The following tour has been designed to be done walking

Walk 2
 S. ERCOLANO - S. DOMENICO - MUSEO ARCHEOLOGICO NAZIONALE DELL'UMBRIA - PORTA S. PIETRO - S. PIETRO - GIARDINO DEL FRONTONE - S. COSTANZO - VIALE ROMA - ROCCA PAOLINA

Starting from the centre of the city, you go down corso Vannucci to via Mazzini where you have the facade of the ex church of Santa Maria del Popolo by G.A. Alessi. Cross over Piazza Matteotti and go into via Oberdan. On both sides of this street are old buildings; on the left is theax-hospital of S. Maria della Misericordia and the Pawn Bank - the oldest established in Europe (1462). Very picturesque are the steps of St. Ercolano which pass under the ancient Etruscan gate.

CHIESA Dl SANT'ERCOLANO. This church was built on the site where the Bishop and defender of Perugia against the Goths was beheaded and first buried. The octagonal structure was built up against the ancient circuit of walls and is supported by blind arches opening out onto the wall. The double flight of Baroque steps leads up to the round-headed portal. Its Gothic structure in the interior has been cleverly adapted to the Baroque decorations which cover the walls and vaults. The frescoes are by Carlone and the paintings in the tribune by Salvucci.
There is also an interesting canvas by Garbi and stuccowork on the side altars. The High altar is a Roman sarcophagus (II cent.) with two lions mauling two horses.

The steps of St. Ercolano continue down to corso Cavour. Go lefl along this street until the cross-roads (via Marconi and via XIV Settembre), on the right there is the church of San Giuseppe and the ancient church of S. Croce withan interesting canvas by G. Antonio Scaramuccio, a fresco by an artist of the Bonfigli school and a painting of Our Lady of Mercy from the first half of the 15th century. Continue along corso Cavour and where the street widens out is the massive structure of the CHIESA Dl SAN DOMENICO. This is one of the largest church buildings in Umbria. Go up the double flight of steps and enter into the church. The temple was founded in 1304 and, according to Vasari, designed by Giovanni Pisano. It was built on the style of the 'Hallenkirche, that is with naves all of the same height. In 1616, due to the carelessness of whitewashers who placed the scaffolding on only one side of the church upsetting the equilibrium, the delicate Gothic transepts feli. They were then replaced with heavy Baroque architecture designed by C.Maderno (1632) on the style of St. Peter's in Rome.

In the bare interior only the side chapels and presbytery are adorned with important works of art. In the Cappella del Voto, the fourth chapel on the right, there is an altar by Agostino di Duccio; in the chapel right of the apse is a monument to Benedict Xl, perhaps by an Umbrian artist, closely following the style of the sculptured facade of the Cathedrai in Orvieto. The work is to be considered one with the plastic culture developing in Umbria during the early 1300s. This culture produced a great number of workswhich have not yet been sufficiently studied.

In the square apse is a fine wooden choir-stall begunin 1476 by Crispolto di Bettona with the aid of Polimante della Spina and Giovanni Schiavo. The inlaying was done by Antonio Bencivieni da Mercatello (1498). In the largest ained-glass window there are 24 figures of saints as wellas coats of arms and various friezes. The drawings areby Mariotti di Nardo from Florence and the work is by FraBanolomeo di Pietro (1411). Going back towards the entrance, the first chapel in the left aisle is adorned with frescoes from the early 1 400s by Benedeho di Bindo from Siena and local artists. They depict scenes from the life of St. Catherine. In the next chapel is an admirable painting of Our Lady amongst Saints by Giovanni Lanfranco (1647). Then you come to the Cappella del Gonfalone containinga banner by Giannicola di Paolo (1494) with an interesting picture of Perugia at the end of the 15th century.

Go back into the square in front of the church (PiazzaGiordano Bruno) and on your left is the Convent of St. Domenico which houses the MUSEO ARCHEOLOGICO NAZIONALE DELL'UMBRIA AND ARCHIVIO Dl STATO. You enter the Archeological museum through the spacious cloister, an exampleof high Renaissance work, which is adorned with many Etruscan urns, a Roman sarcophagus with the Myth of Meleager (2nd century AD), a well-head with the Battle of the Greeks against the Amazons, inscriptions from different periods, Roman cippi from the Augustan age, etc. On the second floor of the cloister there are more urns from the territory of Perugia which vary according the families and places of origin: Rafia, Pomponia, Plotia, Noforsina, Tizia, Vezia, etc. In the middle of the west wing is a fine sarcophagus from Chiusi with the deceased Iying down and afigure of a demon, work from the 4th century BC (now beingrestored). In the east wing, Roman relics, inscriptions, urns, one of which is marble and embellished with an olive-treeand an oak-tree (from the Augustan age). From the cloister, through a corridor with a large head of Claudius and other Roman portraits, you arrive at the section containing objects of Etruscan-Roman art and the pre-historic section.

There are various finds from necropolises in Perugia and surrounding areas. Of particular interest is the Stele from Monte Gualandro (6th century), the Sarcophagus of Sperandio (6th century), the bronze plates from San Mariano, the Cippus of Perugia, a lengthy inscription refering to legal matters written in Etruscan, from the 6th century, etc. One section is dedicated to objects originating from otherparts of Italy and abroad. Then there is the pre-historic section, comprising eight rooms plus the-great hall, part of San Domenico Vecchio - an ancient Romanesque church now incorporated into the Convent.

In these rooms findings from the Paleolithic to the Neolithic period, discovered in the Umbrian area and surrounds are exhibited. In the corridor there is a comparative exhibition of finds of the same period originating from various continents. In the State Archives you can visit the Hall of the ancient Convent Library which is divided into three aisles following the pattern of similar Renaissance libraries (Biblioteca del Convento di San Marco in Florence).

