Perugia, a glorious medieval city

Perugia is a fortress city located in Umbria. Once you end up at this mysterious place, you cannot help it but falling in love with it.

We should confess that we never planned visiting Perugia. We were just driving across Italy and felt really tired at some point. It was late at night, so we just saw that Perugia was close by and decided to take some rest. This was propably one of the best unplanned visits we’ve ever made.

Here is what we saw and learned:

1. The first thing that we saw in Perugia was our hotel. ”Hotel Iris”. We were like… ”NO WAY”!! Everything was perfect! We got informed right away that it was a 17th century building.

There were so many paintings inside and the whole decoration was breathtaking. You could easily imagine living in the 17th century! Additionally, what makes this hotel a pretty good choice for someone wishing to visit Perugia, is the fact that it’s situated in the heart of the historical center.

Here is its website: https://www.hotelirispg.com/

2. After a quick rest, we went for a long walk at the center of Perugia. We didn’t have too much time to spend before our departure and we wanted to see some of the highlights. First stop was the cathedral of San Lorenzo.

What we noticed was that the church was undone. We asked some locals about the reason of the unfinished job and ey informed us that there were several examples of cathedrals that have remained undelivered throughout Italy. San Lorenzo’s cathedral is one of the most famous of this era. Even thought the outside is unfinished we can not say the same thing about the inside.

The inside of the church, is completely finished and it also houses a small museum that contains a selection of religious artifacts. Also, one of the chapels contains the tomb of Pope Martin IV and several religious relics belonging to Pope Innocent III and Urban IV.

3. What we saw next was Palazzo dei Priori. This is a huge compound located at the main square of Perugia, the Piazza IV Novembre. This gothic palace at the heart of the city had always a dominant role in Perugia’s politics.

4. Probably this was one of our favorite sightseeing in Perugia.

San Pietro’s Church with its caracteristic bell tower, is part of a monastery complex that was built in the 11th century. The whole construction is located in the southern part of Perugia and contains a beautiful inner courtyard as well.

Inside the church, there is an important art collection, including artworks by various Renaissance artists.

5. The Archeological Museum itself is a ”must see” sightseeing as well. This museum really provides a complete playback of the history of Umbria.

6. Arco d’Augusto is one of the seven archs that until nowadays serve as an entrance point to the city.

7. If you haven’t understood yet why Perugia is so special, I guess you’re going to get it right now! The medieval-gothic architecture of Perugia creates a strong mystical atmosphere throughout the entire city. Several secret spots lay underground…

Right under Perugia’s beautiful paved streets, there is a whole underground city know as Volumni Hypogeum.

Volumni Hypogeum is part of a huge necropolis that contains numerous tombs of the wealthy elite of the city from the past centuries. This place was discovered in 1840 but it dates back to the 3rd century BC.