Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
During the medieval period, monasteries often created gardens reminiscent of the
Garden of Eden and biblical stories, with plants that symbolised myths and sacred stories.
Numbered locations through this garden include the Cosmic Tree, symbolising the fore-
father of all trees; the Tree of Light and Knowledge; and the Tree of Good and Evil.
Rocca Paolina
FORT, GARDEN
(Piazza Italia)
At the southern end of Corso Vannucci is the tiny
Giardini Carducci
OFFLINE MAP
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, with expansive views across the city's spires to the countryside
and cypress-cloaked hills beyond. The gardens stand atop a once-massive 16th-century
fortress, now known as the Rocca Paolina. Built by Pope Paolo III Farnese in the 1540s, it
wiped out entire sections of a formerly wealthy neighbourhood.
Now used as the throughway for the
scale mobili
(escalators), its nooks and crannies
are venues for art exhibits and the last weekend of the month sees Perugia's antiques mar-
ket held here.
Casa Museo di Palazzo Sorbello
(
www.casamuseosorbello.org
;
Piazza Piccinino 9; adult/reduced €5/3; guided tours 11am-2pm)
A few
steps from the Piazza IV Novembre, this exquisite 17th-century mansion, once owned by
the noble Sorbello family, has recently been restored to its frescoed, gilt-clad, chandelier-
lit 18th-century prime. Guided tours (in Italian) let you admire the family's almost
ludicrously opulent collection of art, porcelain, embroidery and manuscripts.
MUSEUM
Capella di San Severo
(Piazza Raffaello; adult/reduced €3/2; 10am-1.30pm & 2.30-6pm, closed Mon winter)
Walking for a
couple of minutes northeast from Piazza IV Novembre brings you to this rather bland,
boxy-looking church. Your efforts will be rewarded, however, once you step inside and
find the chapel decorated with Raphael's lush
Trinity with Saints
(thought by many to be
his first fresco), painted during the artist's residence in Perugia (1505-08).
CHURCH
Ipogeo dei Volumni
(Via Assisana 53, Località Ponte San Giovanni; adult/reduced €3/1.50; 9am-1pm & 3.30-6.30pm)
About 5km southeast of the city, the Ipogeo dei Volumni is a 2nd-century BC under-
HISTORIC SITE
