Bevagna - Chiesa di San Michele e fontana

Bevagna is a town and ''

comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

'' in the central part of the Italian province of Perugia (

Umbria Umbria ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region of central Italy. It includes Lake Trasimeno and Cascata delle Marmore, Marmore Falls, and is crossed by the Tiber. It is the only landlocked region on the Italian Peninsula, Apennine Peninsula. The re ...

), in the flood plain of the Topino river. Bevagna is south-east of

Perugia Perugia ( , ; ; ) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area. It has 162,467 ...

, west of

Foligno Foligno (; Central Italian, Southern Umbrian: ''Fuligno'') is an ancient town of Italy in the province of Perugia in east central Umbria, on the Topino river where it leaves the Apennine Mountains, Apennines and enters the wide plain of the Clit ...

, north-north-west of Montefalco, south of

Assisi Assisi (, also ; ; from ; Central Italian: ''Ascesi'') is a town and comune of Italy in the Province of Perugia in the Umbria region, on the western flank of Monte Subasio. It is generally regarded as the birthplace of the Latin poet Prope ...

and north-west of

Trevi The area of freedom, security and justice (AFSJ) of the European Union (EU) is a policy domain concerning home affairs and migration, justice as well as fundamental rights, developed to address the challenges posed to internal security by col ...

. It has a population of c. 5,000, with the town of Bevagna proper accounting for about half of that. It is one of

I Borghi più belli d'Italia () is a non-profit private association of small Italian towns of strong historical and artistic interest, that was founded in March 2001 on the initiative of the Tourism Council of the National Association of Italian Municipalities, with the a ...

("The most beautiful villages of Italy").

History

The city was originally an Etrusco-

Oscan Oscan is an extinct Indo-European language of southern Italy. The language is in the Osco-Umbrian or Sabellic branch of the Italic languages. Oscan is therefore a close relative of Umbrian and South Picene. Oscan was spoken by a number of t ...

settlement. Around 80-90 BC it became a Roman ''

municipium In ancient Rome, the Latin term (: ) referred to a town or city. Etymologically, the was a social contract among ('duty holders'), or citizens of the town. The duties () were a communal obligation assumed by the in exchange for the privileges ...

'', called Mevania, in the Augustan Regio VI. It lay on the western branch of the

Via Flaminia The Via Flaminia () was an ancient Roman roads, Roman road leading from Rome over the Apennine Mountains to ''Ariminum'' (Rimini) on the coast of the Adriatic Sea, and due to the ruggedness of the mountains was the major option the Romans had f ...

, west-north-west of Forum Flaminii, where the branches rejoin. It is mentioned on several ancient itineraries, following the

Vicus Martis Tudertium The ''Vicus Martis Tudertium'' is an archaeological site in Umbria, central Italy. It is located c. south of Massa Martana, a small ''comune'' in the province of Perugia. Origins and history Most historians associate the site's foundation with ...

on the way out of Rome. In 310 BC the consul

Fabius In Roman mythology, Fabius was the son of Hercules and an unnamed mother. In "The Life of Fabius Maximus" from the ''Parallel Lives'' by Plutarch, Fabius, the first of his name, was the son of Hercules by a nymph or a woman native to the country, ...

broke the Umbrian forces here; but otherwise it is not mentioned until the 1st century AD. In 69 the army of

Vitellius Aulus Vitellius ( ; ; 24 September 1520 December 69) was Roman emperor for eight months, from 19 April to 20 December AD 69. Vitellius became emperor following the quick succession of the previous emperors Galba and Otho, in a year of civil wa ...

awaited here the advance of

Vespasian Vespasian (; ; 17 November AD 9 – 23 June 79) was Roman emperor from 69 to 79. The last emperor to reign in the Year of the Four Emperors, he founded the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Empire for 27 years. His fiscal reforms and consolida ...

. Pastures near the Tinia river and the white oxen of the Clitumnus River (the modern Clitunno) are mentioned by

Propertius Sextus Propertius was a Latin elegiac poet of the Augustan age. He was born around 50–45 BC in Assisium (now Assisi) and died shortly after 15 BC. Propertius' surviving work comprises four books of '' Elegies'' ('). He was a friend of the ...

