Tag: Architecture

Doors 243 – Perugia doors, Umbria, Italy (Part I)

One of the ways to enter the hilltop City of Perugia is via an underground escalator which begins at a car park at the bottom of the hill upon which Perugia is perched. I hadn’t really done much homework about the city and was utterly blown away by what we saw at the top of the series of escalators. You don’t emerge into the blinding light of the Umbrian sunshine, but instead enter a subterranean city, upon which Perugia is built.

I won’t give you the full history as to how this came about, but there is quite a useful quick guide on the Invitation to Tuscany and Beyond website. In short the original 16th century streets were augmented with high vaulted ceilings, on top of which a fortress was built – Rocca Paolina. The fortress was subsequently destroyed following the unification of Italy in 1860, but some of the streets below were left untouched, and this week’s doors, or rather doorways and ghost doors, are to be found in this extraordinary, dimly-lit underground place. Something a little different this week, which I hope you enjoy.

More to come from the ‘above ground’ city of Perugia next time. May I wish you a pleasant weekend.

If you have made it this far, you probably like doors, and you really ought to take a look at the No Facilities blog by Dan Anton who has taken over the hosting of Thursday Doors from Norm 2.0 blog. Links to more doorscursions can be found in the comments section of Dan Anton’s Thursday Doors post.

By Scooj