FOLIGNO
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Cathedral
Palazzo Comunale
Church of Santa Maria Infraportas
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The town
The town of Foligno is situated at the centre of the Umbrian Valley, an ample plane watered by the river Topino and surrounded partly by gentle hills, partly by the higher mounts of the Apennine ridges.
Always important centre of cultural and economic exchanges, Foligno is today a modern industrial town, but it preserves a beautiful historic centre with important monuments and works of art.
The heart of the town is Piazza della Repubblica, flanked by buildings of great interest.
The CATHEDRAL: built in 1113 by the master Atto, it was enlarged in 1201 and transformed again in the 16th and 17th centuries; it has a double façade, one looking onto the Piazza Duomo, the other onto Piazza della Repubblica, and the Romanesque aspect of this latter is the result of the restoration made in 1904: it consists of a fine portal above which there are a fascia with the name of Atto on, a series of arches comprised between two mullioned windows, a rose-window surrounded by the symbols of the Evangelists and a mosaic added in 1904. The Latin cross interior has a single nave and was renovated by Piermarini in the second half of the 18th century. In the church are preserved many works of art, among which a notable silver statue of S. Feliciano, the patron saint of the town, and a copy of the Madonna di Foligno by Raffaello. Also of interest are the crypt, dating back to the 10th century, and the Cappella del Sacramento by Antonio da Sangallo the Young.
The PALAZZO COMUNALE was erected in the 12th century and renovated in the 16th century; the façade was rebuilt in neoclassic style in the 1800s, but preserving the 15th century tower; the structure is joined to PALAZZO ORFINI, first seat of the printing-works in Foligno.
The east side of the piazza is occupied by the PALAZZO TRINCI, the house of Foligno's ruling family in the Renaissance. Built in the years between 1385 and 1407, it later underwent a number of alterations, especially in the façade; the fine inner court is surrounded by Gothic arches supported by pillars. Today the building houses the Library, the Archive and the Picture Gallery. Among the magnificent frescoed rooms can be admired the works by Nelli decorating the Chapel with scenes from the New Testament, the walls of the Sala delle Arti e dei Pianeti, decorated by a local artist in the first years of the 15th century, and the Sala dei Giganti.
In the Piazza S. Domenico is situated the CHURCH OF S. MARIA INFRAPORTAS, one of the most considerable Romanesque buildings in Umbria: dating to the 11th century, it has a simple façade decorated by a mullioned window and a little porch composed of four columns, and a massive bell-tower. The interior is divided into three naves, but the lateral ones were added in the 15th century; many are the paintings and the objects of art adorning the church: very interesting is the wooden statue of the Madonna with the Child (12th century).
Other important structures are also the Church of S. Nicolò, with works by Alunno and Conca; the Church of S. Salvatore, built in the 12th century as a Benedictine abbey, preserving some beautiful Flemish tapestries from the 1500s and numerous paintings; the Church of the Nunziatella, in Renaissance style, with frescoes by Perugino.
In the PICTURE GALLERY are displayed paintings by Alunno, Mezzastris, Bartolomeo di Tommaso.
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