes. Cross the large grassed
roundabout in the middle of Piazza
Italia and head straight towards the
wide pedestrian street directly in
front of you. This is the Corso
Vannucci, named after Perugia’s most
famous painter, Pietro Vannucci (also
known as Perugino). The width of
this road is exactly the same as the
main streets found in excavations of
Etruscan settlements.
0:12
After 2 minutes, you should be
alongside the most impressive
building in Perugia, the Palazzo dei
Priori, (the medieval city hall and
still seat of local government today)
(C). The size and grandeur of the
building is testimony to Perugia’s
wealth as an independent city-state
in the period before Papal rule.
0:14
It’s time for a break, I recommend
Bar Sandri on your right (closed
Mondays), easily recognisable by the
impressive display of chocolate
cakes in the window. If the weather
is nice, sit at a table in the
street and a waiter will come out
and serve you. The hot chocolate
(cioccolata calda) is made on the
premises and is not to be missed.
There are no toilets in the bar, if
you need to go, look for a WC sign
pointing down a street just to the
left of the Palazzo dei Priori.
The Collegio del Cambio and the
Collegio della Mercanzia
Now it is time for some serious art.
A small door in the Palazzo dei
Priori (opposite Bar Sandri) leads
to the Collegio del Cambio (open
Mon-Sat 0900-1230 1400-1730 Sun
0900-1230), the meeting rooms of the
moneychangers’ guild. The main room
contains the finest frescoes by
Perugino (Pietro Vannucci) in
Perugia. It’s worth buying the more
expensive ticket; this allows you to
visit the chamber of the merchants’
guild (Collegio della Mercanzia)
afterwards.
A fresco is painted straight onto a
thin layer of fresh (fresco) plaster;
the paint is actually absorbed into
this surface. It is skilled work as
mistakes are hard to rectify and the
plaster has to be painted before it
dries (the artist prepares a small
section of fresh plaster each day).
The frescoes in the Collegio del
Cambio compare figures from Greek
and Roman history and mythology with
their biblical counterparts. For
good measure, astrological symbols
are thrown into the overall design
on the ceiling. The linking of pagan
and Christian symbols and ideas was
common in the 15th Century (Perugino
received the commission in 1499).
Renaissance thinkers looked back to
the civilisations of Greece and Rome
to rediscover the knowledge lost in
the Dark Ages. In the 1500’s, the
threat to the Papacy from
Protestantism lead to a much
narrower, strictly Christian view of
what was acceptable in works of art.
In the middle of the south wall,
there is a self-portrait of a well
fed Perugino in a red hat and
painted to look as if it is a
picture hanging on the wall.
Incidentally, a very young Raphael
may have assisted Perugino with
these frescoes, although there is no
documented evidence. It is thought
that Raphael could have been the
model for the prophet Daniel.
There is a chapel dedicated to St.
John the Baptist beyond this room;
the frescos are not by Perugino and
the quality is not as high, although
children usually enjoy looking at
the gruesome picture of St. John’s
decapitation. On leaving the
Collegio del Cambio, turn left and
walk past the main entrance to the
Palazzo, a large Gothic arch, and
look for another, much smaller door.
This is the entrance to the Collegio
della Mercanzia (open Mon-Sat
0900-1230 1400-1730 Sun 0900-1230),
the chambers of the merchant’s guild.
Use your ticket from the Collegio
del Cambio to enter. The room doesn’t
take long too look around but is
decorated with impressive wooden
panelling and inlays.
Piazza IV Novembre
Turn left on leaving the Collegio
del Cambio and a minute later you
are in the Piazza IV Novembre, the
centre of the city (D). The Duomo
and the Palazzo dei Priori face each
other across the square. The Piazza
is dominated by a medieval fountain,
the Fontana Maggiore. It dates to
1277 and was made by the sculptors
Nicola Pisano and his son Giovanni.
Piazza IV Novembre
Art historians often cite the
realistic style (influenced by Greek
and Roman sculpture) of these
sculptors when they look to the
roots of the Renaissance and the end
of the Gothic. Gothic is the
Northern European medieval style;
the name is derived from a sneering
association in the mind of
Renaissance man with barbarian
invaders from the north.
Again, Christian symbolism is freely
mixed with astrological signs and
Greek and Roman mythology. Look for
the signs of the zodiac and the
corresponding labour of the month, (locals
still kill their pigs in December).
Others to look out for are the lion
and griffin (the symbol of Perugia).
