Perugia

Perugia, the great «Arce Guelfa» stands at the centre of the region of Umbria, with 5 historic districts contained within the Etruscan walls: gigantic bastions made of enormous square blocs, built 22 centuries ago and still visible on long stretches.

When the city of Rome was still only little more than a campsite, one came through th Etruscun Perugia through some seven gates, including one particularly impressive one, the Pulchra Gate.

If you enter through St Peter's Gate, rebuilt in 1475, you will come to the feet of San Domenico's Basilica, within which the important National Archeological Museum of Umbria. Then you will come to the Piazza del Sopramuro, where you will find the Old University palace (15th century), attached to the Palazzo del Capitano del Popolo; further on is aone of Italy's most important piazzas: the Great Perugian Square, a superb monument which includes the Palazzo dei Piori, the cathedral
and, at the centre, the Fontana Maggiore built in the 13th century.

On the opposite side of the Corso Vannucci can be found a beautiful garden, created on the foundations of the Rocca Paolina, which is to say the fortress constructed under pope Paul III in 1540. This foundation encloses an entire district of the old town, a kind of medieval Pompei which is fascinating to visit.

The steps and streets are usually steep to climb, whether they are from the earliest days of the city or the most recent. Via delle Prome, for instance, starting from Augustus' Arch, leads to the highest point in the city, where the Sun Gate fortress built in the 14th century stands in ruins. Even a short visit of this artistic, historical and cultural centre shouldn't side-track you from seeing the San Francesco and San Bernardino's Oratorio, one of the masterpieces of Agostino di Duccio who, by way of meticulously covering the façade with bas-reliefs, has made it into a poem about Renaissance sculpture.