Perugia - Walk IV

From Piazza IV Novembre to San Domenico and San Pietro

Rione di Porta San Pietro,
with San Domenico on the left and
the campanile of San Pietro in the distance on the right

Leave Piazza IV Novembre along Via Calderini, which is named for the architect Guglielmo Calderini (1837 - 1916).  This street was widened by Cardinal Domenico Pinelli in 1591: an old street sign still records it earlier name, Via Pinella.

Continue into Piazza Matteotti: this piazza is described in Walk II, but note in passing the Farmacia San Martino at number 26, which was founded in 1592.   The Sodalizia di San Martino (see below) had its headquarters here from 1667 to 1777. 

Continue along Via Baglioni, which was originally a narrow street that led to the upper church of Sant’ Ercolano.  It became more important after 1543 because it then led to Rocca Paolina.  Cardinal Alessandro Riario widened and paved it in 1582, when it was renamed Via Riario.  It received its current name in honour of the Baglioni family in 1871.

Palazzo Florenzi is at number 1-7, opposite Palazzo Baglioni at number 14-30.

Palazzo Florenzi (early 17th century) The Florenzi belonged to a family of wealthy merchants that was given the title of “Marchese” by Pope Pius VI in 1775.  The lovely reliefs on the portal, which depict branches with flowers, allude to the name of the family. An inscription in the atrium (pass through the inner doors and look to the left) celebrates the lovely Marianna Florenzi Waddington (1802-70).  The little street just beyond the palace, Via Struzzo, is named for an ostrich that Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria gave to Marianna, which was kept in a pensile cage there. [Marianna Florenzi Waddington (1802-70) was an acclaimed philosopher moved here in 1820 on her marriage to Marchese Ettore Florenzi in 1834.  He died soon after their marriage and Marianna.   Marianna had a long affair with Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria.   The portrait of her that he commissioned in 1824 is now in the Neue Pinakothek, Munich.  Her disapproving daughter in law later destroyed some 4,000 letters that he had written to her: many of her letters to him are preserved in the Bavarian archives.  After having been a widow for some 30 years, Marianna married an Englishman, Evelyn Waddington, who had become a prominent citizen of Perugia.  The couple moved to a new palace in what is now Largo Ermini (see Walk II).]

Palazzo Baglioni (late 17th century) The architect Pietro Baglioni built this as a town house for his relative, Count Guido Baglioni, whose main home was the Palazzone, Ponte San Giovanni, the site of the Palazzone Necropolis. [The main line of the Baglioni family had become extinct in 1648, on the death of Bishop Malatesta V Baglioni.  Pietro and Guido were from a cadet branch of the family.] The palace now houses the Monte dei Paschi di Siena.

Cardinal Baldeschi Colonna commissioned Palazzo Baldeschi Colonna (at number 9), but it remained incomplete when died in 1691.  It owes its current appearance to the remodeling carried out in 1936 by its present owner, Banco di Napoli.

Continue past three more palaces on the right:

• Palazzo Cesarei (17th century) at number 11-15:

• Palazzo Monaldi (1657) at number 16-29, which was built by Cardinal Benedetto Monaldi Bracceschi and which now houses a stationery shop (Magazzini Rastelli); and

• the side of Palazzo Cesaroni (1897), [which was built on houses that had belonged to the Monaldi family, and] which has its main facade in Piazza d’ Italia (see Walk VII).

The church of Santa Lucia is opposite Palazzo Monaldi.

Turn left into Via Marzia.  The headquarters of the Sodalizio di San Martino is on the left at number 9, at the junction with Via Floramonti (where Via Marzia turns through 90 degrees to the right).

Santa Lucia (16th century, remodeled in 1760) The original church with this dedication, which was first documented in 1022 as a possession of the Abbazia di San Pietro, stood on what is now the site of Palazzo Donini.    This church,  was listed as a parish church in 1285, was demolished in ca. 1540 to make way for Rocca Paolina.  In 1567, the parish (which had itself been reduced because of the demolition) was merged with that of SS Donato e Arrigo.  The church of Santa Maria della Misercordia had already taken over the role of the old parish church of SS Donato e Arrigo and it now also assumed that of Santa Lucia. Bishop Fulvio della Corgna built a new church  on this site in Via Baglioni with apartments were above it for old and sick priests.  The church was originally dedicated as Santa Maria del Clero, but it acquired the goods and title of the demolished Santa Lucia in 1584 (despite the claims of the Abbazia di San Pietro). The church owes its present appearance to a remodeling in 1760.

