Perugia - Walk V
From Piazza Danti to Sant' Agostino, Sant' Angeloand the Convento di Monteripido |
Rione di Porta Sant' Angelo
with Porta Sant' Angelo on the left and
Sant' Agostino on the right
This walk begins in Piazza Danti (which is described in Walk I).
Leave the piazza along Via Bartolo, which was re-named in 1871 in honour of the jurist Bartolo di Sassoferrato. This street was built in 1378 on the line of the moat that had run along the western side of Fortezza di Porta Sole. It was originally known as Via Nuova, to distinguish it from the parallel Via Vecchia, now Via Ulisse Rocchi (see Walk II).
Palazzo Oddi Baglioni is at number 2-16.
The ex-Sapienza Oradina is at number 34.
Palazzo Negri - Friggeri - Cinelli (17th century) is at number 40.
Palazzo Balioddi degli Oddi is at number 54.
Palazzo Oddi Baglioni (17th century)This palace, which belonged to a cadet branch of the Baglioni family, was extended to the right in 1760, when a number of adjoining properties were acquired and demolished. It has two "piani nobili" (main floors) separated by a mezzanine, probably because it was built for an extended family. The palace became the location of an important salon after Count Alessandro Oddi Baglioni married the Florentine socialite, Camilla Corsi Salviati in 1846. She was not universally popular, and indeed was sometimes referred to as "the vendetta of Florence", implying that the Florentines had sent her to Perugia in revenge for the treachery that Malatesta Baglioni had shown to their city in 1530. |
Sapienza Oradina (1572)
Giulio Oradini established the original Sapienza Oradina on the site of what is now Palazzo Oddi Baglioni (see above), as a residence for poor students of the University of Perugia. It moved to the building at number 34 Via Bartolo in 1760. The fine portal of the original building, which has the inscription “Collegium Oradinum” on its architrave, was moved to the new location. The college functioned until 1798, when the French suppressed it. |
Palazzo Balioddi degli Oddi (16th century)The inscription on the architrave of the second (lower) door records that Galeoctus Oddi built this palace. The pre-fix “Bali” was used by the eldest sons of this branch of the Oddi family
in the 17th century in reference to their hereditary role as “balì”
(chief officer) of the Ordino Militare di Santo Stefano. The upper floor of the palace housed a small theatre known as the Teatrino Balioddi in the 19th century. |
Continue past a section of the Etruscan wall on the left (see Walk II) into Piazza Braccio
Fortebracci. Until 1536, when the papal legate, Cardinal Marino Grimani
created this piazza, Arco Etrusco (to your left) was linked to Via Bulagaio (opposite and to the right) by a
bridge across the Fosso del Bulagaio. The new piazza was known as
Piazza Grimani until 1871, when it received was re-named for Braccio Fortebracci.
The ancient
church of San Fortunato is on the right. Walk down the right side of
it, along Via Pinturicchio, to see the remnants of an Etruscan monument
embedded in the wall of the house behind the church, at number 11.
The imposing Palazzo Gallenga Stuart, which is now the headquarters of the Università Italiana per Stranieri (University for Foreigners) is on the left. It is worth taking the stairs up to the roof for magnificent views of the city.
Leave the piazza by Corso Garibaldi (opposite and to the left). Until 1871, this long
thoroughfare that forms the spine of the Borgo di Porta Sant’ Angelo, one of the
suburbs that grew up outside the Etruscan city walls in the 13th
century, was known as Via della Lungara. Cardinal Grimani built the first stretch of this road to link the new piazza more directly to the important
church of Sant’ Agostino.
This church is on the right in Piazza Lupattelli . This piazza (originally Piazza Sant' Agostino) was re-named in 1871 in honour of Domenico Lupattelli: a plaque on the left (as you look at the facade of the church) records that he died fighting for the re-unification of Italy in 1844.
The Oratorio di Sant’ Agostino is to the right of the church.
The ex-convent to the left of the church is now a barracks.
Continue along Corso Garibaldi. The arms of the Collegio della Mercanzia (a griffin on bales of cloth) appear on a number of the buildings in the block 84 - 96 on the left. These include the old church and hospice of Sant’ Egidio at number 84 - 88.
The ex-church of San Cristoforo is at number 106.
