Perugia

With its Etruscan walls, a gorgeous Medieval center, Perugia is not only a city for the gluttonous (re: chocolate), but for artists and art lovers alike. This splendid capital of the Region of Umbria is also a culture capital par excellence, and the seat of two important universites: Università degli Studi, founded in 1308, and the University for Foreigners, the foremost in Italy.

More well-known, though, is old Perugia, surrounded by two perimeter walls. The exterior of the two, from the Medieval Age, remains intact over an expanse of a few kilometers, and along it one encounters several different entrances or portals, including the Cassero di Porta Sant’Angelo. Nevertheless, not many monuments dating back to this ancient epoch actually remain, and most of the older urban core that is still extant harks back to the Middle Ages. The historic center, in fact, is a certified 14th-Century borgo, and one of the prettiest in Italy.

Then, one of Italy’s most important, Piazza IV Novembre, is the city’s monumental social hub. On this central piazza sits Palazzo dei Priori, the symbol of governmental power; the cathedral (religious power) and; at its nucleus, the Maggiore Fountain, completed in the 1200s and fed by the aqueduct originating on Monte Pacciano. Palazzo dei Priori is also the seat of Umbria’s National Gallery; its interior boasts valuable works of art realized by artists with strong ties to the Umbrian territory. Among the masterpieces, one should note: the Polyptych of St. Anthony by Piero della Francesca, and the Polyptych of San Domenico by Beato Angelico.