The Adoration of the Magi
On a hill on the border between Umbria and Tuscany, overlooking the Val di Chiana and Lake Trasimeno, Città della Pieve is a refined town built almost entirely of red brick, which gives its palaces, churches and streets a warm, rosy colour, especially at sunset. It is the birthplace of Pietro Vannucci, known as Perugino, one of the greatest painters of the Italian Renaissance and the master of Raphael, born here around 1450, who remained attached to his native town throughout his life, leaving there some of his most beautiful works.
The most famous is the Adoration of the Magi, a large fresco painted in 1504 in the small Oratorio di Santa Maria dei Bianchi: a crowded procession of kings, knights, pages and horses advances towards the Holy Family, against the background of a vast, luminous landscape that recalls the view from the town, with Lake Trasimeno and the hills. In the oratory, two letters from Perugino are preserved, in which the painter negotiated his fee with the confraternity, lowering the price because he was working for his own town. Other works by Perugino can be seen in the Cathedral of Saints Gervasio and Protasio and in the church of Santa Maria dei Servi. The town also has the Vicolo Baciadonne, the "women-kissing lane", one of the narrowest streets in Italy, so narrow that it's said two people could barely pass without touching, and the Palazzo della Corgna. In August, the Palio dei Terzieri recalls the town's medieval traditions. The area is known for saffron, grown here since the Middle Ages.
Tip: a single ticket covers the oratory and other Perugino sites; walk to the Vicolo Baciadonne, near the cathedral.
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