Scenes from Roman legends and
Aesop’s fables can be found next to
the biblical images of the Garden of
Eden and Samson and Delilah, as well
as representations of science and
the arts. The upper basin has
statues representing Perugia and the
surrounding countryside. Walk around
the fountain and the corners of the
panels on the upper and lower basins
never converge, this is deliberately
intended to draw your eye around it.
Take a look at the façade of the
Duomo. The arches on the left, the
Loggia di Braccio Fortebraccio, were
built in 1423 by the powerful
mercenary and Lord of Perugia of the
same name (see Montone walks).
Unless you have a particular
interest in Italian cathedrals, the
interior is not worth exploring.
The pulpit to the right of the
entrance was specially built for the
Franciscan preacher, San Bernadino
di Siena. He was so popular that the
crowds could not fit into the Duomo
and he addressed them in the square.
Later on in the walk, you come to
the Oratorio di San Bernadino, a
church dedicated to his memory. The
statue of the Pope, Julius III, may
seem a little strange in a city
where the Papacy was so unpopular;
he did away with many of the harsh
taxes that Paul III imposed on the
city and was the one Pope that the
Perugians liked.
Pozzo Etrusco (Etruscan Well)
0:15
Leave the square to the right of the
Duomo. This takes you into Piazza
Dante, cross the road on your right
(this is disguised as a pedestrian
area until you notice the cars) and
2 minutes from Piazza IV Novembre,
you will come to the entrance to the
Etruscan Well. Look for a sign for
the Pozzo Etrusco (E) above the
entrance to an alley on your right.
0:17
Walk down the alley and a go in the
entrance door on your left. Keep
your ticket, it will also allow you
access to the next point of interest
on the walk, the fresco at the
church of San Severo. If it is a
busy day, you may have to wait a
while because only six people are
allowed on the bridge over the well
at any one time. The well is huge,
and supplied the whole of the city
with water in Etruscan times; it
would seem that Roman engineering
skills developed with Etruscan
knowledge.
San Severo
When you leave the Etruscan Well,
turn right at the end of the alley
and walk across the right side of
Piazza Piccinino. Look for the
wellhead on your left; you were
standing under it a few minutes ago.
You enter Via Bontempi and 2 minutes
after leaving the Pozzo Etrusco,
take a left up Via Raphaello, a
narrow street. A minute later, you
arrive at the next point of interest
on the walk, the church of San
Severo (F).
0:20
In a side-chapel of the church, you
will find a fresco started by the
young Raphael and finished after his
death by Perugino, his former
teacher. Before he had completed the
fresco, Raphael was called to Rome
and left it unfinished. In 1521, a
year after Raphael died; Perugino
finished the fresco, already aware
that his former pupil had outshone
him. The difference between the top
and bottom of the frescoes is
noticeable, Perugino was clearly in
decline in his final years; think of
the frescoes he painted at the
height of his career in the Collegio
del Cambio.
Turn right as you come out of the
chapel, Via Raphaello turns into Via
dell’Aquila, this is a short stretch
under some vaults and then you take
a left up the steps of a narrow
alleyway. 3 minutes from San Severo,
you arrive in the triangular Piazza
Biordo Michelotti (look for the sign
behind you on your left). Take the
road down to the right out of the
piazza, after a minute, the road
curves left and you come to Piazza
Gio Battista Rossi Scotti (G).
Piazza seems to be a bit of an
exaggeration; it is little more than
a road with a wide pavement. However,
along the edge of the piazza, there
is a fantastic view of rooftops,
churches, walls and hills. Don’t
lean too far over the wall, it’s a
long drop below.
Arco Etrusco (Etruscan Arch)
0:24
Once you have finished admiring the
view, continue along the piazza and
head down the wide steps directly in
front of you. The steps double back
on themselves a couple of times and
2 minutes later, you come to a
junction with a steep road. Turn
right and follow the steps down. A
minute later you arrive at the busy
Piazza Fortebraccio. Cross the road
you have just walked down, pass a
fountain on your left and you come
to the Arco Etrusco (Etruscan Arch);
the most impressive entrance to
Perugia (H).
0:27
To properly admire the arch, walk
straight past it and cross the road
on your right. A minute after
arriving at the piazza, you should
be standing on the path outside the
large red brick building, the
Università dei Stranieri (University
for Foreigners), this is the best
place to get a good view. The large
stone blocks at the bottom are
Etruscan, dating to the 2nd Century
BC, the top part of the arch is
Roman and the loggia on the top left
is Renaissance.
If you visit the Galleria Nazionale
Dell’ Umbria at the end of the walk,
you will see a fresco of Perugia
painted before the loggia was added.
