Perugia is the capital city of the region of Umbria in central italy, near the Tiber River, and the capital of the province of Perugia. The city is located about 164 kilometres (102 miles) north of rome. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area. Skyline of Perugia hilltop city and valley The history of Perugia goes back to the Roman Empire. However, major parts of the city have been destroyed, and rebuilt, due to many wars, plus earthquakes in the mid-1800s. In recent decades, the city has been known as a university town, with the University of Pergia (about 34,000 students), the University for Foreigners (5,000 students), and some smaller colleges, also. There are annual festivals and events: the Eurochocolate Festival (October), the Umbria Jazz Festival, and the International Journalism Festival (in April). Perugia is a well-known artistic center of italy. The famous painter Pietro Vannucci, nicknamed Perugino, was a native of Città della Pieve near Perugia. He decorated the local Sala del Cambio with a beautiful series of frescoes; eight of his pictures can also be admired in the National Gallery of Umbria. Perugino was the teacher of Raphael, the great Renaissance artist who produced five paintings in Perugia (today no longer in the city) and one fresco. Another famous painter, Pinturicchio, lived in Perugia. Galeazzo Alessi is the most famous architect from Perugia. The city symbol is the griffin, which can be seen in the form of plaques and statues on buildings around the city.

Main sights

• The Cathedral of S. Lorenzo.
• Church and abbey of San Pietro (late 16th century).
• Basilica of San Domenico (begun in 1394 and finished in 1458). It is located in the place where, in the Middle Ages, the market and the horse fair were held, and where the Dominicans settled in 1234. According to Vasari, the church was designed by Giovanni Pisano. The interior decorations were redesigned by Carlo Maderno, while the massive belfry was partially cut around mid-16th century. It houses examples of Umbrian art, including the precious tomb of Pope Benedict XI and a Renaissance wooden choir.
• Church of Sant'Angelo or of San Michele Arcangelo (it is the same) (5th-6th centuries). It is an example of Palaeo-Christian art with central plan recalling that of Santo Stefano Rotondo in rome. It has 16 antique columns.
• Church of San Bernardino (with façade by Agostino di Duccio).
• Church of Sant' Ercolano (early 14th century). Currently resembling a polygonal tower, it had once two floors. The upper one was demolished when the Rocca Paolina was built. It includes Baroque decorations commissioned from 1607. The main altar is made of a 4th sarcophagus found in 1609.
• Church of Sant'Antonio da Padova.
• Church of Santa Giuliana, heir of a female monastery founded in 1253, which in its later years gained a reputation for dissoluteness, until the French turned it into a granary. It is now a military hospital. The church, with a single nave, has traces of the ancient frescoes (13th century), which probably covered all the walls. The cloister is a noteworthy example of Cistercian architecture of the mid-14th century, attributed to Matteo Gattapone. This is contemporary with the upper part of the campanile, whose base is from the 13th century.
• Templar church of San Bevignate.
• The Palazzo dei Priori (Town Hall, encompassing the Collegio del Cambio, Collegio della Mercanzia, and Galleria Nazionale), one of Italy's greatest buildings.[30] The Collegio del Cambio has frescoes by Pietro Perugino, while the Collegio della Mercanzia has a fine later 14th century wooden interior.
• Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria, the National Gallery of Umbrian art in Middle Ages and Renaissance (it includes works by Duccio, Piero della Francesca, Beato Angelico, Perugino)
• Fontana Maggiore, a medieval fountain designed by Fra Bevignate and sculpted by Nicola and Giovanni Pisano.
• Chapel of San Severo, which retains a fresco painted by Raphael and Perugino.
• the Rocca Paolina, a Renaissance fortress (1540–1543) of which only a bastion today is remaining. The original design was by Antonio and Aristotile da Sangallo, and included the Porta Marzia (3rd century BC), the tower of Gentile Baglioni's house and a mediaeval cellar.
• Orto Botanico dell'Università di Perugia, the university's botanical garden
• the Ipogeo dei Volumni (Hypogeum of the Volumnus family), an Etruscan chamber tomb
• an Etruscan Well (Pozzo Etrusco).
• National Museum of Umbrian Archaeology, where one of the longest inscription in Etruscan is conserved, the so-called Cippus perusinus.
• Etruscan Arch (also known as Porta Augusta), an Etruscan gate with Roman elements.