Umbria's hilltop chocolate city — Baci kisses, black truffles, and Etruscan city walls
Perugia is the capital of Umbria, perched on a high ridge above the Tiber valley with a remarkably intact medieval city centre of steep cobblestone lanes, Etruscan gates, and pink-and-white stone churches. It is famous for two things above all: Perugina chocolates (home of the Baci Perugina kiss-shaped chocolate introduced in 1922, with the love note inside the foil wrapper that made them Italy's most gifted chocolate), and the Umbrian black truffle, found in the hill forests around Norcia and Spoleto and served in local restaurants in generous quantities year-round. The annual Eurochocolate…
Perugia is one of the oldest cities in Italy, with Etruscan origins dating to at least the 5th century BCE — the massive Etruscan city walls, the Arco Etrusco (Etruscan Arch), and several gates still stand in the city centre, built from travertine blocks requiring 50+ workers to move. Under Rome, Perugia was sacked and burnt by Augustus in 40 BCE during the Perusine War. In the medieval period it was one of the most powerful free communes of central Italy, famous for its university (founded 1308, among Italy's oldest) and for the bitter factional violence that gave Machiavelli material for hi…