Note the inscription “Augusta
Perusia” at the top of the arch. The
Emperor Augustus captured the city
in the power struggle following the
death of Julius Ceasar; note the
size of the lettering, clearly the
emperor considered himself to be far
more important than the city.
A Medieval Aqueduct
0:28
Turn around and walk away from the
arch, keeping the University for
Foreigners on your left. Turn left
onto Via Ariodante Fabretti, the
footpath along here is narrow and
then finishes altogether. Traffic is
only allowed in one direction at a
time along this stretch. After maybe
200m without the footpath, turn left
onto the pedestrian Via Aquedotto It
is 2 minutes since you left the
University for Foreigners.
0:30
Via Aquedotto was a medieval
aqueduct carrying water to the
Fontana Maggiore, the medieval
fountain you saw earlier on. You may
be surprised to see that the water
flowed uphill; the water was piped
from a source higher than the
fountain. The siphoning action was
aided by a steady reduction in the
pipe diameter; this increased the
water pressure along the length of
the aqueduct.
Walking along the aqueduct is a
wonderful experience. You can look
down into gardens and onto rooftops
and should you wish, straight into
houses. At the time of writing,
there is a rude message on one
fridge to confront those looking in.
I’m not sure it has the desired
effect, since I look out for it
every time! The aqueduct ends in a
set of steps. 8 minutes from the
start of Via Aquedotto, you arrive
at the top (I); turn right onto Via
Baldeschi.
0:38
Via Baldeschi leads to Piazza Felice
Cavalotti almost straight away.
Continue in the same direction over
the piazza and then along Piazza
Morlacchi (again, this is more of a
road than a piazza). After 2 minutes,
you come to a junction in front of
the Uffici Tributi (Tax Office).
Turn right here and then immediately
left onto Via Aquilone, you then
pass a building on your right called
the Università Degli Studi
(University of Studies).
0:40
One minute later, turn left onto Via
Francolina and then immediately
right onto Via della Tartaruga (Tortoise
Street). 2 minutes later, turn left
at the end of Via della Tartaruga
and after about 20 metres, turn
right down some steps. You have to
turn left at the bottom of the steps
onto Via delle Siepe. The sign is at
the far end of the street; when you
get there it is 3 minutes from the
top of the steps. Turn right and a
minute later you will find yourself
facing two churches with a large
grassed area in front.
The Oratorio di San Bernardino
0:47
In good weather, this is a popular
meeting place for students from the
University. The smaller church on
the left is the Oratorio di San
Bernardino (J); it is dedicated to
the popular preacher for whom the
pulpit on the outside of the Duomo
was built. Cross the grass and a
minute later you are standing in
front of the church. Have a good
look at the façade (inside it’s
quite plain).
The marble reliefs on the façade
were sculpted by Agostino di Duccio;
they show scenes from the life of
San Bernardino. The sculptor is not
the Sienese Duccio di Buoninsegna,
the famous medieval painter, but a
Florentine artist of sufficient fame
to have had an attempt at carving
the block from which Michelangelo
eventually sculpted David. When you
look at the carvings, note the one
where the preacher orders the
Perugians (well known for their love
of fighting) to burn their weapons.
As the weapons burn, the Devil flies
out of the fire. This has parallels
to the “Bonfire of the Vanities”
which occurred later on in Florence
under the influence of the Dominican
preacher Savonarola. Instead of
weapons, the Florentines burnt their
luxury items.
Leave the church and return the way
you came, after 2 minutes, you pass
Via della Siepe on your left. Ahead,
you can see a large tower; these
were common in medieval Italian
cities and were the fortified houses
of the aristocracy. As the merchant
classes became more powerful, cities
began to control the surrounding
countryside. The aristocratic
families found themselves owing
allegiance to the new city-states.
0:49
Fortified towers within the walls of
a city, especially when owned by
powerful families with their own
interests to pursue, presented too
much of a threat to the new rulers.
Most were pulled down, if you visit
the National Gallery of Umbria after
the walk, there is a fresco of the
Perugia skyline which shows many of
these towers (the same fresco which
depicts the Etruscan Arch without
the Renaissance loggia). One minute
later you pass beside the base of
the tower, continue walking up the
street and 6 minutes beyond this,
you pass under an arch and emerge
back onto the Corso Vannucci (C).
