Perugia

Perugia, a city of Italy, stands (1706 feet above sea-level) on the right bank of the Tiber, 11 miles E. of the lake of Perugia (anc. Lacus Trasimenus) and 127 miles by rail N. of Rome. It is surrounded with walls pierced by gates (one of them very old). The broad Corso, which contains the handsomest edifices, unites two squares, in one of which stands the Gothic cathedral of St Lawrence, dating from the end of the 15th century, and adorned with many paintings, carvings, &c. The church of St Dominic (1632) contains the tomb of Pope Benedict XI. by Giovanni Pisano, and stained windows (1402); the remarkable church of St Peter (11th century) has granite pillars, and pictures by Raphael, Perugino, Parmigiano; these are only two out of several noteworthy churches. In the cathedral square stand also the Gothic municipal palace (1281), with the valuable art gallery, especially rich in productions of the Umbrian school; the great fountain, adorned with statues by Niccolo and Giovanni Pisano; the statue of Pope Julius III. (1555), described in N. Hawthorne's Marble Faun; and the old money-changers' hall (1453-57), decorated with some of Perugino's best works. In the vicinity of the city a number of Etruscan tombs were discovered in 1840; they contained cinerary urns, lamps, vases, bronze armour, ornaments, &c. The university (1307) has 20 teachers and 130 students, a botanical garden, an observatory, a valuable antiquarian museum, and a library (1852) of 30,000 vols. There is also an academy of fine arts, with an art school. Silk and woollen goods, wax-candles, and liqueurs are manufactured. Pop. (1881) 17,395. Perugia, the ancient Perusia, was one of the twelve Etrurian republican cities. It was besieged and captured by the Romans in 310 B.C., and again in 40 B.C., and by Totila (549). At different periods during the next thirteen centuries it was subjected to the popes, especially after the middle of the 16th century; at other times it was independent, though in the power of native despots. In the 15th century it became the centre of the Umbrian school of painting. In 1860 it was made a part of the kingdom of Italy.