Sodalizio di San Martino (16th century) The Servite Damiano Bissi formed the Sodalizio di San Martino in 1574 in order to provide various forms of assistance (mostly medical) to the poor.  Its headquarters were originally in Porta Sant’ Angelo and then, from 1667 until 1777 (see below), in what is still Farmacia San Martino is Piazza Matteotti (see above).  This building in Via Flormonti and  those to the right of it (i.e. on the left of Via Marzia) belonged to the Comitoli family from 1582.  This complex extended as far as the buildings above Sant’ Ercolano, the upper storey of which had been demolished in ca. 1540 because it interrupted the line of fire from Rocca Paolina.  In ca. 1612, Bishop Napoleone Comitoligave it to the Barnabites. The Barnabites moved to the Chiesa di Gesù in 1775 and Pope Pius VI gave the complex to the Sodalizio di San Martino in 1777.

Continue along Via Marzia.  There are lovely views on the left of Borgo San Pietro, through which you are about to walk.  Fonte Lomellina is on the right, embedded in the foundation of Palazzo Calderini (1800-8), which was built after the moat around the Rocca been filled in (see Walk VII).

Fonte Lomellina (1597) and  Via Lomellina (1682) This fountain must have been rotated in a clockwise direction about its right edge when the moat here was filled in and when the retaining wall under Palazzo Calderini was built.  It was later named for the Cardinal Lorenzo Lomellini: the inscription describes him as “more father than [papal] governor” and records that he decorated this fountain in 1682. The inscription also explains that the original road here, which ran beside the moat, was “too narrow, to sharp in its descent and too tortuous”, so Cardinal Lomellini made it “wider, gentler in its descent, straighter and more noble ... for the convenience of the citizens who, as a sign of their gratitude, call it Via Lomellina”.  The new road might have had a gentler slope than its predecessor, but it nevertheless descended much more rapidly than Via Marzia does now, running in a straight line that continued that of Via Floramonti (behind you) down to Porta San Carlo (see below).

The present Via Marzia was built in 1830, making use of the space that had been created by the elimination of the moat.  The semi-circular retaining wall was built on the left, allowing the road to curve onto the old line of the moat and to descend more gently into what is now Viale Indipendenza.  Follow the road down along the side of Rocca Paolina, the remains of which (on your right) are described in detour I, Walk VII.  Part of the Etruscan Porta Marzia was embedded in the walls of the Rocca in front of you in 1543. 

Continue along Via Marzia, with the original curtain wall of the Rocca Paolina on your right.  The spur in the wall at the end of the road marks the start of the fortified corridor that linked the Rocca to the southern stronghold below (see Walk VII).  From 1543 until 1831, this corridor completely separated Borgo Porta San Pietro on the left from Borgo Porta Eburnea on the right.  In 1831, an arch was opened in it so that the road to your right (now part of Viale Independenza) could be built. 

Turn sharply left and walk back along the shady stretch of Viale Independenza that runs under the retaining wall of Via Marzia.  The small park ahead on the left was created in 1836 when a number of houses here were demolished.  The neo-classical Fontana del Nettuno (1854) that now stands at the centre of this shady spot. 

[These demolished palace included the Palazzo Pontani, in which the celebrated jurist Gugliemo Pontano (1478-1555) taught law.  (His fine monument survives in San Domenico).  The palace passed to the Sodalizio di San Martino (mentioned above) in 1630.  Some 18 frescoes (1535) that are attributed to Giovanni Battista Caporali were detached from the Sala Maggiore of the palace before its demolition.  Some (include an interesting view of the palace) are displayed in Room 32 of the Galleria Nazionale, while others are in the deposit there.]

The church of  Sant’ Ercolano is ahead on the left.

