The province of Perugia () is the larger of the two

provinces A province is an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outside Italy. The term ''provi ...

in the

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 ...

region of

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, comprising two-thirds of both the area and population of the region. Its capital is the city 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 ...

. The province covered all of Umbria until 1927, when the province of Terni was carved out of its southern third. The province of Perugia has an area of 6,334 km² covering two-thirds of Umbria, and a total population of about 660,000. There are 59 ''

comuni 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 ...

'' (: ''

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 province. The province has numerous tourist attractions, especially artistic and historical ones, and is home to the Lake Trasimeno, the largest lake of Central Italy. It is historically the ancestral origin of the

Umbri The Umbri were an Italic peoples, Italic people of ancient Italy. A region called Umbria still exists and is now occupied by Italian speakers. It is somewhat smaller than the Regio VI Umbria, ancient Umbria. Most ancient Umbrian cities were sett ...

, while later it was a Roman province and then 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 late 19th century.

History and topology

The

Etruscans The Etruscan civilization ( ) was an ancient civilization created by the Etruscans, a people who inhabited Etruria in List of ancient peoples of Italy, ancient Italy, with a common language and culture, and formed a federation of city-states. Af ...

likely founded Perugia in the 6th century BC. The Umbra and

Tiber The Tiber ( ; ; ) is the List of rivers of Italy, third-longest river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, where it is joined by the R ...

valleys are located in the province. The eastern part of the province is a hilly region while the rest was covered by forests. The province lies in the basin of the river Tiber and its tributaries Chiaseio, Nestore, Naja, and Chiana. The southern regions are less hilly. Silk, corn and grass are some of the most important agricultural products of the province. The 1840 version of the ''Penny Cyclopaedia'' records that Perugia supplied almost half of the butcher's meat required in the city of Rome. The large number of cattle was fed on grass growing on the plain areas irrigated by the water of Tiber and its tributaries. After the province of Rome, Viterbo and Spoleto e Rieti the Perugian province was the fourth most important of the

. The largest lake in central Italy, Lake Trasimeno is located in the Province of Perugia. The lake has three islands – Polvese, Maggiore and Minore. The lake has a circumference of about 30 miles but is relatively shallow. It is fed by springs in the nearby hills. Perugia was incorporated into the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...

in 1860, as the Province of

. The province at the time was somewhat larger than the current

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

of Umbria, comprising Rieti to the south (now part of

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

). It was subdivided into the districts ('' circondari'') of Perugia,

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 ...

Orvieto Orvieto () is a city and ''comune'' in the Province of Terni, southwestern Umbria, Italy, situated on the flat summit of a large butte of volcanic tuff. The city rises dramatically above the almost-vertical faces of tuff cliffs that are compl ...

, Terni, Rieti and

Spoleto Spoleto (, also , , ; ) is an ancient city in the Italian province of Perugia in east-central Umbria on a foothill of the Apennines. It is south of Trevi, north of Terni, southeast of Perugia; southeast of Florence; and north of Rome. H ...

. In 1921, the municipal council of Terni proposed the separation of the province into the new provinces of Perugia and Terni. In 1923, Rieti together with Cittaducale were added to the province of Rome (Lazio). The remaining Province of Umbria was divided into the provinces of Perugia and Terni in 1927.

Administration

The 59 ''

'' (: ''

'') in the province of Perugia are administered by an elected local authority which is responsible for regional planning, managing and addressing municipalities activities, environment, energy, road maintenance etc. In 2007, 25 people died of consequences of drug overdose in the province of Perugia. This was the highest number of deaths recorded due to drug overdose in any Italian province.

Tourist attractions

The province is well known for its medieval palaces, castles and fortresses. A few important tourist destinations of the province are the Roman amphitheatre near Porta Marzia, Cassero di Porta Sant'Angelo, Palazzo del Capitano del Popolo, Cathedral of San Lorenzo, San Bernardino's Pulpit, Piazza IV Novembre, Maggiore Fountain, National Gallery of Umbria, National Museum of Umbrian Archaeology and St Peter's bell tower in the city of Perugia; Basilica of Saint Clare, Upper Basilica of St Francis, Temple of Minerva (dates back to 1st century B.C.) and the Basilica of Santa Maria Degli Angeli in

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 ...

. The first Christian monk

Saint Benedict Benedict of Nursia (; ; 2 March 480 – 21 March 547), often known as Saint Benedict, was a Great Church, Christian monk. He is famed in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Lutheran Churches, the Anglican Communion, and Old ...

was born in Norcia. The town of

Gubbio Gubbio () is an Italian town and ''comune'' in the far northeastern part of the Italian province of Perugia (Umbria). It is located on the lowest slope of Mt. Ingino, a small mountain of the Apennine Mountains, Apennines. History Prehistory The ol ...

has a Roman theater which dates back to 1st century A.D.. Franciscan Path of Peace which was the path traversed by Saint Francis who left all the property he inherited from his father, connects Assisi with Gubbio. Assisi is an

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

. The cultural festival named "Festival dei due Mondi" held in Spoleto; Festival of the Ceri involving a candle procession to the nearby Basilica of San Ubaldo and a crossbow contest "Cross-Bow Palio" in Gubbio also attract large number of tourists. The province is also known for its cuisine which includes black truffles, Easter Pizza, lentils from Castelluccio, and salami and cured meats from Norcia.

''Comuni''

The principal ''

'' (municipalities) in the province, with a population over 20,000, are:

Gallery

File:IMG 0699 - Perugia - Corso Vannucci - Foto G. Dall'Orto - 5 ago 2006 - 02.jpg,

, Corso Vannucci File:Gubbio panorama.jpg,

File:Rocca Albornoz and Ponte delle Torri, Spoleto.jpg,

File:Assisi San Francesco BW 2.JPG,

, Basilica of San Francesco

References