The best traffic-free bike rides around Bettona

In the historic center, the ancient medieval Castle preserves beautiful 13th-century walls and a mighty keep. Inside the Castle, you can admire the church of San Sebastiano, once an Oratory, renovated in the 16th century. Outside the Castle is the small church of the Madonna di Foce, built between 1634 and 1636, with a large terracotta rose window and, along the road, the modern Parish church of Santa Maria Assunta with polychrome stained glass windows.

TO LEAVE YOU OPEN-MOUTHED

The church consecrated to Santa Maria Assunta with an adjoining convent dominates the square of Monteluce and the entire neighborhood. It is known to everyone in the city because the entire complex was part of the area of the city where the city hospital was located. The church was home to the oldest community of Poor Clares "Damianite" who settled here in the 13th century. During the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, following donations, the Monastery of Santa Maria di Monteluce was the richest and most prestigious female monastery in the city. The current facade of the church, covered with pink marble tiles within white frames, dates back to 1451, the year of its restoration. The interior has a single nave with a round vault resting on twelve pillars. In the side chapels is an important cycle of frescoes of Perugian Mannerism. It is a place from which you can enjoy a beautiful view of the historic center of Perugia.

Natural waterfalls on the Topino river near Cannara

Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli The small chapel of Santa Maria degli Angeli alla Porziuncola, still completely preserved inside the basilica, was, according to tradition, built by four soldiers returning from the Holy War in the wooded plain below Assisi, known as the Cerretto della Porziuncola. They brought a piece of the Madonna's tombstone with them. There, on certain autumn days, the strong wind that blew every cloud from the sky and through the leaves seemed similar to the song of angels. The chapel was administered by the Benedictine monks of the monastery of Santa Benedetto al Subasio since the 10th century. This place would probably have been completely forgotten if the paths of Francis and Clare had not led there. Thanks to them, we find the Porziuncola intact today, just as it was a good 1,000 years ago. But instead of the noisy thicket, there is now a large basilica, built between the 16th and 17th centuries, which envelops and protects the chapel like a caring mother. This view from within the building makes the chapel seem even smaller, almost impossibly small. The church was given to the poor saint by the aforementioned Benedictine monks to establish the headquarters of the newly founded Franciscan order. When Francis first came here, the church was in disrepair, and according to his saintly legend, he dedicated the third year after his conversion exclusively to the renovation of the small chapel. It was here, while reading the Gospel, that he realized that his mission was not to restore dilapidated religious buildings, but to rebuild and preach the entire Kingdom of God by living in poverty, penance, and simplicity. From here, Francis and his confreres set out to spread his message throughout Italy, and here they returned again and again. One night in 1211, a desperate and frightened Chiara d'Offreduccio, who had fled her home and her aristocratic family, knocked on the doors of Porciuncola. Text / Source: Exploring-Umbria.com https://www.exploring-umbria.com/de/entdecke-assisi/sehenswuerdigkeiten-in-assisi/basilica-santa-maria-degli-angeli-in-porziuncolabasilika-zu-unserer-lieben-frau-von-den-engeln/

Panoramic road in excellent condition, beautiful and green landscapes, silence and very few cars

The terrace offers beautiful views over Perugia and beyond.

ARCHITECTURAL STRATIFICATIONS Visiting this area of the Rocca, where Via Bagliona meets the shorter Via alla Piazza Gran-de, the complex and fascinating interplay between the remains of the medieval quarter and the structures of the papal fortress can be seen more clearly. The limestone and travertine walls of the ground floor of the medieval buildings, the pointed arches of the entrances to houses and shops and the base of Gentile Ba-glioni's tower blend with the brick vaults that cover the streets and the great foundation columns of the fortress. The old buildings were gutted and the underground chambers of the Rocca Paolina made. The destruction of a large part of the city and the construction of the Rocca in its place was a tearing wound for Perugia, which thus lost the quarter with its most elegant houses and the church of Santa Maria dei Servi, which housed many tombs of noble families and remarkable works of art. The keystone of its entrance is still visible. One of the frescoes by Benedetto Bonfigli (second half of the 15th century) in the chapel of the Palazzo dei Priori (now part of the National Gallery of Umbria) represents precisely this area of the medieval city and remains the most important evidence of how it was before the construction of the fortress.