San Cristoforo (13th century)This church was documented in 1287, when it was a parish church just inside the city walls. The Porta San Cristoforo just beyond it was demolished in the 14th century because the suburb had by that time extended as far as Porta Sant' Angelo (see below). The arms of the Maestri di Pietra e Legname (the guild of stone masons and carpenters), which depict a pair of compasses and a set square, can be seen below the string course, and they may have owned the church at some time. |
Porta San Cristoforo (13th century), just beyond the church, marked an interim stage in the expansion of Rione di Porta Sant' Angelo and became redundant in the 1th century when Porta Sant' Angelo (see below) was built. Vestiges of it that survived in the 19th century have since disappeared. Two interesting buildings stood just beyond it, probably on the right:
the Oratorio di Santa Maria della Consolazione, which may have been located at number 133-7 [near Via Ombrosa ??]; and
the church of Santa Maria Annunziata and an associated hospice, which may have been at number 153-7 (now the unlikely premises of a gymnasium).
Turn left along Via Pietra and walk into Via Benedetta. The
ex-nunnery of San Benedetto dei Condotti
(of the culverts) on the left is so-called because Via
Benedetta follows the line of the medieval aqueduct. Turn right along
Via Rondine and then left to continue along Corso Garibaldi, which now passes:
the church and nunnery of Santa Caterina, at number 175-9 on the right;
the ex-nunnery of Sant’ Antonio da Padova, on the left, on the corner of Via Benedetta; and
- the Monastero della Beata Colomba at number
191 on the right, at the junction with Via Sperandio.
Take a short detour along Via Sperandio to Porto dello Sperandio, both of which were named for the now-demolished nunnery of San Sperandio, which stood nearby. If you want to see the scant remains, continuue through the gate and turn left at the T-junction to follow Via Sperandio. When this road swings left, carry straight on along Strada Sperandio. The student residence at number 5 incorporates part of the old nunnery and the tiny church still stands by the gate at number 3.
The nearby Ipogeo dello Sperandio can sometimes be visited (by previous agreement with the owners - I have not managed it yet).
Porta dello Sperandio (early 14th century)This arch formed part of the walls that were built around the Rione di porta Sant' Angelo in 1321. The inscription above the arch records that the “boni homines” Ludovico Crescioli and Pellolo Paolucci restored this gate in 1329. The reason for this restoration of the gate so soon after the construction of the walls here is unclear:
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Ipogeo dello Sperandio This Etruscan necropolis was in use from the 6th to the 4th century BC.
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Return to Corso Garibaldi and turn left along Via Sant’ Agnese to the nunnery of Sant’ Agnese.
Return once more to Corso Garibaldi and the junction with Via del Tempio. The ex-nunnery of Santa Lucia is just beyond, at number 226 on the left and the Cappella della Madonna della Stella faces the junction.
Cappella della Madonna della Stella (14th century)This was originally the site of a wayside tabernacle that housed a venerated fresco (14th century) of the Madonna and Child that is named for the stars on the Madonna’s cloak. The chapel now belongs to the family who own the house above, and is open only occasionally. |
Via del Tempio, to the right of the chapel, leads to the ancient church of Sant’ Angelo. Turn right as you leave the church and take the steps down to Porta Sant’ Angelo. A number of inscriptions relating to the rebuilding of Perugia as Augusta Perusia in the 1st century AD that were found here are now in the Museo Archeologico.
Walk through the gate and look back to see a stretch of the wall (1321) to each side. Continue along Via Monteripido passes the old church of San Matteo degli Armeni (which is closed and protected by dogs) on the left and take the steep road forking to the left that leads to the Convento di Monte Ripido.
Return through Porta Sant’ Angelo and turn immediately right along Via Faina, which was named in honour of Count Zeffirino Faina, a member of the short-lived anti-papal government of Perugia in 1859-60. Turn right down the stony Piaggia della Torre. You will see the campanile of San Francesco delle Donne on the right. Turn right and right again following the signs “Giuditta Brozzetti” which refer to the founder of the weaving studio that now occupies the church.
Return to Via Zeffirino Faina, continue down it and turn left at the end along Via Innamorati, which is named for the jurist Francesco Innamorati(died 1423). The road passes the buildings of the University of Perugia on the right. If the gate is open, it is possible (officially after having permission) to walk through the university garden, with the imposing wall of the monastery on your left and a fine view of San Francesco al Prato on your right. Otherwise, continue into Piazza dell’ Università, with the church of the ex- Monastero degli Olivetani di Montemorcino Nuovo on the right.
Continue along Via Fabretti (which is named for Ariodante Fabretti, a 19th century scholar and senator who published an important collection of Etruscan inscriptions) and right along Via dell’ Acquedotto, which subsequently merges with the stepped Via Appia (described in Walk III). Turn right at the end into Via Baldeschi, then immediately left along Via Cantine (described in Walk I) into Piazza Danti, where the walk ends.
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