Perugia

Perugia is all about sweet magic, and with 48 hours available you can visit the best that this city has to offer with its history, culture, natural beauty and good food. An excellent idea for a romantic weekend, or a getaway with friends or family.

A free city since 1228, it was an ally of Siena in its struggles against the papacy and in constant conflict with Perugia. Today, it is delightful getting lost in its alleyways that open onto grandiose views of the mountains of Central Italy, from Amiata to Cetona, from the Sibillini to Subasio.

A renowned university town for over 700 years, its Athenaeum, Academy of Fine Arts and Conservatory of Music welcome students from all over the world every year. But the Umbrian capital, perched on the hills of central Italy, with its people-friendly rhythms, guards another, more secret treasure. It is the city of panoramas, an astonishing springboard into nature, an observatory full of vantage points from which to enjoy timeless views.

Visiting Gubbio at Christmas means immersing yourself in a truly unique atmosphere, with the world's largest Christmas tree towering over the historic centre, Christmas markets, a large Ferris wheel and a life-size nativity scene winding through the streets of the San Martino district. Here is what you should see in Gubbio during the Christmas season.

Built on a limestone headland, Castiglione was originally an island in the lake, later incorporated by the mainland. Today it retains a beautiful historic centre, the first stop on any visit to Lake Trasimeno.

Built on the slope of Mount Ingino and crossed by the Camignano stream, Gubbio is a magnificent Medieval Umbrian city full of history and monuments that have always fascinated illustrious travellers and authors the likes of Gabriele D’Annunzio and Hermann Hesse, according to whom the city “produces an absolutely stunning effect and has something unreal and perturbing about it”.

The wide open space of Piazza IV Novembre is overlooked by the two main landmarks of medieval Perugia society: the cathedral of St. Lawrence and the Palazzo dei Priori, which has housed the municipal government since 1293 and the National Gallery of Umbria. Of Romanesque foundation, later modified to Gothic style and remodeled several times over the centuries, Perugia's most important church was never completed, as can easily be seen by observing its bare and austere facade. Symbolic of this unfinishedness is, for example, the cathedral's left flank, which dialogues with the instead perfectly completed forms of the major fountain in Piazza IV Novembre: a wide wall covered in red and white marble is interrupted at mid-height, under the watchful eyes of the statue of Pope Julius III. Inside the church holds a legendary relic, that of the ring received by Mary on the occasion of her marriage to Joseph; instead, one must head to the cathedral cloister to access the Chapter Museum to contemplate an admirable collection of paintings, jewelry and ancient codices.

Perugia has a beautiful and captivating old town with narrow streets on the Tiber. Jazz fans will remember Perugia with its wonderful backdrop for the international Umbria Jazz Festival. The main stage, the Santa Giuliana Arena, is located in the heart of the city, not far from the Acropolis and former Santa Giuliana monastery. It dates back to the 13th century and is one of the most beautiful monasteries in Umbria. In addition to its significance for jazz, the Santa Giuliana Arena is above all a stage for sport: Young talent and recreational athletes train here, and recently competitions have even taken place at an international level. The stadium was built in 1937 in accordance with plans by architect Giuseppe Lilli, primarily to finally give the urban football team its own stadium. The natural turf pitch is surrounded by a 6-lane athletics track and was renovated in 2018 with, among other things, our professional sports surfaces Spurtan WS and Spurtan WS RT in classic red. By the 1st January 2021, we’ll integrate both surfaces into Rekortan’s brand world.

Art historians agree: the 13th-century fountain that stands in the centre of Piazza IV Novembre in Perugia is among the most important and best preserved in all of Italy. The Perugians were able to transform a practical necessity, that of bringing water to the town, into an opportunity to demonstrate in pictures the growing power of their medieval municipality. Between the two concentric marble basins, surmounted by a large bronze bowl from which jets of water spout vertically, a visual balance is created that is difficult to replicate. Dozens of small statues and reliefs then decorate the corners and sides of the fountain, recounting in meticulous detail the agricultural activities of the time, as well as legendary stories related to the founding of the city.

The salt trade, a dear and precious product until the industrial age, is at the centre of the events that led to the construction of the Rocca Paolina, a cyclopean defensive fortress at the southern end of Perugia's historic centre. In 1540, in an attempt to enrich the coffers of the Church to finance the religious wars in the Holy Land, the then Pope Paul III tried to impose a much higher payment on the government of Perugia for the purchase of salt than had been agreed upon up to that time. Irritated by this exorbitant demand, the Perugians, who had no way of procuring their own salt, rebelled against the papal decision and started a series of violent clashes against a military force, that of Paul III, which was much larger and more organised than theirs. As predicted, the papal army occupied Perugia after a few months and the pope decided to assert his new role of dominion over the city by building the Rocca Paolina, which remained unused in the following centuries: Perugia was in fact never attacked, remaining permanently under Vatican control until 1860. After careful restoration and recovery work, the Rocca Paolina now welcomes visitors along a fascinating walkway, which traverses the underground of the Umbrian capital with escalators and underground tunnels. One is in the heart of the 'buried city', and along the underground Via Bagliona one walks among streets and small squares, courtyards and fondachi, overlooked by the windows of ancient dwellings or bakeries and workshops. But along the tour, at the top of the escalators and in the midst of the 'past', in the Salone delle Acque, does not go unnoticed by Il Grande Nero created by Burri in 1980, an imposing 7.5 metre high kinetic sculpture in the shape of an irregular prism: on its top you can see a sort of lunette that, thanks to an internal mechanism, moves in a slow, silent and constant manner.

