Fontana Maggiore

Every visit to Perugia ends up at the Fontana Maggiore. The fountain stands in the middle of Piazza IV Novembre, a basin of pink and white stone built between 1275 and 1278 to celebrate the arrival of fresh water from Monte Pacciano through a new aqueduct, a feat of medieval engineering that the commune wanted to advertise. Nicola Pisano and his son Giovanni, two of the most important sculptors of the age, designed the sculptural program, and the result is one of the great monuments of Italian medieval art. Two polygonal basins stack above one another, each wrapped in reliefs, with a bronze cup at the top once crowned with figures. The panels reward close looking. The lower basin carries scenes of the months, with farmers, hunters, and grape harvesters showing the labor of the calendar, together with the liberal arts, biblical scenes, fables and the city's symbols. The griffin of Perugia appears in bronze on the upper level, and the upper basin carries saints, prophets and personalities of the civic story. It is a medieval encyclopedia in stone. Look for the panel of the city itself, and for the small details such as animals and tools that give the carvers' sense of humor.

The fountain is also the living room of the city. Students sit on the steps of the cathedral beside it, tour groups gather at its edge, and Perugians use it as a landmark for meeting. The best time to visit is early morning when the light rakes across the carving and the square is quiet, or in the evening when the stone glows.

Access to the basins themselves has been restricted in recent years to protect the sculpture, so treat the viewing from the edge as part of the experience, and bring a camera with a zoom for the upper reliefs.

For context, step into the Palazzo dei Priori, whose big staircase opens onto the square, and the cathedral beside the fountain. The Galleria Nazionale and Collegio del Cambio on Corso Vannucci complete a compact monument loop of about 150 meters. Students often cluster in the adjacent streets for aperitivo, and the lanes behind the cathedral lead down to the Etruscan well and to Via dei Priori.

Because the fountain is free and always accessible, it suits every pace. Cruise-ship day-trippers can see it in ten minutes, while art lovers can spend an hour tracing the iconography with a guidebook. Families with young children usually enjoy the square for its open space and the ice cream sellers nearby. It is also one of the most photogenic places in Umbria after dark, when the lights make the carved scenes stand out against the dark piazza. Make it your first stop and your last, and it will tell you something about Perugia each time.

Photographers should try the corner near the town hall steps for a view that puts the fountain, the cathedral flank and the palace in one frame, and a low angle from the cathedral steps for the Pisano reliefs against the sky. If you travel in autumn, the square becomes a stage for the chocolate festival crowds, and in summer for jazz festival evenings, so check the calendar for events that fill the piazza with music, stalls and people.