PORTA SAN PIETRO. Continue down corso Cavour which leads to the gate of St. Peter. The outside was designed by Agostino di Duccio of Florence (1475-1480). It is one of the most symbolical monuments of the Renaissance period in Perugia and was inspired by L.B. Albertis examples such as the Malatesta Temple in Rimini. The upper part was never completed with a battlement.

SAN PIETRO. Continue down the wide street Borgo XX Giugno, and you arrive at the Basilica of St. deter, a famous Benedictine abbey with over 1,000 years of history which is closely connected to that of the city. It was here on monte Caprario that the Perugian nobleman, Pietro Vincioli, founded the church and the monastery on the site where the Cathedral of Perugia stood as far back as the 6th century, it is commonly believed that they were consacrated in 968. From those times remain, perhaps, the basilica church section and the layout of the Inside columns, of which the capitals and shafts belong to the ancient period. Enter into the first cloister through the finedoor, both by V. Martelli. Here you can admire the belltower which is detached from the church itself: the lower part is from the 13th century, the upper (belfry and spire) from the 15th century and was designed by Bernardo Rossellino.

The interior of the church is a true museum of pictures and sculptures from the 15th to the 19th centuries including works by local and foreign artists. Note the fine decorations on the central nave with ten large canvas pain-tings depicting the Old and New Testaments (1592-1594) by Antonio Vassillachis, known as Aliense, a pupil of Tintoretto and Veronese, who also painted the enormous picture of the Saints of the Benedectine Order on the inner wall of the facade. The splendid wooden ceiling is workof Giovanni Pierantonio da Montepulciano (1564). In the chancel and the side aisles is a series of frescoes from the late Mannerist period (Scilli Pecennini, Benedetto Bandiera, Giambattista Lombardelli, Giovani Schepers). On the wallsand over the altars are paintings from various periods by different authors. Worth mentioning are, in the right aisle, St. Maurus raising a dead person by Cesare Sermei, above the second altar; two canvas paintings by Ventura Salimbeni, on the wall after the second and third altars; two canvases by G. Domenico Cerrini on the wall dividing the aisle and the presbytery. At the end of the right aisle is apainting of the Pieta and Saints by a Perugian artist alongthe lines-of Fiorenzo di Lorenzo (1469); on the wall adjacent the two chapels of Vibi and Ranieri are canvases by Sassoferrato; inside these chapels, a marble altar by Mino di Fiesole (1473) and canvases by F. Gessi and G. Reni.

Next comes the Chapel of the Sacrament (Cappella del Sacramento) with three biblical scenes by G. Vasari (1566). Going along the aisle there is a Pieta by Pietro Peruginoone of his late works which was formerly in Santo Agostino. In the tribune, the wooden choir-stalls completed between 1526 and 1537 by numerous artists, the most famous being Fra Stefano and Fra Damiano from Bergamo. It is one of the finest and most complex of its kind of Lombard high Renaissance style. At the rear of the apse a door leads to a small outdoor area overlooking Assisi and the Umbrian valley. The decorative paintings in the Sacristy are by Scilla Pecennini and Girolamo Danti (1574). The bronze crucifix above the altar is by A. Algardi. Some of the most important paintings on the walls include the St. John as a childand the Child Jesus by an artist of Perugino's school; the St. Francesca Romana by Spadarino and four predella panels by Perugino (1496). The Santa Scoiastica is a recentcopy. In another room at the entrance door some interesting illuminated manuscripts concerning the church are on display. Within the vast Convent is the Faculty of Agriculture. Of important artistic interest here is the Great Cloister and another called 'delle stelle designed by G. Alessi (1571). There is a glazed terra-cotta lavabo by B. Buglionifrom Florence (1488) in the Refectory, today the Aula Magna.

To the right of St. Peter's is a monument to The Fallen of June 20th 1859 by G. Frenguelli. Here you enter the GIARDINO DEL FRONTONE. The garden is the site where Braccio Braccioforte had once created Piazza d'Armi and surrounded it with a wall. It was then passed over to the Arcadi in the 1 700s . In 1780 a small stone amphitheatre and stage arch were built on B. Orsinis design. The Porta di San Costanzo by V. Martelli leads you to the CHIESA Dl SAN COSTANZO, from the Romanesque period, restored by G. Calderini (1980). The magnificent marble portal (12th and 13th century) and the apse are theonly remains of that period.

From this small church you continue down viale Roma which skirts the ancient city walls and brings you to Piazza Cacciatori delle Alpi. Go into via Masi and from here you can admire ROCCA PAOLINA. This grandiose fortress built by the will of Paolo lIl Farnese in record time between 1540 and 1543, occupied the area of the heavily populated medieval quarter where the houses of the Baglioni family stood. It was erected under the guidance of the architect Antonio da Sangallo il Giovane, through a system of spurs and casemates for its five levels with an additional smaller fortress downhill, called the "Tenaglia". The massive structure continued to be a symbol of dominance over the people of Perugia for more than three hundred years. Immediately following the formation of the Kingdom of Italy the Perugians destroyed it to celebrate their liberation from the much hated Papal regime. All that is left of the building is the retaining walls of one of the spurs, where in are a number of large rooms now used for various purposes (exhibitions, meetings, etc.). Along via Marzia is the Etruscan gate called Porta Marzia (2nd century BC), which was spared destruction and incorporated into the wall by Sangallo. Excavations have brought the long stretch of houses and buildings to light which now very charming setting. Through this varied route you arrive at the Carducci gardens.

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