Galleria Nazionale dell’ Umbria (National
Gallery of Umbria)
0:56
Now it’s time for more art. The
Galleria Nazionale dell’ Umbria
(open daily 0900-1900, closed on the
first Monday of each month) is
housed within the Palazzo dei Priori
and contains more work by Perugino,
as well as altarpieces by Fra
Angelico and Piero della Francesca.
Turn left onto the Corso Vannucci
and almost immediately, turn left
again through the main entrance to
the Palazzo dei Priori (the Gothic
arch you passed earlier in the walk).
Walk straight on to the back of the
building and you will find the
ticket office through an entrance on
your right. The ticket office for
the museum is located here, well
away from the gallery, which is
located on the third floor. Once you
have your ticket, you need to get to
the gallery, there is a small lift
near the ticket office or you can
use the stairs near the entrance.
For those seriously interested in
the development of Umbrian Art and
its Sienese influences (many of the
painters who worked at Assisi were
Sienese), the first rooms display
medieval art. I don’t tend to linger
here, I get a little bored looking
at Crucifixions and paintings of the
Madonna con Bambino, but feel free
to take your time.
In room VIII, you will find an
altarpiece by Fra Angelico (the
museum uses his other name; “Beato
Angelico”). Although he was a
Renaissance painter, he was still
influenced by the late medieval
style, combining the newly mastered
perspective with gold leaf and
flowery backgrounds.
In room XI, you will find a
sculpture of the Madonna and Child
by Agostino di Duccio, the artist
who carved the façade of the
Oratorio di San Bernardino. The
Madonna, especially, is surprisingly
modern in style.
Turn around and you are confronted
with, what in my opinion, is the
museum’s greatest masterpiece, an
altarpiece from the church of St.
Antony di Padua by Piero della
Francesca. Piero della Francesca was
a mathematician and his paintings
demonstrate his interest in perfect
perspective. He was a teacher of
Perugino and you might notice his
influence in Perugino’s paintings
further on in the Gallery. The
Tuscans and Umbrians both like to
include him amongst their painters
because the town where he lived,
Borgo Sansepolcro, once Umbrian, was
sold by the Pope and became part of
Tuscany.
In room XV, there is a series of
eight paintings from Perugino’s
workshop on the left and another,
larger painting on the right. The
paintings on the left show the
miracles performed by San Bernardino
di Siena, the popular preacher. The
painting on the right, an Adoration
of the Magi, painted around 1470,
shows a much younger Perugino than
the one you saw earlier, staring
straight out of the crowd.
In room XXI, the walls are frescoed
with scenes from the siege of
Perugia by the Goths. Although the
siege took place in AD 547, the
cityscape is decidedly medieval.
Note the Etruscan Arch minus the
Renaissance loggia and the numerous
fortified towers within the city.
The fresco shows Perugians having
thrown a calf, stuffed with grain
over the walls in a desperate last
attempt to trick the Goths into
thinking there is still plenty of
food within the city. There is also
a small painting by Perugino above a
large altarpiece. Often overlooked
by visitors due to its size and
position on the wall, Christ in Pity
(Imago Pietatis) is one of the best
Perugino paintings in the Gallery.
The last room in the Gallery has
several paintings by Perugino of
varying quality. One painting shows
the subject framed within a
structure of simple design in order
to demonstrate his skills of linear
perspective (this is probably the
influence of Piero della Francesca).
Many of Perugino’s paintings use
this format; he had a vast workshop,
which churned out commissions to
order. He was not going to waste
time developing a new arrangement
for each client. The saccharine
sweetness of the faces and camp male
figures may not be entirely to
modern tastes, but they appealed to
the Pre-Raphaelite school of
painters in England, who held
Perugino’s style in high regard
Perugino was also one of the first
painters to develop aerial, or
“birds-eye” perspective. This
technique dispenses with lines
running towards a vanishing point;
instead it tricks the brain into
recognising distance by colouring
the furthest objects and parts of
the landscape in shades of blue. The
next time you view any Tuscan or
Umbrian landscape, look at the
further hills and you will see that
they appear to be a washed-out blue.
Leonardo da Vinci went on to perfect
this technique, he knew Perugino
when they worked as pupils of Andrea
Verrocchio in Florence.
When you have finished in the
gallery, make your way back to the
Corso Vannucci. You can wander the
busy shopping area in the centre,
have lunch, or make your way back to
the car (turn right onto Corso
Vannucci and retrace your steps).
End
Leaving Perugia by car can be as
difficult as entering it. If it is
your first visit, I recommend
following signs to Firenze and Roma
until you reach the Autostrada,
these signs are the least likely to
disappear and leave you lost in the
one-way system |
