Today we drove to Perugia, which is the capital of Umbria. The weather was beautiful when we left Casa Rondini, but became overcast when we arrived. We parked at the bottom on the hill between two trees (and weren’t really sure it was a parking spot, but others were parked there, so we felt ok). We climbed up to an area that had a beautiful Roman arch which was the entrance to the old city. As with other towns, it was all uphill. When we got to the top, we stopped for tea and cappuccino under the umbrellas. Luckily we were covered when it started to rain (and of course we left the umbrellas in the car). Piazza Quattro Novembre marks the center of Perugia. There we found the Fontana Maggiore which was designed by Nicola and Giovanni Pisano in the second half of the 13th century. The upper basin has a bronze bowl with a sculpture of three nymphs. Two lower basins have sculptures that were carved by Nicola and Giovanni with the months of the year, signs of the zodiac, the liberal arts, and biblical scenes.
We also visited the Cathedral of San Lorenzo. They were doing some restoration, but the ceiling was magnificent. There was a service being conducted and the acoustics were wonderful. On a pedestal at the side of the Cathedral is a bronze statue of Julius III by Vincenzo Danti.
The National Gallery of Umbria houses the most important and most complete collection of Umbrian painting in Italy from the 13th to the 16th century.
I had forgotten that Perugia is known for its chocolate until my daughter Angela reminded me in our IM chat that evening. So, I guess we’ll have to revisit Perugia!!!
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