The medieval square and the Mercato delle Gaite
In the plain of the Valle Umbra, between Assisi and Montefalco, Bevagna is a small, quiet town enclosed by medieval walls, one of the "Borghi più belli d'Italia", which was an important Roman town, Mevania, along the Via Flaminia. Its heart is Piazza Silvestri, one of the most beautiful and harmonious medieval squares in Umbria, irregular in shape, overlooked by the Gothic Palazzo dei Consoli, which houses the small, elegant Teatro Torti, by two Romanesque churches of the twelfth century, San Silvestro and San Michele Arcangelo, both works of the master builder Binello, with carved portals, and by a nineteenth century fountain.
Bevagna preserves interesting traces of its Roman past: the remains of a temple, the curved houses that follow the shape of the old Roman theatre, and a mosaic of the second century AD that decorated the floor of the baths, with marine creatures such as dolphins, octopuses, lobsters and sea monsters, in black and white tiles. The town is famous for the Mercato delle Gaite, a historical re-enactment held in the second half of June, in which the four districts of the town, the "gaite", recreate medieval life between 1250 and 1350: the streets fill with taverns, markets and above all the workshops of ancient trades, rebuilt with great fidelity and working, such as the paper mill, the candle maker, the silk spinner, the blacksmith and the dyer, with the inhabitants in costume. Some of these workshops, such as the paper mill and the candle maker, can be visited all year round.
Tip: visit during the Mercato delle Gaite, eating in the medieval taverns; the paper mill workshop is fascinating at any time of year.
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