This ramp in the retaining wall to the left of Sant' Ercolano  probably marks the line of the original road from the lower church to Porta Marzia	Fresco (late 15th century) by Benedetto Bonfigli showing Totila's army outside Porta Marzia Cappella dei Priori

Sant' Ercolano (on the right in the fresco above) stands on what is traditionally said to be the site of the execution of St Herculanus at the culmination of Totila's siege of Perugia in 542-9.  The fresco, which pre-dates the construction of Rocca Paolina, depicts the vibrant cityscape that once existed here inside the Etruscan walls.  The soldiers camped in the remains of the Roman amphitheatre, traces of which will be seen later in Palazzo della Penna (see below).

Continue into Corso Cavour, which forms the spine of the Borgo Porta San Pietro, one of the suburbs that grew up outside the Etruscan city walls in the 13th century.  This was the pilgrimage road to the Portiuncula (outside Assisi) and to Rome.  It was originally known as Via Regale, and was later re-named as Via Papale, possibly when Perugia fell more firmly under papal control after the death of Braccio Fortebracci in 1424.  Its current denomination in honour of Count Camillo Benso di Cavour dates to 1871. 

Palazzo Rossi Scotti Mescolini on the right, at number 13.

Palazzo Rossi Scotti Mescolini (17th century) The Mescolini family built this palace, which subsequently passed to the Rossi Scotti.  Luigi and Lemmo, brothers of the more famous Count Giovanni Battista Rossi Scotti, lived here with their mother in the 19th century, when the palace housed an important art collection that included works by Perugino and Raphael.  The palace is now split into apartments.

Continue along the side of the church of Santa Croce (see below) to the junction with Via Marconi (on the right) and Via XIV Septembre.  The church of San Claudio (1476), which belonged to the Confraternita di Pietra e Legname (confraternity of stone masons and carpenters), stood on Corso Cavour oppositeSanta Croce until it was demolished in 1798.  The junction was blown up by the Germans before their departure from Perugia in 1944: Santa Croce survived, but all the other buildings at the junction were destroyed.

Take a short detour by turning right into Via Marconi , which was extended to join Corso Cavour in 1857, when Tre Archi, the city gate ahead of you, was opened. 

The main entrance of Santa Croce, which had been in Corso Cavour, was moved into the new road at that time.  The vestiges of the colonade of what had been a cloister attached to Santa Croce now line Via Marconi.

Return to and continue along Corso Cavour, past Palazzo Meniconi Bracceschi (late 17th century) at number 25 on the right, to Piazza Giordano Bruno.  The piazza (originally Piazza San Domenico) was re-named in the anti-clerical period following the unification of Italy in honour of Giordano Bruno, who renounced the Dominican Order in 1576 and was executed as a heretic in Rome in 1600.  An inscription on the wall of the ex-Oratorio di San Pietro Martire, which is immediately on the left as you enter the piazza, records that Giordano Bruno was honoured in 1907 in the place in which his executioners had operated: this is a reference to the nearby Palazzo dell’ Inquisitzione (see below).

Oratorio di San Pietro Martire (14th century) The Dominican Rinalduccio Vincioli is credited with the formation of the flagellant Confraternita di San Pietro Martire in 1332 and was first recorded in this location in 1363.  A series of documents survive that relate to payments that the confraternity made in 1493 to Giannicola di Paolo for "certain figures" that he had painted for the oratory, but these have been lost.  One of these documents records that the confraternity was then dedicated to the Corpus Christi (body of Christ) as well as to St Peter Martyr.  The confraternity was suppressed in 1797 but re-established in 1801, when it was merged with the Confraternita della Consolazione.  It was suppressed definitively in 1860.  The oratory, which became the headquarters of the merged entity, housed Perugino's Madonna della Consolazione from 1801 until 1863, when it passed to the Galleria Nazionale (Room 22).

The old Piazza San Domenico was named for the huge church of San Domenico on the right.  The entrance to the main cloister of the adjacent convent is to the left of it, where you will find:

• the remains of the facade of the Dominicans' earlier church, later known as San Domenico Vecchio; 

• the entrance to the ex-Oratorio di San Domenico; and

• the entrance to the Museo Archeologico Nazionale, which now occupies most of the conventual buildings. 
  

The well (1452) in front of San Domenico contains reliefs of a griffin and a shell (the symbol of pilgrims en route to Santiago di Compostella) and inscriptions of the name of Christ in Greek and in Latin.

