FASCINATING MYSTERIES OF PERUGIA
Arrival in Perugia for a guided tour around the center; this enchanting Renaissance and Medieval city is absolutely exciting.
The main city in Umbria is typical for its city center, full of Medieval streets and squares with some ancient Etruscan architectural contaminations; it is full of multicultural life.
The tour of Perugia will start in the central Piazza Grande (now also known as Piazza IV Novembre). Perugia historical city center walking tour.
The city of Perugia is the capital city of the entire region of Umbria. The town is placed between Lago Trasimeno and the Alta Valle del Tevere (Upper Tiber Valley), an untouched land of abbeys and monasteries and flowers filled hills. Piazza IV Novembre has been the center of civil and religious power in the city since it was established by the Etruscans, before the Romans. In the center of the square stands the impressive Fontana Maggiore, the city symbol and one of the finest Medieval fountains in Italy. It was completed in the late 13th century. A walk around the lower basin takes you past paneled scenes from the Old Testament, the story of the founding of Rome, an astrological calendar that appears to relate to local farming practices, and a representation of the seven arts.
The 14th-century Palazzo dei Priori, leads off from the left of the fountain along the main street Corso Vannucci.
Visit of the Galleria Nazionale Museum.
Lunch at leisure.
Visit of the Rocca Paolina and Saint Peter’s church in Perugia.
Rocca Paolina is an amazing place to visit. An ancient underground town commissioned by Pope Paolo III in the 16th century.
In San Pietro we will see the baroque architecture and a singular canvas: Trionfo dell´Ordine dei Benedettini, paint by Antonio Vassilacchi called “l’Aliense”. This painter was the protagonist of an absolute outrage to the Church power, doing a sharp revenge to affirm his own freedom of expression: a genuine Renaissance “bohemian” guy.
Our tip: this can be an occasion to do a nice competition among the participants to understand what is hidden in the canvas, starting to observe the canvas until someone will perceive an hidden image!
Despite its fascinating characteristic this canvas is almost unknown, but this painting is documented as the biggest canvas ever painted in the Middle Ages. It represents the triumph of the Benedictine Order, it depicts saints, popes, cardinals, bishops and abbots founders of Religious Orders that surround St. Benedict of Norcia. It occupies the entire top of the entrance wall of the church. Why this canvas is so special to deserve to be mentioned in a tour? The countless characters larger than natural dimensions make us imagine the magnificence of the painting, but the strange detail is that the subject was severely imposed to the painter, so he took a revenge worthy of a great artist and a precursor of contemporary digital techniques.
The best place to observe it is towards the main altar, but if you do not know what is hidden on it you only see the numerous characters. In reality all these outline a single image. It appears an evocative figure.
We must also consider that this canvas was not for the priest nor the people, the rule of reciting the Mass watching the people was approved recently, but not in 1592 indeed. The picture is quite descriptive and hearing its story is really impressive.
the tour has to be reserved at least 10 days before
EVERYDAY AT 9:30 AM
PRICE PER PERSON
2 participants: € 158.00
3-4 participants: € 109.00
5-6 participants: € 71.00
7-8 participants: € 53.00
over 9 participants: € 44.00
WHAT IS INCLUDED
✓ Full day local guide
✓ Visit of Perugia
✓ Visit to Galleria Nazionale
✓ Taxes
WHAT IS NOT INCLUDED
x Transfer
x Lunch
SOME DETAILS
— The tour lasts 6 h
— Distances: from: Rome 2 hours – Firenze 1 hour and 45 minutes – Siena 1 hour and 10 minutes – Orvieto 1 hour and 15 minutes.