Perugia - Walk VI

Detour I

Parco Santa Margherita


Continue along Via Bonaccia to Porta Santa Margherita.

Porta Santa Margherita (14th century)

This gate, which is named for the Benedictine nunnery of Santa Margherita (see below), was closed in 1820 but re-opened in 1934.

The brick bastion to the right outside the walls formed part of the defensive structure that was put in place in 1516 when Duke Francesco Maria della Rovere of Urbino threatened Perugia.  Much of this structure was destroyed in 1822 when Via XIV Settembre was built.  (See also Porta del Carmine and Via Brugnoli in the main part of Walk VI.)

The inscription on the bastion to the right records the fact that Piedmontese troops entered the city here in 1860, when they erected the tricolor that had adorned the Perugian barricades during the massacre of 20th June 1859. 

 
 Piedmontese army at
Porta S Margherita (19th century)
by Napoleone Verga


Turn right along busy Via XIV Settembre and take the second underpass into Parco Santa Margherita.  The palace (19th century) in front of you stands on the site of the Benedictine nunnery of Santa Margherita. 


If you want to see the ruins of the nunnery, take the steps to the left of the palace, which lead down  to a terrace and then  continue round to the back of it.  (The route here from the right of the palace,  which is still shown on the map at the park entrance, has in fact subsided.)

You may well want to enjoy the extensive views from the park if the weather is fine.  Otherwise, retrace your steps through Porta Santa Margherita and back to the junction of Via Via Bonaccia and Via Imbriani to resume Walk VI.

An alternative is to turn right before Porta Santa Margherita along Via XIV Settembre and turn right into Via Enrico dal Pozzo in order to walk detour II of Walk VI, to San Bevignate.