Leave Piazza Giordano Bruno by Via del Castellano, which runs along the right wall of San Domenico.  The name of this street and that the church of San Stefano del Castellare, which was incorporated to form the right transept of San Domenico, suggests that this site was once heavily fortified.  Continue to the left, behind the apse of San Domenico to the ex-Palazzo dell’ Inquisitzione.

Palazzo dell' Inquisitzione (1632) This palace was built adjoining the convent  of San Domenico to house the Inquisition. The fine portal, with its original wooden doors, bears the date 1667, and the palace was restored in 1710. The building passed to the Commune in 1860, but returned to San Domenico in 1956.  The part of the palace to the left has been restored for use by the friars.

Walk back past the apse of San Domenico and past an interesting well (15th century), with a relief of ta rampant griffin. 

Return to Corso Cavour.  The Ospedale dei Pellegrini is immediately on the left, at number 130.

Ospedale dei Pellegrini (1333) This hospice, with its elegant pink and white façade, is the best-preserved of the medieval hospices of Perugia.  The Confraternita di San Domenico established as a place where pilgrims visiting Perugiacould stop for free bread and wine.  These pilgrims often arrived for the feast that celebrated the discovery in Jerusalem of the relics of St Stephen (3rd August), when the benefits of a plenary indulgence were available at the Dominicans' nearby church of  San Stefano del Castellare.  Most of these pilgirms would have come from Assisi, where the Portiuncula Indulgence was available on August 1st and 2nd. The hospice, which operated until the late 19th century, now houses a carpenter’s workshop.

Take a short detour by turning back a little way along Corso Cavour to Via Giulia on the left.  The house just beyond, at number 97 was the site of  Santa Maria delle Orfane.

Santa Maria delle Orfane (le Cappuccinelle) (1616) Giovanni Battista Pontani founded a community of Poor Clares here that cared for female orphans who wished to join their order.   The sisters seem to have been associated with the Capuchins, and their establishment was also known as Santa Maria delle Cappuccinelle. The orphanage exchanged premises with  the orphanage for boys at Santa Maria degli Angeli in the early 19th century.

Retrace your steps along Corso Cavour and continue to the fire station at number 127 on the right, which occupies the ex-Monastero della Beata Colomba.  Further along on the right, at number 133 is the ex-nunnery of Santa Maria Maddalena delle Repentute.  Directly opposite is the church of Santa Maria di Colle.

Santa Maria di Colle (14th century) There was an oratory dedicated to the Virgin on this site from at least the early 14th century.  It became a parish church in the mid-14th century, when the parish of San Stefano del Castellare was split into two.  The facade owes its current asymmetric appearance to the building of the adjacent rectory at that time. A small community of Observant Dominican friars lived in a convent next to the church from 1429 until the end of the 15th century.  The plaque over the door to the rectory, which refers to work that was financed  by a donation of that date made by Arcolano di Giorgio, probably relates to the establishment of this community. The church was extensively re-modeled in 1717, possibly in response to a miracle associated with a venerated image of the Madonna and Child that was then housed here.   It is now used by the Auditorium Marianum, which has its headquarters next door, and is sometimes open for concerts.

Take a short detour by turning left just past the church, along Via degli Archi.  The Confraternita di San Pietro Apostolo, which had previously met in the Cappella di San Giacomo at Porta San Pietro, moved to a new oratory here (in what was then an orchard next to the church) in 1579.  The portal of their oratory survives at number 11.

Retrace your steps to Corso Cavour and continue to Porta San Pietro.

The road ahead, Borgo XX Guigno is named for the disastrous events of 20th June 1859, when Swiss guards of the papal army massacred Perugian supporters of the Risorgimento here.  It continues through what was, in the early 15th century, a pleasant suburb outside the city walls.  In order to strengthen the city’s defenses, Braccio Fortebracci enclosed the area in an outer loop of walls in the early 15th century, incorporating the walls of the Abbazia di San Pietro (see below) at its southern point. 

Walk along Borgo XX Giugno to the ex-Oratorio di Sant' Anna at number 43 on the right that, together with the buildings to the right of it, once belonged to the Conservatorio delle Derelitte.

