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Perugia, the chief province of Umbria, is located 35 miles from Todi.

Once one of the most powerful and richest Etruscan settlements, the present town is an elegant city that will surprise you with its perfect and unexpected mix of old and new.

Apart from art and history, Perugia is also well known in Italy thanks to the Perugina Chocolate Industry, founded at the beginning of the 20th century. Not to be missed: taste its iconic praline, the delicious BACIO (kiss)!

 

CLASSIC TOUR (about 2 hours )*

• Meet the guide at the car park and reach the city center with the convenient escalators; they were built in 1983 thanks to a pretty modern project that also aimed to recover and enhance the underground part of the Rocca Paolina, a sixteenth-century papal fortress commissioned by Pope Paul III Farnese.
• Once outside, you can pause for a moment on the panoramic terrace of Piazza Italia, from which you can admire the medieval quarters of Santa Giuliana on the right and of St. Peter on the left; moreover on clear days you can also spot the spiritual town of Assisi, at the foot of Mount Subasio .
• Then walking along the wide Corso Vannucci, dotted with buildings from different centuries and elegant stores (we will make a quick stop in front of the official Perugina Chocolate Shop!!!) , you easily get to Piazza IV Novembre with its three imposing medieval jewels:
  • Palazzo dei Priori, erected between the end of 1200 and the first half of 1400
  • Cathedral of San Lorenzo, with its unfinished Gothic exterior and its elegant interior, a mishmash of different styles. Not to be missed: the painting “Madonna delle Grazie”, 16th century, by the Perugino’s workshop.
  • The magnificent Fontana Maggiore, completed in 1278 and decorated with different kinds of sculptures by two of the most popular sculptors of the time, Giovanni and Nicola Pisano. The bas-reliefs have to be considered as an open picture book which still today describes the culture, the religion and the popular traditions of Perugia in the 13th-century.
• Next stop, the Sun District, the perfect place  to enjoy the amazing view over the northern side of Perugia! … Feel like walking 15 minutes more? Then go down the Via delle Prome and reach the imposing Etruscan Arch, also known as Arco di Augusto, one of the best preserved Etruscan remains in Italy. In the same square you can admire the famous University for Foreigners, housed in the elegant Palazzo Gallenga Stuart.

 

• Optional: A few steps from the main square is the ancient Piazza del Sopramuro boasting the Palazzo del Capitano del Popolo and the Old University 

* The duration of the tour is indicative: depending on your schedule, we can tailor the tour to your needs

 

        

The Paolina Fortress                                                        The “Bacio” Perugina

 

 

MY RATES: €150 up to 10 people. For larger groups please contact Elisa for a customized price

 

SOME TIPS FOR YOUR FREE TIME IN TOWN (apart from shopping!)

Collegio del Cambio, with the cycle of frescoes by Perugino

Collegio della Mercanzia

Church of San Severo, with the fresco of young Raffaello 

Mercato Coperto, Market Hall, now housing the Chocolate House and Museum

EtruscanWell

National Gallery of Umbria, with masterpieces by Perugino, Pinturicchio, Piero della Francesca, Beato Angelico, Benozzo Gozzoli and much more

National Archeological Museum

Historic Museum of Perugina Chocolate Factory (out of town)

Walk through the medieval quarters of Perugia (S. Pietro, S. Angelo, S. Francesco)

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