DC Girl on the Go: A Snippet of Perugia

While singing abroad, Perugia served as the choir's base city as we toured the region. Perugia is the capital city of Umbria, the region below Tuscany. It's the 23rd largest city in Italy and its population is comparable to that of Chatanooga, TN. In recent years the city has made great efforts to restrict traffic so the city is really walkable. A train station is located at the bottom of the hill and a Mini Metro (think Disney monorail car) takes people from the outskirts to the city center. Though very steep getting to the centro, walking around is quite easy since the city itself isn't overwhelmingly large.

The neighborhood of the Etruscan nobility in the Rocca

Built on a hill, the city has served as a natural stronghold in the region against opposition during wars and most significantly, against the papacy. You can see the struggle for power in the many lion (symbol of the Pope) and griffin (symbol of Perugia) plaques and statues dotting the old part of the city. My favorite story of Perugian defiance is during the Salt War in 1540 where the Perugians were finally defeated by the Pope after refusing to pay a tax on salt. The Pope commissioned a guy to build a fortress right over the neighborhood of the Etruscan nobility that resisted him. This is why to this day Perugians don't use salt on their bread. You can see the foundation of the Baglioni family houses in the Rocca Paolina fortress, and the Etruscan Arch.

Modern day Perugia is known for its chocolate and its universities. Unfortunately, they close down the Perugina chocolate factory during the summer but I was able to buy their baci, or 'kisses' as we call it in the States, at the store. Baci are round chocolates filled with hazelnut and a love note on the wrapper. They were perfect to bring back to the office! Perugia is also a huge study-abroad town. One of their universities is called 'Universita di Stranieri' which literally translates to 'University of Foreigners.' There were students everywhere, especially in Piazza Noviembre and along the Corso Vannucci.

Around Perugia