About Panicale
About Panicale
Why Panicale?
Panicale is a common but at the same time a very special town.
It is exactly the “common” part of it that makes the town so special
for a foreigner. So far, it has been relatively undiscovered by tourists.
However, you can find everything there that has made Italy so popular
all over the world: history, art, church, good food and wine. But also
pagan gods, saints, mighty popes, painters and despotic warlords have left
their impact on the town.
But what is more important, in Panicale you will meet the local
people at the cafés, in the squares, in the shops. You
will witness the gray but picturesque everyday life, with the women crossing
the square in the morning to make their daily shopping, or the endless
discussions of the men in the cafés. Here you will find the genuine
Italy with its timeless atmosphere and spontaneous hospitality and friendliness,
that will add extra spice to your stay.
The three restaurants offer a quantity of local specialties:
home-made pasta, truffle flavored dishes, and wine from the
region. The shops display traditional hand-made products: excellent
salami or fresh sausages, hand painted ceramics, embroidered lace. The
tourist office organizes daily tours to the theater, to the Perugino fresco
in the San Sebastiano church (one of seven) and to the museums. There
are festivals the whole year round: from the grape harvest in September,
to the chestnut and olive harvest in October-November, from the several
Easter celebrations as the procession around the town on Good Friday
night with torches and candles or the cheese tournament – il ruzzolone-
on Easter Sunday or Monday, where everybody is invited to take part.
Data on Panicale
Name: from latin "Panis collis" : a place pleasant to the god
Pan.
Size: the road around the town, where the old moat was, measures
800 meters.
Population: the inhabitants inside the wall come to about 560,
the whole municipality covers 78,84 sqkm with some 5,000 people.
Age: Its name appears for the first time in the year 40 B.C.
However, it is believed that the town was founded one thousand years
earlier. The present structure is from the early Middle Ages. The outer
defense wall was built during the 13th century. The first, still existing
800-year-old houses lean on this wall.
Sights: The Perugino fresco in the S.Sebastiano church, the
Masolino fresco in the S.Michele Arcangelo church, the Theater Cesare
Caporali, the Old Town Hall at the top of the town, the Fountain dated
1475 in the Umberto I square, the Museum of Embroidered Lace in the
S.Agostino church, the Museum of Ecclesiastic Vestments and Decorations
in the S.Maria alla Sbarra church.
How to reach Panical
Panicale is situated in the western part of Umbria, south of
the lake Trasimeno, which in its turn is located in the center of Italy
between Rome ( 119 miles) and Florence (81 miles).
By train
or by air:
By flight: Fly to Rome, Florence, Pisa or Perugia. They are
all close airports. From these towns, there are trains to Chiusi , where
there are taxi cabs available or a car can be rented.
Rome Ciampino Airport: Take the bus to Stazione Termini in
Rome. Take a train from there to Chiusi (half way to Florence). In
Chiusi there are taxi cabs going to Panicale or a car can be rented.
Rome Fiumicino airport: 1) Take the express train to Statione
Termini (right side rail). There take a train to Chiusi (half way Florence).
2) Or take the local train to Rome (left side rail), get off at the stazione
Tiburtina (40 minutes). From there take a train to Chiusi (half way Florence).
In both cases you can reach Panicale from Chiusi or by taxi
or by renting a car
(1 mile) or taking a bus (it goes
only twice a day!)
Florence airport (Firenze Peretola): Take the bus to Stazione
S.Maria Novella. From there take the train south towards Rome, but get
off half way in Chiusi. You can reach Panicale from Chiusi by taxi or
by renting a car (12.5 miles).
Perugia airport (St Egidio): Rent a car at the airport. Take
road 220 direction Città della Pieve, but before, turn to the
right when you have crossed Tavernelle and follow the sign to Panicale.
There are also buses at the Piazza
dei Partigiani in Perugia going to Panicale, but they are very few,
one leaving in the morning and one in the early afternoon.
By car:
If you are travelling on highway AI from Rome, go direction
Florence. In Chiusi leave the highway and travel direction Moiano. Right
after Moiano you will find a sign on the right side for Panicale.
If you are travelling on highway AI from Florence, leave
at Bettolle (half way between Rome and Florence) and take the smaller
highway Siena-Perugia, direction Perugia. Leave the highway at the
sign Castiglion del Lago and go a few kilometres direction Chiusi. On
the left side after Castiglione del Lago you will find a sign for Panicale.
From Perugia: Road 220 in
the direction of Città della Pieve. After Tavernelle turn rigth
in the direction of Panicale.
Tuscany-Umbria
|
Around the lake Trasimeno
|
Map over Panicale
|
