Perugia is the capital city in the region of Umbria in central Italy, near the Tiber river, and the capital of the province of Perugia.

Perugia is an important artistic center of Italy. The town gave his nickname to the famous painter Pietro Vannucci, called Perugino, who worked in Perugia, Rome and Florence. Perugino is said to be the Maestro of Raffaello, who left in Perugia five paintings (today no longer in the city) and one fresco. Another famous painter, Pinturicchio, lived in Perugia. In Galeazzo Alessi Perugia found its most famous architect.

History
Perugia first appears in history as Perusia, one of the twelve confederate cities of Etruria. It is first mentioned in the account of the war of 310 or 309 BCE between the Etruscans and the Romans. It took, however, an important part in the rebellion of 295, and was reduced, with Vulsinii and Arretium (Arezzo), to seek for peace in the following year.

In 216 and 205 BCE it assisted Rome in the Second Punic War but afterwards it is not mentioned until 41-40 BCE, when Lucius Antonius took refuge there, and was reduced by Octavian after a long siege, and its senators sent to their death. A number of lead bullets used by slingers have been found in and around the city (Corpus Inscr. Lat. xi. 1212). The city was burnt, we are told, with the exception of the temples of Vulcan and Juno— the massive Etruscan terrace-walls, naturally, can hardly have suffered at all— and the town, with the territory for a mile round, was allowed to be occupied by whoever chose. It must have been rebuilt almost at once, for several bases exist, inscribed Augusta sacr(um) Perusia restituta; but it did not become a colonia until 251-253 CE.

It is hardly mentioned except by the geographers until it was captured and laid waste in 547 by Totila, after a long siege. Totila is said to have ordered the city's bishop, Herculanus of Perugia, to be flayed and killed. St. Herculanus (Sant' Ercolano) later became the city's patron saint.

In the Lombard period it is spoken of as one of the principal cities of Tuscia. In the ninth century, with the consent of Charles the Great and Louis the Pious, it passed under the popes; but by the eleventh century its commune was asserting itself, and for many centuries the city continued to maintain an independent life, warring against many of the neighbouring lands and cities— Foligno, Assisi, Spoleto, Todi, Siena, Arezzo, etc. In the struggles between Guelphs and Ghibellines, it remained loyal for the most part to the Guelph party.

Roman aqueduct On various occasions the popes found asylum from the tumults of Rome within its walls, and it was the meeting-place of fives conclaves, including those which elected Honorius II (1124), Honorius IV (1285), Celestine V (1294), and Clement V (1305). But Perugia had no mind simply to subserve the papal interests and never accepted papal sovreignty. At the time of Rienzi's unfortunate enterprise in reviving the Roman republic, Perugia sent ten ambassadors to pay him honour; and, when papal legates sought to coerce it by foreign soldiers, or to exact contributions, they met with vigorous resistance, which broke into open warfare with Pope Urban V in 1369; Perugia was forced to accept a papal legate. The abbot of Cluny Monmaggiore was expelled by a popular uprising in 1375, and his fortification of Porta Sole was destroyed.

Civic peace was constantly disturbed in the fourteenth century by struggles between the party representing the people (Raspanti) and the nobles (Beccherini). After the assassination of Biordo Michelotti (1398), Perugia became a pawn in the Italian Wars, passing to Gian Galeazzo Visconti (1400), the Pope (1403), to Ladislas of Naples (1408-14) before it settled into a period of sound governance under the Signoria of the condottiero Braccio da Montone (1416-24). Following mutual atrocities of the Oddi and the Baglioni families, power was at last concentrated in the Baglioni, who, though they had no legal position, defied all other authority, though their bloody internal squabbles culminated in a massacre, 14 July 1500. Gian Paolo Baglioni was lured to Rome in 1520 and beheaded by Leo X; and in 1540 Rodolfo, who had slain a papal legate, was defeated by Pier Luigi Farnese, and the city, captured and plundered by his soldiery, was deprived of its privileges. A citadel known as the Rocca Paolina, after the name of Pope Paul III, was built, to designs of Antonio da Sangallo the Younger "ad coercendam Perusinorum audaciam."[1]

Palazzo dei Priori: the center of communal government.In 1797, the city was conquered by French troops. On 4 February 1798, the Tiberina Republic was formed, with Perugia as capital, and the French tricolour as flag. In 1799, the Tiberina Republic merged to the Roman Republic.

In 1832, 1838, 1854 and 1997 Perugia was visited by earthquakes; Following the collapse of the Roman republic of 1848-49, when the Rocca was in part demolished, in May 1849 it was seized by the Austrians. After another futile insurrection in the June of 1859, which was bloodily defeated by Pius IX's troops, it was finally united, along with the rest of Umbria, to Piedmont, in 1860.

Perugia today
Perugia has become famous for chocolate, mostly because of a single firm, Perugina, whose Baci (kisses) are widely exported. Perugia chocolate is very popular in Italy, and the city hosts a chocolate festival in October of every year.

