What is Panicale known for?

Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian, Pietro Vannucci's fresco of 1505 covering the back wall of San Sebastiano, one of his late masterpieces. The southern Trasimeno panorama from 431 meters: the lake's three islands visible on the horizon below the town walls. Boldrino da Panicale, the trecento condottiero born here in 1331, called the Flagellator of the March in his own century.

Panicale is a comune in the province of Perugia, Umbria region of Italy, about 39 kilometers from Perugia.

Umbria · Perugia

Panicale

A walled hill townon Monte Petrarvella, where a 1505 Perugino fresco covers the back wall of San Sebastiano.

39 km / 24 mi

Nearest hub (Perugia)

5,281

Population

Apr–Oct

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Why come

Panicale sitson the eastern slope of Monte Petrarvella, overlooking the southern shore of Lake Trasimeno from twenty-five kilometers southwest of Perugia. The medieval castle dates back in its earliest parts to the ninth century, and by the fourteenth Panicale was a small city-state with two gates facing Perugia and Florence and a moat around the walls. Boldrino da Panicale, born in 1331, became one of the most feared mercenary captains of the trecento. The Chiesa di San Sebastiano, on a slope outside the walls, holds Pietro Perugino's Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian, frescoed across the entire back wall between spring and autumn of 1505, the saint's body crossed by the arrows of four archers in a deep landscape. The Collegiata di San Michele Arcangelo on the main square claims an Annunciation attributed to Masolino da Panicale, the Renaissance painter the town shares as a birthplace claim with a Panicale in Tuscany. Three squares step down the slope on three different levels.

The slow-trip planner

Building a trip? Find where Panicale fits in a slow Italy circuit.

Answer five questions. We will shape a geographically coherent slow trip from the 1,000 Italian towns most travelers skip. Yours to save and share.

Plan your trip

Gallery

5 photos · scroll →

Known for

Chiesa di San Sebastiano
Fifteenth-century chapel on a slope outside the walls, with Perugino's Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian, frescoed in 1505 across the entire back wall.
Collegiata di San Michele Arcangelo
Main parish church on Piazza San Michele, with an Annunciation attributed to Masolino da Panicale, master of Masaccio.
Castello e mura medievali
Medieval circuit and gates dating to the ninth century, with two entrances toward Perugia and Florence and the line of the old moat.
Teatro Caporali
Small nineteenth-century town theatre with a Piervittori canvas showing Boldrino da Panicale being honoured by the city of Perugia.
Piazza Umberto I
Main square at the centre of the borgo, the upper of three squares that step down the slope on different terraces.

When to visit

Best months · Apr–Oct

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

April through June and September into October are the windows. The lake catches morning light from the Panicale ramparts and the air at 431 meters keeps the heat down even in summer. July and August are warmer, and the Festa dell'Uva in late September runs the medieval procession through the three squares. November through March is quiet; the San Sebastiano chapel keeps reduced hours and the Perugino fresco is best seen by appointment with the parish office. The southern Trasimeno empties of tourists in the cold months and the town gets its own quiet back.