The village in concentric circles
On a hill south of Lake Trasimeno, at about 430 metres, Panicale is one of the most enchanting villages in Umbria, one of the "Borghi più belli d'Italia", with a unique structure: its stone houses are arranged in concentric rings around the top of the hill, with narrow lanes that follow the curves of the walls and rise gradually towards the centre, where there are three small squares, one above the other. The lowest, Piazza Umberto I, has an elegant fountain of the fifteenth century, once the village's water supply, surrounded by the palaces of the old families; above it, the square with the collegiate church of San Michele, and at the top, the Palazzo del Podestà.
Panicale preserves an important work by Perugino, the great Umbrian painter of the Renaissance: in the small church of San Sebastiano, just outside the walls, the fresco of the Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian, painted in 1505, depicts the saint tied to a column and pierced by arrows, surrounded by elegant archers, against a background of classical architecture and the landscape of the lake. The village also has a small and charming eighteenth century theatre, the Teatro Cesare Caporali, and a museum dedicated to the art of tulle embroidery, a local tradition. From the walls and from the terraces of the village, the view over Lake Trasimeno and the Val di Chiana is splendid, especially at sunset. The village is surrounded by olive groves and vineyards that produce the wines of the Colli del Trasimeno.
Tip: ask at the tourist office to visit the church of San Sebastiano; climb to the top of the village for the view of the lake.
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