Perugia today hosts two main universities, the Università degli Studi and the Foreigners University (Università per Stranieri), and are melting pots for students from all over Italy and the world. Stranieri serves as an Italian language and culture school for students from all over the world. The city also hosts the Umbra Institute, an American school for students studying abroad in Perugia. The Università dei Sapori(University of Tastes), Accademia delle belle arti (Art Academy), and Scuola di giornalismo radio televisivo (a radio-television journalism school owned by RAI) are located in the city as well.

The city symbol is the griffin, which can be seen in the form of plaques and statues on buildings around the city.


Main sights
This section is a stub. You can help by expanding it.


Fontana Maggiore.
Etruscan Arch.
Sant'Angelo's Church.
[edit] Main attractions
The Cathedral of S. Lorenzo.
Palazzo dei Priori (Town Hall, encompassing the Collegio del Cambio, Collegio della Mercanzia, and Galleria Nazionale). The Collegio del Cambio has frescoes by Pietro Perugino, while the Collegio della Mercanzia has a fine later 14th century wooden interior.
Church and abbey of San Pietro (late 16th century).
Basilica of San Domenico (begun in 1394 and finished in 1458). It is located in the place where, in Middle Ages times, the market and the horse fair were held, and where the Dominicans settled in 1234. According to Vasari, the church was designed by Giovanni Pisano. The interior decorations were redesigned by Carlo Maderno, while the massive belfry was partially cut around mid-16th century. It houses examples of Umbrian art, including the precious tomb of Pope Benedict XI and a Renaissance wooden choir.
Church of Sant'Angelo (6th century).
Church of San Bernardino (with façade by Agostino di Duccio).
Fontana Maggiore, a medieval fountain designed by Fra Bevignate and sculpted by Nicolò and Giovanni Pisano.
Church of San Severo, here's retained a fresco painted by Raffaello and Perugino.
Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria, the National Gallery of Umbrian art in Middle Ages and Renaissance (it includes works by Duccio, Piero della Francesca, Beato Angelico, Perugino)
Ipogeo dei Volumni (Hypogeum of the Volumnus family), an Etruscan chamber tomb
National Museum of Umbrian Archaeology.
Palazzo del Capitano del Popolo.
Porta Augusta, a Roman gate with Etruscan elements.
the Rocca Paolina, a Renaissance fortress (1540-1543) of which only a bastion today is remaining. The original design was by Antonio and Aristotile da Sangallo, and included the Porta Marzia (3rd century BC), the tower of Gentile Baglioni's house and a mediaeval pit.
The Etruscan arch.
The directional centre,Piazza del Bacio by Aldo Rossi the famous architect

Other attractions
The Etruscan Well (Pozzo Etrusco).
Medieval aqueduct.
The Tribunali.
Piazza Matteotti
Teatro Comunale Morlacchi.
Church of Sant' Agata.
Church of Sant' Ercolano (early 14th century). Currently resempling a polygonal tower, it had once two floors. The upper one was demolished when the Rocca Paolina was built. It includes Baroque decorations commissioned from 1607. The main altar is made by a 4th sarcophagus found in 1609.
Church of Sant'Antonio da Padova.
Church of San Francesco al Prato.
Church of Santa Giuliana, heir of a female monastery founded in 1253, which in its later years gained a fame of dissoluteness, until the French turned it into a granary. It is now a military hospital. The church, with a single nave, has traces of the ancient frescoes, which probably covered all the walls (13th century). The cloister is a noteworthy example of Cistercense architecture of the mid-14th century, attributed to Matteo Gattapone. This is contemporary to the upper part of the belfry, whose base is from the 13th century.
Church of San Michele Arcangelo (5th-6th centuries). It is an example of Palaeo-Christian art with central plant recalling that of Santo Stefano Rotondo in Rome. It has 16 antique columns.
Church of San Matteo in Campo Orto.
Church of Santi Stefano e Valentino
Templar church of San Bevignate.

---

Assisi
This article is about the Italian town. For the type of embroidery, see Assisi embroidery. For the Assisi meteorite of 1886, see Meteorite falls.
Assisi (IPA /ɑˈsiːˌzi/) (Latin: Asisium), is a town in Italy in Perugia province, Italy, in the Umbria region, on the western flank of Mt. Subasio. It is the birthplace of St. Francis, who founded the Franciscan religious order in the town in 1208, and St. Clare (Chiara d'Offreducci), the founder of the Poor Clares. Saint Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows of the 19th century was also born in Assisi.

