Basilica di San Pietro (Saint Peter's Basilica and Abbey), Perugia (must see)

The basilica di San Pietro in Perugia is a part of the eponymous Catholic abbey, established in 996 by abbot Pietro Vincioli, later canonized as Saint Peter. The basilica stands on the foundations of a previous cathedral that was reportedly built as early as the 4th century AD for the first bishopric of Perugia. The land beneath it had been sacred to the pagan Etruscans and Romans for many centuries prior to that.

The Abbey coexisted peacefully with the people of Perugia until 1398 when the locals burned it down after the abbot, Francesco Guidalotti, had arranged the killing of a leader of the Raspanti Party. Most of the Perugians held membership in this party and so, quite naturally, they got furious. Following the death of the last monk of San Pietro, in 1899, the property of the Abbey was taken over by the Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences of the University of Perugia.

Inside the main court is a 13th-century polygonal clock tower. Romanesque blind arches on the façade of the basilica are a product of later restoration. The interior, akin to an early Christian temple, features the Gothic choir, made of wood, dating back to the 16th century, and the triple-arched portal, designed by Galeazzo Alessi in 1571.

The sacristy, added in 1451, carries a great deal of frescoes and paintings by the likes of Perugino, Parmigianino and Raphael. Among the ones by Perugino there are five smaller paintings depicting Santa Scholastica, Santa Ercolano, Santa Constantino, Santa Pietro Abbate, Santa Mauro and Santa Placido. In the right aisle, above the door leading to St. Joseph's Chapel, there are three more 17th-century copies from Perugino made by Giovanni Battista Salvi, aka Sassoferrato. Also, in the left aisle, at the Sacramento Chapel, you can find the Pietà, the late work by Perugino, where the painter portrays himself in the face of Giuseppe di Arimatea.