, whose family was from the area (from

um, Hispellum, or Mevania itself): they may refer to Mevania. Mevania is specifically mentioned by the later writers

Silius Italicus Tiberius Catius Asconius Silius Italicus (, c. 26 – c. 101 AD) was a Roman senator, orator and epic poet of the Silver Age of Latin literature. His only surviving work is the 17-book '' Punica'', an epic poem about the Second Punic War and the ...

, Lucan and

Statius Publius Papinius Statius (Greek language, Greek: Πόπλιος Παπίνιος Στάτιος; , ; ) was a Latin poetry, Latin poet of the 1st century CE. His surviving poetry includes an epic in twelve books, the ''Thebaid (Latin poem), Theb ...

. There are important remains of a temple near the north gate, of a

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

built into modern houses in the (misnamed) via dell'Anfiteatro, lesser remains of a second temple in the church of San Vincenzo near the east gate, mosaics belonging to midsized baths in the via Porta Guelfa, and very scanty remains of an

amphitheatre An amphitheatre (American English, U.S. English: amphitheater) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ('), meani ...

at some distance from the modern town. The original walls, which have disappeared, were, according to Pliny
Hist. Nat. xxxv.173
, built of unbaked bricks. The town now has a complete circuit of medieval stone walls that are said to be very near, if not identical with, the Roman walls. After the Lombard conquest, it became the seat of a gastald in the

Duchy of Spoleto The Duchy of Spoleto () was a Lombards, Lombard territory founded about 570 in central Italy by the Lombard ''dux'' Faroald I of Spoleto, Faroald. Its capital was the city of Spoleto. Lombards The Lombards invaded northern Italy in 568 and b ...

, and after the year 1000 it was a free ''comune''. In 1152

Frederick Barbarossa Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (; ), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death in 1190. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March 115 ...

set it on fire. In 1249 it was again destroyed by the Count of Aquino. The Trinci family ruled it from 1371 to 1439. Later it was part of the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; ; ), officially the State of the Church, were a conglomeration of territories on the Italian peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope from 756 to 1870. They were among the major states of Italy from the 8th c ...

until the

unification of Italy The unification of Italy ( ), also known as the Risorgimento (; ), was the 19th century Political movement, political and social movement that in 1861 ended in the Proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, annexation of List of historic states of ...

Francis of Assisi and the birds

The legendary account of

Francis of Assisi Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone ( 1181 – 3 October 1226), known as Francis of Assisi, was an Italians, Italian Mysticism, mystic, poet and Friar, Catholic friar who founded the religious order of the Franciscans. Inspired to lead a Chris ...

preaching to the birds took place in a field outside Bevagna. The stone on which he allegedly stood when preaching to the birds is now in the Ciccoli Chapel of the Church of San Francesco.Key to Umbria: Bevagna: San Francesco
retrieved 4 December 2019.

Main sights

*''Palazzo dei Consoli'', known from 1187, with Teatro F. Torti (1886) * Romanesque church of ''S. Michele Arcangelo'' (12th-13th centuries) *Romanesque church of ''S. Silvestro'' (1195). *Church of ''Sant'Agostino'' (1316). *Church of ''San Francesco'' (after 1275) *Church of ''San Nicolò''. *Church of ''Santa Maria in Laurenzia'', built in the 13th century and later enlarged. *Church of ''San Vincenzo'' (known from the 12th century). *The medieval walls. *Ruins of a Roman temple. *Ruins of a Roman theatre. *Roman thermae with mosaics of marine life. *Castle of Cantalupo. * Castle of Castelbuono. * Church of Limigiano. *Castle of Torre del Colle.

Culture

The main events held in Bevagna include: *''Primavera medievale'' (April): exposition of local culinary and artistic products held by the Associazione Mercato delle Gaitte. *''Arte in Tavola'' (end of April): Spring festival with exhibitions by local artists, concerts, exhibitions of local products and dishes with tastings. *''Mercato delle Gaite'' (June): big summer festival with medieval banquets, processions, challenges between the four ''gaite'' (quarters – those of San Giorgio, San Giovanni, San Pietro, and Santa Maria) and taverns.

Notable residents

* The painter Andrea Camassei (1602–1649) was born in Bevagna. * The singer and composer Odoardo Ceccarelli (c. 1600–1668) was born in Bevagna.

References

External links

Official websitePro Loco BevagnaBevagna.NetMercato del Gaite
- all about the festivals (in Italian)
Mercato del Gaite English Video
*

at LacusCurtius {{Authority control Roman sites of Umbria Roman towns and cities in Italy Borghi più belli d'Italia