BEVAGNA: Cradle of craft traditions

Since the 12th century the town of Bevagna huddles round the central square Filippo Silvestri, sublime in its irregularity, which it is flanked by important buildings that stand as symbols of civil and religious power.
Bevagna still has a medieval structure, but there are also numerous evidences of the Roman period. The ancient Mevania is mentioned for the first time on the occasion of a conflict between Umbrians and Romans in 308 B.C. However, archaeological finds prove that a local settlement already existed in the 7th century B.C. After the Roman conquest of Umbria, in the early 3rd century B.C., Mevania, like other communities in the region, was allied to Rome. After 90 B.C. it obtained Roman citizenship and its administrative structures where those of a municipium. It flourished primarily in the first imperial age between the 1st and 2nd century A.D., but declined in the late empire, when preference was given to the Flaminia’s alternative route via Terni and Spoleto. In 597 it became part of the diocese of Spoleto and, therefore, of the Duchy, whose fate it shared until 774. In 1371 it passed into the control of the Trinci. In 1530 Clement VII appointed Malatesta Baglioni as governor, whose lordship only lasted for a short time. Indeed, just four years later, Paul III made it directly subject to the Holy See again. From 1552 to 1567 it was alternately subjugated to the Baglioni, to Cardinal Borromeo and to Cardinal Ferdinando de’ Medici. In 1825 it was awarded “city” status by Leo XII.
The imposing town walls of Bevagna are almost intact for the entire perimeter. These walls, with their bastions and towers, are pierced by medieval gates or new breaches.
The fragments of stone pavement found in the central Corso Matteotti prove that the original Via Flaminia was identical to the actual main street crossing the whole town.
The main square of the town is immersed in an almost enchanted landscape, with the Palazzo del Podestà and the Romanesque churches of San Silvestro and San Michele Arcangelo in the background.

Map 'Bevagna a misura di bambino'>clicca qui

Do not miss

• Church of San Michele Arcangelo, with a precious portal and frescoes decorated by the Foligno school of painting
• Church of San Silvestro, jewel of Romanesque Umbrian architecture
• The beautiful mosaic with black and white tesserae of the frigidarium (in the ancient Roman public baths) depicting a sea theme
• The curtain of the 19th-century theatre “Francesco Torti” depicting the image of the Clitunno river at the dawn decorated by the artist Luigi Frappi
• The remains of a Roman temple dating back to the 1st century A.D., later converted into the Church of the Madonna della Neve
• Church of San Francesco, on the highest part of the town, with works by Ascensidonio Spacca and Dono Doni
• The ancient wash-house near the mill complex
• A tour around the intact medieval walls
• The charm of the Middle Ages experienced through the cultural Circuit of Medieval Crafts and the Gaite Market (in June)
• The panoramic view from the Church of the Madonna delle Grazie; from there it is possible to take a tour through the fortified towns
• Roasted snails or a sandwich with the “porchetta” (spit-roasted pork) of Bevagna