History
Around 1000 BC a wave of immigrants settled in the upper Tiber valley as far as the Adriatic Sea and also in the neighbourhood of Assisi. These were the Umbrians, living in small fortified settlements on high ground. From 450 BC these settlements were gradually taken over by the Etruscans. The Romans took control of central Italy by the Battle of Sentinum in 295 BC. They built the flourishing municipium Asisium on a series of terraces on Mount Subasio. Remains from these Roman times can still be found in Assisi : city walls, the forum (now Piazza del Comune), a theatre, an amphitheatre and the Temple of Minerva (now transformed into the Church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva).

In 238 AD Assisi was converted to Christianity by bishop Rufino, who was martyred at Costano. According to tradition, his remains rest in the Cathedral Church of San Rufino in Assisi.

The Ostrogoths of king Totila destroyed most of the town in 545. Assisi then came under the rule of the Lombards and later the Frankish Duchy of Spoleto.

The thriving city became an independent Ghibelline commune in the 11th century. Constantly struggling with the Guelph Perugia, it was during one of those battles, the battle at Ponte San Giovanni, that Francesco di Bernardone, (Francis of Assisi), was taken prisoner, setting in motion the events that eventually led him to live as a beggar and renounce the world.

The Rocca Maggiore, the imperial fortress on top of the Mount Subasio, was plundered by the people in 1189, but rebuilt in 1367 on orders of the papal delegate, cardinal Gil de Albornoz.

The city, which had remained within the confines of the Roman walls, began to expand outside these walls in the 13th century. In this period the city was under papal jurisdiction.

In the beginning Assisi fell under the rule of Perugia and later under several despots, such as the soldier of fortune Biordo Michellotti, Gian Galeazzo Visconti, duke of Milan, Francesco I Sforza, another duke of Milan, Jacopo Piccinino and Federico I of Montefeltro, lord of Urbino. The city went into a deep decline through the plague of the Black death in 1348 AD.

The city came again under papal jurisdiction under the rule of Pope Pius II (1458-1464).

In 1569 construction was started of the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli. During the renaissance and later centuries, the city continued to develop peacefully, attested by the 17th-century palaces of the Bernabei and Giacobetti.

Now the site of many a pilgrimage, Assisi is linked in legend with its native son, St. Francis. The gentle saint founded the Franciscan order and shares honors with St. Catherine of Siena as the patron saint of Italy. He is remembered by many, even non-Christians, as a lover of nature (his preaching to an audience of birds is one of the legends of his life).

Assisi was hit by the devastating twin earthquakes that shook Umbria in 1997, but the recovery and restoration have been remarkable, although much remains to be done. Massive damage was caused to many historical sites, but the major attraction, the Basilica di San Francesco, reopened less than two years later.

Churches
The Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi (St Francis) is a World Heritage Site. The Franciscan monastery, il Sacro Convento, and the lower and upper church (Basilica inferiore e superiore) of St Francis were begun immediately after his canonization in 1228, and completed 1253. The lower church has frescos by renowned late-medieval artists Cimabue and Giotto; in the Upper church are frescos of scenes in the life of St Francis by Giotto and his circle. On September 26, 1997 Assisi was struck by an earthquake. The Basilica was badly damaged (part of the vault collapsed, killing four people inside the church and carrying with it a fresco by Cimabue), and was closed for two years for restoration.
Santa Maria Maggiore, (St. Mary the Greater) the earliest extant church.
The Cathedral of San Rufino (St. Rufinus), with a Romanesque façade with three rose windows and a 16th‑century interior; part of it is built on a Roman cistern.
Basilica of Santa Chiara (St Clare) with its massive lateral buttresses, rose window, and simple Gothic interior, begun in 1257, contains the tomb of the saint and 13th‑century frescoes and paintings.
Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli (St. Mary of the Angels), which houses the Porziuncola.

Other landmarks
The town is dominated by two medieval castles. The larger, called Rocca Maggiore, is a massive presence meant to intimidate the people of the town: it was built by Cardinal Albornoz (1367) and added to by Popes Pius II and Paul III.

UNESCO collectively designated the major monuments and urban fabric of Assisi as a World Heritage Site.

Culture
Assisi Embroidery is a form of counted-thread embroidery which has been practised in Assisi since the 13th century.

Today the town has many groups coming to enjoy the simple peace of St. Francis. One such group has restored an 11th century room and added altars to the world's religions. Pilgrims come from many countries to the Assisi East West Retreat Center in Piazza San Rufino in the spirit of St. Francis to sit and be in peace.


Fractions
Armenzano, Capodacqua, Castelnuovo, Costa di Trex, Colle delle Forche, Eremo delle Carceri, Morra, Palazzo, Paradiso, Passaggio d'Assisi, Petrignano d'Assisi, Pieve San Nicolò, Porziano, Rivotorto, Rocca San Angelo, San Damiano, San Gregorio, Santa Maria degli Angeli, Santa Maria Lignano, San Vitale, Sterpeto, Torchiagina, Tordandrea, Tordibetto.

---

B&B situated in the heart of Umbria, good position to visit the most important cultural
and historical cities and famous villages.