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Pietralunga (Perugia province)

A town of central Umbria: 43°27.3N, 12°26.2. Altitude: 565 m. Population in 2003: 2300.
[image ALT: A curious montage-like view of the upper part of a very ruined stone archway about 5 meters tall, and behind it the middle section of a tall apparently rectangular stone tower with a single small lancet window; in front of them both, a wrought-iron three-light street lamp. It is an impressionistic view of part of the main square of Pietralunga, Umbria (central Italy).]

Medieval remains in the main square: the Lombard tower in the background looks square — but is actually five-sided.

Pietralunga is a compact walled medieval hilltown 19 km northwest of Gubbio and slightly farther from Città di Castello (which lies off to its west over some rather remote roads).

Though fairly remote and very sparsely populated today, the mountainous territory of the comune is reportedly strewn with the remains of Roman villas. Pieve di Saddi, its best-known church, although medieval, is a martyrium on the place where a young Roman was put to death for his faith: S. Crescentianus's bones now rest in the cathedral of Urbino.

A proper website will eventually appear here, since I've been to Pietralunga and walked some of the surrounding area. In the meanwhile, you might find it useful to read the Mar. 14 and Mar. 16, 2004 entries of my diary, which also include several other photos; for further information, see the websites linked in the navigation bar at the bottom of the page.

[image ALT: A section, about 15 meters long, of an old stone road about 1.5 m wide, ascending a gentle slope in a landscape of scrub at the end of winter. The pavement is composed of broken stones of very irregular size and shape. It is a view of a road near Pietralunga and Castelfranco, Umbria (central Italy), that is said to be Roman.]

As a first step toward that proper website, typically I'll start by showing you not the medieval streets of the town itself, but an old stone road some 7 km away, near the hamlet of Castelfranco. Locally, it is said to be one of several Roman roads; I can't make up my mind whether to be convinced or not. (Pietralunga itself, with no apparent Roman remains, is said to be the Forum Julium Concupiensium mentioned by Pliny, III.XIV.113 — but on what grounds, I don't know: and notice that other authors have sought to put the Roman town near Umbertide.)

[ 11/7/04: 1 page, 8 photos ]

[image ALT: Against a background of rough mortared stone masonry, an exceptionally well carved and attractive uncial inscription in four lines, on an outside wall of the Pieve S. Maria in Pietralunga, Umbria (central Italy).]

The churches of Pietralunga are few, scattered over a wide territory, and usually closed. They are of interest, however, and I hope to spin off a few fuller pages at some point.

[ 1/21/07: 4 churches, 1 page, 5 photos ]

Frazioni

Like most of the comuni in Italy, Pietralunga includes in its territory some smaller towns and hamlets, of a few hundred inhabitants if that, with a certain administrative identity of their own: as elsewhere in Italy, these are referred to as the frazioni of the comune (singular: frazione, literally a "fraction"): a complete list of them follows. I haven't been to any of them yet, so any links will be offsite.

Castel Guelfo • Colle Antico • Corniole • S. Biagio • S. Faustino

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Page updated: 13 Nov 17