Perugia - Rocca Paolina

Perugia was an Umbrian settlement on top of a mountain that became a Roman colonia around 250 BC. In 547 Totila´s Ostrogoth troops looted the city after a long siege. Legends tell, that Perugia´s bishop Herculanus, who negotiated with Totila in behalf of his folks, got beheaded by the Ostrogoths, making St. Herculanus (aka "Sant' Ercolano") to the city´s patron saint.

In the 9th century, with the consent of the Carolingians, it passed under the popes. Within the 11th century gained independency. After a long conflict, in 1370 the city signed a treaty accepting a papal legate, but already 5 years later the vicar-general of the Papal States was expelled by a popular uprising. During the Italian Wars Perugia passed through many hands until Condottiero Braccio da Montone reached a concordance with the Papacy. It did not bring peace to the city, but led to the "Salt War" in 1540, that had started as a protest against paying new taxes on salt. The papal troops forced a surrender.

Within a few years, more than hundred houses, as well as churches and monasteries were destroyed and used as building material to built an enormous fortress, the "Rocca Paolina". The fort was for centuries a symbol of oppressive papal rule.

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After the end of the papal rule mid 19th century, the upper floors of the "Rocca Paolina" got demolished. Still existing were the huge foundations of the fortress, that even incorporates an Etruscan gate. These foundations were excavated and restored in the 1960s. In the 1980s a couple of escalators got installed making it easy to use a carpark in the valley and than reach the center via the "Rocca Paolina".