What is Corciano known for?

The Gonfalone della Peste, painted by Benedetto Bonfigli in 1472 with the town itself shown at the foot of the Madonna's cloak. Saint Francis stopped here in 1223 on his way back from Lent on Isola Maggiore; the Chiesa di San Francesco was built in memory. Carries the bread-town designation; the August Agosto Corcianese festa fills the piazze with choirs and tables of local pane.

Corciano is a comune in the province of Perugia, Umbria region of Italy, about 14 kilometers from Perugia.

Umbria · Perugia

Corciano

A walled medieval castelloeight kilometers west of Perugia, where Saint Francis stopped on his way back from Isola Maggiore in 1223.

14 km / 9 mi

Nearest hub (Perugia)

21,535

Population

Apr–Oct

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Why come

Corciano standson a low hill eight kilometers west of Perugia, the medieval walls intact and the gate towers still framing the entrance to the centro storico. The first traces of settlement go back to the Neolithic; the Etruscans were here in the fourth century BC, then the Romans. The Castrum Corcianum appears in a 1136 bull by Pope Innocent II among the possessions of the bishop of Perugia. Saint Francis stopped here in 1223 on his way back from Isola Maggiore, where he had spent Lent in fasting; the Chiesa di San Francesco was built in memory of his passing. The Chiesa di Santa Maria Assunta on the main square holds the Gonfalone della Peste, painted by Benedetto Bonfigli in 1472, with the merciful Madonna sheltering Corciano's citizens under her cloak: the town itself is visible at the bottom of the panel. Porta Santa Maria, the main gate tower, was begun in 1482. The Festival dei Cori in August fills the piazze with choirs from across Umbria.

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Gallery

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Known for

Chiesa di Santa Maria Assunta
Thirteenth-century main parish church near the main square, redone in neoclassical style in 1870, holding the Gonfalone della Peste by Bonfigli.
Gonfalone della Peste
Processional banner painted by Benedetto Bonfigli in 1472, with the Madonna sheltering Corciano's citizens; the town is shown at the foot of the panel.
Porta Santa Maria
Main gate tower of the medieval walls, begun in 1482 at the northern entrance to the centro storico.
Palazzo dei Priori
Medieval communal palace on Piazza Coragino, alongside the Palazzo del Capitano del Popolo, the civic centre of the old commune.
Chiesa di San Francesco
Gothic former Franciscan church now a museum, built in memory of Francis's passage through Corciano in 1223.
Piazza Coragino
Main square with a sixteenth-century well at its centre, framed by the Palazzo dei Priori and the parish church.

When to visit

Best months · Apr–Oct

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

April through June and September into October are the dependable months. The town is close enough to Perugia to absorb day trips without losing its own quiet at evening. July and August are warm but the walls hold shade well, and the Agosto Corcianese, the annual cultural festival of theatre and music in the piazze, runs through the last two weeks of August. November through March is quiet; the museums keep reduced hours and the bread-town bakeries on Via Cornelio carry the social weight of the season. Spring opens with green hills sloping down to Lake Trasimeno on the western horizon.