Città della Domenica: the children’s park of animals and fairy tales Città della Domenica (‘Sunday City’) in Perugia is the first family amusement park created in Italy in the 1950s. It has entertained generations for 60 years. This charming 'old-fashioned' park is designed to offer young children an unforgettable opportunity to see animals in nature and to discover the imaginative settings of their favourite fairy tales. This is the perfect place to spend a special family day, not just on a Sunday! An amusement and nature park Just six kilometres from the centre of Perugia, Città della Domenica covers 45 hectares of holm oak, plane tree and oak woods. It was created in the late 1950s by Mario Spagnoli, a Perugian entrepreneur and son of fashion designer Luisa Spagnoli. The area where the structure stands, historically named Monte Pulito (‘Clean Mountain’) because it lacked any vegetation, is now an area of lush greenery where many animals live, some in the wild. You can easily visit on foot or by taking a small train. At first, it was just a clay pigeon shooting range, but later it turned into an children’s amusement park, and since the 1980s it has also been involved in environmental conservation and teaching about nature. Straight out of a fairy tale Città della Domenica lets you immerse yourself in the world of children’s most beloved fairy tales: there is Pinocchio's village, Little Red Riding Hood's house, Merlin the Wizard's tower, the fairy forest, Sleeping Beauty's castle, and Snow White's little house. There are also plenty of more dynamic attractions, including a mini-kart track, Fort Apache, an Indian village where you can meet Red Bear, mini-motorboats, a riding school, a labyrinth, a Trojan horse you can all pile inside, and even a rocket that offers magnificent panoramic views of the city of Perugia and the Umbrian countryside. Various entertainment activities are organised daily for children and parents, from treasure hunts to an adventure game to save the park's resident animals. The falconers' show offers the exciting chance to see trained birds of prey such as owls, buzzards and eagles up close. One of the most recent attractions added to Città della Domenica is the Talking Forest, a 300-metre-long trail that teaches children to listen to nature. Designed by Bulgarian artist Kiril Cholakov, it allows children to be protagonists in a story in which they have to pass tests to become messengers for the trees. This exciting and educational experience teaches the value of the forest as an interconnected system of living nature. Animals in the wild Many animals roam free in the forest of Città della Domenica. Along the trails, you can spot mammals and birds common to the European continent, as well as exotic species that have adapted to the climate of central Italy. Among them is the mascot of the park, the Asinara donkey, with its white coat. This beautiful animal was saved from extinction thanks to the efforts of Città della Domenica, in collaboration with the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Perugia. If you climb up the mountain, towards the rocket, you will find the wildlife route, where you can see kangaroos, reindeer, ostriches, yaks, llamas, Patagonian hares, dromedaries, African buffaloes and snowy owls. In the park, you can find all kinds of animals, from rabbits, both dwarf and giant, to hens, geese, turtle doves, swans, peacocks, cranes, storks, macaws, American bison, African mouflon, llamas and antelopes. Near the park’s exit, inside Darwin’s Tower, you will find a reptile house, homes to alligators, caimans, and venomous and giant snakes.

Castel Rigone, the highest point on Lake Trasimeno If you are looking for the most amazing view of Lago di Trasimeno "a veil of water stretched out over a meadow", as art historian Cesare Brandi put it, then climb to the highest point of the lake, Castel Rigone. Found in the hamlet of Passignano, 650 metres away, in a charming medieval village. One of Umbria's Renaissance masterpieces, the Sanctuary of Maria Santissima dei Miracoli, has been a place of popular devotion for centuries and is preserved within its walls. Nowadays, it draws those who prefer an idyllic countryside. The village of miracles Castel Rigone is believed to have been founded by a commander of the Ostrogoths, Arrigo, in the year 543, as an outpost for the siege of Perugia. To this day, a festival of the Barbarians is celebrated in the village to commemorate the Ostrogothic foundation. The present-day village dates from the Middle Ages and remains nearly intact. Over recent decades, many of its buildings have been transformed into holiday homes. Founded by the people of Perugia during the 1494 outbreak of plague, the Sanctuary was inspired by that of Madonna del Calcinaio in Cortona. With its many agritourism sites, Castel Rigone is a destination for those who appreciate local products, from the oil and wine of the Trasimeno hills to the specialities of lake fish and the Trasimeno bean. Within easy reach is Magione, a village guarded by the castle that still belongs to the Knights of Malta, with the church of San Giovanni Battista, decorated with frescoes by the Perugian futurist painter Gerardo Dottori.