Museum sights in Umbria
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Museo della Ceramica a Lustro e Torre Medioevale di Porta Romana
Just below the Funivia Colle Eletto is the Museo della Ceramica a Lustro e Torre Medioevale di Porta Romana. The a lustro ceramic style has its origins in 11th-century Muslim Spain. On the 2nd floor, ceramics from prehistoric times share space with medieval and Renaissance pieces. There’s also a collection of crossbows from the 18th century, some of which have a target range as far as 50m. Check out the really unfun-looking chastity belt on the 4th floor and appreciate the fact that you are alive today instead of 300 years ago.
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Galleria Nazionale dell’Umbria
The Palazzo dei Priori houses some of the best museums in Perugia. The foremost art gallery in Umbria is the stunning Galleria Nazionale dell’Umbria, entered from Corso Vannucci. It’s an art historian’s dream, with 30 rooms of artwork dating back to Byzantine-like art from the 13th century, as well as rooms dedicated to works from hometown heroes Pinturicchio and Perugino.
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Nobile Collegio del Cambio
The Nobile Collegio del Cambio is considered by some as the most beautiful bank in the world. It has three rooms: the Sala dei Legisti (Legist Chamber), with wooden stalls carved by Giampiero Zuccari in the 17th century; the Sala dell’Udienza (Audience Chamber), with frescoes by Perugino; and the Chapel of San Giovanni Battista, painted by a student of Perugino’s, Giannicola di Paolo.
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Museo Archeologico Nazionale dell’Umbria
The Museo Archeologico Nazionale dell’Umbria will boggle the mind with its collection of Etruscan and prehistoric artefacts – carved funerary urns, coins, Bronze Age statuary – dating back to the 16th century BC. The Cippo Perugino (Perugian Memorial Stone) has the longest Etruscan-language engraving ever found, offering a new window into the language.
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Museo di Palazzo della Penna
The modern art museum Museo di Palazzo della Penna is as stunning for its palatial surroundings as for its artwork. Frescoes from the 18th and 19th centuries share space with 20th-century futurist Gerardo Dottori and German painter and sculptor Joseph Beuys, a radical ideologist whose artwork transcends social boundaries.
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Museo Pinacoteca di Todi
The lugubrious 13th-century Palazzo del Capitano links to the Palazzo del Popolo to create what is now the Museo Pinacoteca di Todi which features an elegant triple window and houses the city’s recently restored pinacoteca (art gallery) and archaeological museum.
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Museo Civico
The Palazzo dei Consoli houses the Museo Civico, which displays the Eugubian Tablets, discovered in 1444. The seven bronze tablets are the main source for research into the ancient Umbrian language. Upstairs is a picture gallery featuring works from the Gubbian school.
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Museo dell’Opera del Duomo
The Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, housed in the former papal palaces, boasts a clutter of religious relics, as well as Etruscan antiquities and paintings by artists such as Simone Martini, Arnolfo di Cambio, and the three Pisanos: Andrea, Nino and Giovanni.
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Museo Claudio Faina e Civico
In the Palazzo Papale, you can visit the interesting Museo Claudio Faina e Civico, where you’ll find some significant Greek ceramic works, mostly found near Piazza Cahen in tombs dating to the 6th century BC.
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Cappella di San Severo
The Cappella di San Severo is decorated with Raphael’s Trinity with Saints (thought by many to be his first fresco) during the artist’s residence in Perugia (1505–08) and frescoes by his teacher Perugino, dating to 1521.
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Museo di Emilio Greco
Museo di Emilio Greco displays a collection of modern pieces donated by the creator of the cathedral's bronze doors. You can get a combined ticket (adult/child around €6.50/4) for admission to the Pozzo di San Patrizio.
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National Museum of the Dukedom of Spoleto
Rocca Albornoziana is currently home to the National Museum of the Dukedom of Spoleto, which houses historical information as well as artwork from Spoleto's pinacoteca, which will remain closed for several years.
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Pozzo Etrusco
You can venture down into the 3rd century–BC Pozzo Etrusco. The 36m-deep well was the main water reservoir of the Etruscan town, and, more recently, the source of water during WWII bombing raids.
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Museo Archeologico
Make your first stop the Museo Archeologico, located on the western edge of Piazza della Libertà. It holds a well-displayed collection of Roman and Etruscan bits and bobs from the area.
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Cassero di Porta Sant’Angelo
The Cassero di Porta Sant’Angelo has a panoramic view facing back onto Perugia which is the main reason to come out here, plus it offers a historical briefing of the three city walls.
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Museo Archeologico Nazionale
In the Palazzo Papale you can see one of Italy’s most important collections of Etruscan archaeological artefacts in the Museo Archeologico Nazionale.
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Pinacoteca Civica
The Pinacoteca Civica shows off Spello's artistic, religious and architectural past.
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San Feliciano
The working town of San Feliciano still sees fishermen leave to trawl for fish in the morning (visitors can join them). The town's main draw is the fishing museum.
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Panicale
Perched on a hill with an expansive view of the lake, the entire town of Panicale is one giant fortress. In La Chiesa di San Sebastiano is Perugino's Martyrdom of St Sebastian, painted by the master in 1505. In the background of the painting is a landscape of the lake as it looked in Perugino's day.
If you look closely, especially at the bottom of the painting, you'll see what's known as the tratteggio restoration technique, where artists create tiny vertical brushstrokes to fill in damaged artwork. The result is seamless from far away but art historians can tell what is original and what has been restored. In 2005, art historians discovered another fresco in the church,
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Museo del Tulle
Craft fans will appreciate the Museo del Tulle, with examples of traditional lace and tulle from the area, housed in a deconsecrated frescoed church. If you want to buy lace, head to San Michael Square No 2 and ring the doorbell. If she's home, Fede Boldrino still creates lacework by hand.
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Museo del Merlotto
The island of Isola Maggiore is famed for its lace and embroidery production and you can see examples in the Museo del Merlotto.
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Museo della Chiesa della Sbarra
The Museo della Chiesa della Sbarra, in the church of the same name, offers an up-close view of church vestments, statues and altar regalia from the past five centuries. Of particularly creepy note are the relic boxes filled with the bones of saints. Entry here is payable at the Museo del Tulle (lace museum).
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Fishing Museum
Although primarily a strip of hotels catering to northern Europeans on a sunny holiday, San Feliciano's main draw is the Fishing Museum, which showcases fishing techniques from ancient times to modern day.
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Città della Pieve
Città della Pieve is culturally and geographically considered part of Lake Trasimeno, but it's about 20km to the south. Although he became known as 'Il Perugino' (the Perugian), the famous Renaissance painter Pietro Vannucci was born here in 1445 and his paintings are all over the town. Buy a 'museum circuit' ticket at the tourist office or one of the museums.
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