Conservatorio delle Derelitte (1704) This female orphanage was established in 1539 in response to the preaching of the Capuchin Bernardino Ochino.  It was originally administered by the Confraternita di San Tommaso d' Aquino, but Bishop Napoleone Comitoli transferred it to the care of the Barnabites in 1622.  Its original premises  in Via del Grillo were subsumed into the  adjoining Santa Maria Maddalena delle Repentute in 1704 and the establishment moved  to a house here donated by Prospero Podiani. The crumbling inscription on the facade of number 45  records that, folowing a bequest Laura Donini Montesperelli, the complex was acquired (in ca. 1880) by the Opere Pie Donini in the adjacent Via Ghezzi (see below). The oratory is now in secular use: its frescoes (1752) by Paolo Brizi have been recently restored.

Ex-Oratorio di Sant' Anna (left) and Conservatorio delle Derelitte

Frescoes (1752) by Paolo Brizi  on the ceiling of the ex-Oratorio di Sant' Anna

A terracotta antefix (late 4th century BC) of the satyr Silenus was discovered in Perugia 1893 near the Poligono di  Tiro a Segno opposite (at number 28), suggesting that there was probably an Etruscan temple nearby.  It is now in the Museo Archeologico.

Take a short detour along Via Ghezzi, to the right of the Conservatorio delle Derelitte.  The buildings of the Opere Pie Donini extend along it on the left.

Opere Pie Donini (19th century) This charitable institution was founded in ca. 1880 according to the will of the Contessa Laura Donini Montesperelli.  As noted above, this bequest included funds for the acquisition of the adjacent Oratorio di Santa Anna delle Derelitte. This complex, which extends behind to Viale Roma (see below), is currently undergoing a radical restoration.

Return to Borgo XX Giugno and continue along it to the church of the Madonna di Braccio at number 29 on the right.

Madonna di Braccio (1476-9)  Braccio di Malatesta Baglioni built this church on land that belonged to the Abbazia di San  Pietro.   The Servites of Santa Maria dei Servi originally officiated here, having reached an accord with the monks of San Pietro. The church was originally octagonal but its façade was partially rebuilt in 1782 to conform to the surrounding buildings when Borgo XX Giugno was widened. An altarpiece (16th century) by Tiberio d' Assisi depicting the of Madonna and Child is [where ?]

Continue to the monument (1909) ahead on the right, which was installed on the 50th anniversary of the massacre of 1859.  It stands in front of the Giardino di Frontone.

Giardino di Frontone In the early 15th century, Braccio Fortebracci created the Piazza d' Armi here, inside his new stretch of walls, for the drilling of soldiers.  His successor, Braccio di Malatesta Baglioni turned it into a pleasant spot in which the Perugians could enjoy peace and occasional public spectacles.    The area subsequently fell into disuse until it was laid out in formal gardens the 18th century.  The small stone amphitheatre and small triumphal arch at its centre date to this period. Finds from an Etruscan necropolis (4th - 3rd centuries BC) here that was excavated on a number of occasions in the period 1840 - 1905 are exhibited in the Museo Archeologico.

On leaving the park, cross Borgo XX Giugno to the Abbazia di San Pietro.  The main road originally followed the line of the side road (to the left) that you follow through the entrance to the abbey.  It was diverted to the right in 1587 in order to allow the monks to extend their grounds.

Continue along Borgo XX Giugno to Porta San Costanzo.  (If you have followed the suggested walk around the grounds of the Abbazia di San Pietro, you will emerge farther along Borgo XX Giugno, with the gate immediately on your left.

Porta San Costanzo (1586-7) This gate in the 15th century walls became necessary in 1587, when the original road was diverted (as described above) for the convenience of the monks of the Abbazia di San Pietro.  In return, they financed the construction of the new gate. Valentino Martelli designed it and decorated it with the arms of the Abbazia di San Pietro and those of Pope Sixtus V.

Walk through the gate, cross the road and take the steps to the left  down to the church of San Costanzo.  Having looked at the church, retrace your steps to Porta San Costanzo and turn right before it along Via Benedetto Bonfigli.  This road passes below and behind the apse of the San Pietro and then through a short tunnel and along the line of the wall that Braccio Fortebracci had built early in the 15th century, to Porta San Girolamo.

