- Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria
In 1863, the civic paintings collection was formally named to commemorate Pietro Vannucci, but the problem of establishing an appropriate site to house the collection was not solved until 1873, when it came to be housed on the third floor of the Palazzo dei Priori, in the center of Perugia. With the addition of acquisitions, donations and bequests, the pinacoteca became the Regia Galleria Vannucci in 1918, under the patronage of the king.
- Fontana Maggiore:
The fountain was part of program of civic improvements begun in 1278 to celebrate the autonomy of the free commune of Perugia. On the twenty-five sides of the basin are sculptures representing prophets and saints, the labors of the months, the signs of the zodiac, scenes from Genesis, and events from Roman history. It is a monumental medieval fountain located between the cathedral and the Palazzo dei Priori in the city of Perugia in Italy. It was made between 1277 and 1278 by sculptors Nicola Pisano and Giovanni Pisano. The hydraulics were by Fathers Bevignate and Boninsegna.
- Palazzo dei Priori:
As in other Italian medieval communes, it was the seat of the priori ("first citizens"). This magistrature was established in Perugia in 1303: the palazzo had been called the Palazzo Nuovo del Popolo ("New Palace of the People") to that point. During intractable civic quarrels, a podestà might be established, housed in a separate structure, the Palazzo del Podestà, of which only the Loggia added by Braccio da Montone flanking the Cathedral of San Lorenzo e San Ercolano remains. When the palazzo of this rival to the power of the Priori burned in 1534, significantly, it was not replaced, but fragments from it were incorporated into the archbishop's palace, also fronting the main piazza.
The Magistratura dei Priori that was housed in the structure consisted of ten representatives of each of Perugia's main guildsfrom among the forty-four that existed, permitted a tenure of only two months. The money-changers, who were housed in their own adjoining quarters in the fifteenth century, had the privilege of always being represented among the Priori, and the merchants' guild was represented by two members instead of one. After the Salt War of 1540 with Pope Paul III, the Priori were renamed “Conservatori dell’Ecclesiastica Obbedienza” ("Keepers of Ecclesiastical Obedience") and, the Palazzo del Podestà having been destroyed, the Palazzo dei Priori became the seat of the Papal Legate, the new governor of Perugia. When Pope Julius III restored the Priori, the grateful Perugini commemorated him with the bronze statue next to the Cathedral.
The structure commands the corner where the main artery of medieval Perugia, Corso Vannucci, enters the city's main square; a first section was constructed in 1293-97, at first as the Palatium Novum Populi, the "new Palace of the People", with ten bays along the Corso and three facing the piazza. Two more bays and a grand entrance portal were added to the piazza façade in 1333-37, together with the arcaded loggia, where decrees were publicly read. Later in the fourteenth century the palazzo was extended along the Corso, with six bays and a richly carved entrance doorway worthy of a cathedral. Rising above, a tower surmounts and controls the arched access to Via dei Priori, the ancient way that descends to the Etruscan gateway, the Roman Porta Trasimena, which was Christianized as the Arca di S. Luca. A further section down the Corso was built in 1429-43, still keeping to the Gothic tripartite fenestration, to house the Collegio del Cambio, the "money exchange" that was the financial center of Perugia.
The perimeter of the roof was originally crenellated all around, less for actual defensive purposes than as a symbol of Perugia's independence. Significantly, the crenellations were removed in 1610, when Perugia had submitted at last to papal armies. When Perugia was joined to a united Italy, the crenellations were triumphantly restored.
The grand portal in the Piazza is surmounted by the city's symbols, the griffin of Perugia and the Imperial Guelf lion, in bronze; the originals were probably cast in the Arsenal of Venice, in 1274, the first European bronze castings in the round achieved since Antiquity. Above the door, strung on a bar hanging from chains the keys to the gates of Sienawere triumphantly displayed, following the victory of Perugia at the battle of Torrita, 1358. The portal leads to an austere vaulted undercroft with the stairs leading to the vaulted frescoed Sala of the former council chamber of the Priori on the piano nobile; the Salawas allocated to the notaries guild in 1582, as the Sala dei Notari, when their former quarters, the Palazzetto dei Notari, on the opposite side of the Corso were partially demolished in a street widening. On the left is the entrance to the Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria one of the most outstanding provincial Italian collections of art.- Perugia Cathedral:
Unlike most cathedrals, the cathedral of Perugia has its flank on the city's main square, facing the Fontana Maggiore and thePalazzo dei Priori. This side is characterized by the Loggia di Braccio commissioned by Braccio da Montone (1423), an early Renaissance structure attributed to Fioravante Fioravanti from Bologna. It formerly formed part of the Palazzo del Podestà, which burned in 1534. Under it a section of Roman wall and the basement of the old campanile can be seen. It houses also the Pietra della Giustizia ("Justice Stone") bearing a 1264 inscription by which the commune announced that all the public debt had been repaid. Also on this side is a statue of Pope Julius III by Vincenzo Danti (1555); Julius was a hero to Perugia for having restored the local magistrature, which had been suppressed by Paul III. Until the end of the nineteenth century the statue was more prominently placed in the Piazza Danti (square), but it was repositioned to the side in order to make way for the electric tram which was inaugurated in 1899. In the unfinished wall is a portal designed by Galeazzo Alessi (1568), a pulpit composed of ancient fragments and Cosmatesque mosaics, from which Saint Bernardino of Siena preached in 1425 and 1427 and a wooden Crucifix by Polidoro Ciburri (1540).The main façade faces the smaller Piazza Dante; in it is a baroque portal designed by Pietro Carattoli in 1729. The sturdy campanile was constructed in 1606-1612. The interior is of the Chiesa a sala type, 68 m in length, with a nave and two aisles of the same height; the nave is twice as wide as the aisles. On the counterfaçade is the sarcophagus of bishop Giovanni Andrea Baglioni (died 1451), attributed to Urbano da Cortona. The first chapel is dedicated to the Holy Ring, the relic of the wedding ring of the Holy Virgin, which was stolen from Chiusi in 1473. The chapel had once frescoes by Pinturicchio and a painting by Perugino, now in the museum of Caen. It also houses a reliquary by Bino di Pietro and Federico and Cesarino del Roscetto, considered amongst the masterworks of Italian Renaissance goldsmiths' work. Continuing on the side wall are the remains of an altar by Agostino di Duccio (1473), demolished in 1623.
On the right nave is the Sacrament Chapel, designed by Alessi (1576), with an altarpiece of thePentecost by Cesare Nebbia (1563); a marble sarcophagus contains the remains of Pope Martin IV, who died at Perugia in 1285, and relics of Innocent III and Urban IV. The next bay leads to the Baptistery Chapel, with a Renaissance perspective view in marble by Pietro di Paolo di Andrea da Como (1477). In front of it, is the venerated image of the Madonna delle Grazie, by Giannicola di Paolo, a follower of Perugino. The right nave ends with the Chapel of St. Bernardino, enclosed by a 15th-century railing. Its altar houses the most important artwork of the church, a Deposition from the Cross by Federico Barocci (1567–1569).Notable is the apse, with a wooden choir with intarsia by Giuliano da Maiano and Domenico del Tasso(1486–91), which was damaged by a fire in 1985. The right transept has an altarpiece by Giovanni Baglione (1609). Two small side doors lead to Oratory of St. Onofrio, built to house alltarpiece with the same name by Luca Signorelli, now in the Cathedral Museum. The sacristy was entirely frescoed by Gian Antonio Pandolfi starting from 1573. The cloister houses several architectonic and sculpture fragments, including a head attributed to Giovanni Pisano and a Renaissance bust of the Redeemer.
