The Paths of Perugino, between Paciano and Panicale

Lenght: 8,6 km
Duration: 3 ore circa
Difference in altitude: +319 m / -314m
Altitude: max. 639/ min. 392
Difficulty: E

The trek is part of the network of the Sentieri del Perugino, a route that in 5 stages, from Città della Pieve – the birthplace of Pietro Vannucci – reaches Fontignano, the place where the Divine Painter rests. In the part that we are going to walk, this path of historical and artistic inspiration overlaps at the beginning with the third stage of the Via del Trasimeno (a 160 km walk divided into 7 stages) while, on the road downstream that connects Panicale with Paciano, with the Cammino di Assisi, also known as the Via di Francesco.

From the town of Paciano – in particular from the car park near Porta Rastrella – take Via Madonna della Stella until the fork with the narrow road of Vocabolo Montebello, which we will continue to follow for more than a kilometre and a half, until a crossroads near an olive grove.

We turn left towards the summit of Mount Petrarvella which, from its 631 meters, dominates the Trasimeno plain on one side and the Nestore river valley on the other. We continue until we reach the town of Panicale and, near the famous Tulle Museum dedicated to Anita Belleschi Grifoni, we follow the provincial road 310 for a short stretch until we take, on the left, via Brodolini. We continue on the main road until we return to Paciano: the trek, especially in this part before returning to the starting point, will give us glimpses of little-known religious and civil buildings, such as the Antica Pieve del Ceraseto, rather than physical satisfaction.

The Ceraseto or Church of the Santissimo Salvatore in Ceraseto, probably built on a pagan temple, was at the service of all those who lived within the walls of the castrum or who worked in the court of Paciano Vecchio. It preserves a magnificent Christ Enthroned between St. John the Baptist and St. Peter by Giovan Battista Caporali, a Renaissance master who was a student of Perugino and Signorelli. Although the portico opening onto the lake landscape suggests a Peruginesque matrix, the composition of the work cited is of Raphaelesque inspiration.

Outside, the church offers two curiosities to passers-by: the first is an ancient stone representing the god Janus, the two-faced god of doors and gates to whom the etymology of the toponym Paciano is traced. The second curiosity is instead a metal cross on which popular tradition says that Santa Mustiola prayed while fleeing from Roman persecutors, impressing the sign of her knees at the base.