Porta San Girolamo  (1582) The original gate here was opened in ca. 1490 during the construction of the adjacent Convento di San Girolamo (see below).  The enclosed space above the gate was part of the convent. Cardinal Alessandro Riario rebuilt it in brick during the reign of Pope Gregory XIII.  The empty niches to the sides of the arch originally housed statues of SS Peter and Paul.

A short detour is possible to the ex-monastery of SS Trinità.  (It involves a walk of about 2 km return along a busy road, but there are lovely views to the left).  Turn sharply right before passing through the gate and walk along Via San Girolamo.  The ex-church is at number 204 on the left.

Continue along Via Benedetto Bonfigli as it passes through the gate.  The cinema on the left occupies the ex-convent of San Girolamo.

The ex-church opposite (at number 6) and the two adjacent buildings formed part of the Ospedale di San Giacomo.

Ospedale di San Giacomo (14th century) Like the Ospedale dei Pellegrini (see above), this was a hospice for the use of pilgrims.  Like the Cappella di San Giacomo in Porta San Pietro, it belonged to the Abbazia di San Pietro until 1399, when it passed to the Collegio del Cambio.  Their arms (a griffin on a box) are on the facade at number 8.

You have now returned to Porta San Pietro.   Continue straight ahead along Via Santa Anna and walk down the steps into Viale Roma.  Take a short detour by turning left along Viale Roma to follow the line the walls that Braccio Fortebracci built in ca. 1420.  Substantial stretches of these walls survive;

• on your right as far as the junction with Via del Villagio di Santa Lucia; and then
  

• on your left, from what was Porta dei Ghezzi to Porta San Costanzo (see above).

Porta dei Ghezzi (15th century) This gate takes its name from a relief of the heads of three “Ghezzi” (Arabians) on its outer facade, which was perhaps the symbol of a local family of that name. The upper part of the gate was later incorporated into the complex of the Opere Pie Donini (see above) behind it:  the gate itself has been restored as part of the restoration project for that complex.

Retrace your steps along Viale Roma and continue to the ex-church of Santa Maria degli Angeli, which is set back in a shale piazza on the left.  This church became known as Santa Maria dei Fossi in ca. 1420 in reference to the defensive ditches (”fossi”) in front of the new walls.

Continue ahead and take the pedestrian steps on the right (as the road swings to the left) up into Via Marconi.  Cross the road with Tre Archi (see above) on your right.  The back of Palazzo della Penna (see below) is in front of you. 

Take a short detour onto the terrace of Palazzo Gnoni - Mavarelli to the left of it.

Palazzo Gnoni - Mavarelli  (1860-2) The Cassa di Risparmio commissioned this building from Guglielmo Calderini on land released by the demolition of part of Rocca Paolina.  It was designed to house the public baths but it subsequently proved to be impossible to supply it with adequate water. Giacomo Brufani bought the building in 1874 and opened a hotel here, in which Richard Wagner stayed in 1880.  Brufani sold the palace in 1883, when he opened Hotel Brufani nearby (see Walk VII).  It subsequently passed to the Gnoni-Mavarelli family. The palace now houses Hotel Iris.

Retrace your steps along Via Marconi, past the back of Palazzo della Penna (see below) and turn left through Porta dei Funari.

Porta dei  Funari (13th century) This gate is named for the rope makers who had their premises nearby.  It belonged to a stretch of wall that was probably built in the 13th century as the city began to expand towards what became Porta San Pietro. The gate was partially buried when the road level was raised in the 19th century.  It was subsequently walled up for a period and housed a public latrine.

Continue up the stepped Via Vibi, which runs along the side of the palace of the Vibi family, later Palazzo della Penna, which stands on the site of the Roman amphitheatre.  Turn left at the top into Via Podiani and the entrance to Palazzo della Penna, which houses an interesting collection of modern art.  The street is named for Propero Podiani, the famous scholar who donated his collection of books to the city in 1582.  This collection formed the nucleus of the Biblioteca Augusta (see also Walk II).

On leaving Palazzo della Penna, turn right along Via Podiani and left at the end along Corso Cavour.  Continue up the stepped Via di Sant’ Ercolano and right at the end along Via Oberdan into Piazza Matteotti (see Walk II for this part of the route).  Walk the length of the piazza and turn left along Via Calderini into Piazza IV Novembre, where the walk ends.

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