The Name

Derives from the Etruscan Mefana family, evidence of an Etruscan presence predating that of the Umbrians.

Later called “Mevania” by the Romans.

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History
• 308 BC: the Roman historian Livy gives this date for the battle of Mevania, but the episode is placed in doubt by historians. It is certain however that after 295 Mevania and other Umbrian towns allied themselves with Rome.

• 774: ruled by a Lombard steward for the Duchy of Spoleto, Bevagna becomes part of the Papal States, although it, along with the entire Duchy, really continues to be under the rule of the Frankish kings and later the emperors of the Holy Roman Empire.

• 1187: first certain reports of the free commune of Bevagna governed by consuls.

• 1249: the townspeople are authorized by the Pope to freely elect their own podesta. This occurs after Emperor Frederick II destroyed Bevagna, which had sided with the Church (the Guelf party).

• 1371: after passing back and forth several times between imperial and papal rule, the seigniory of the Trinci family of Foligno begins (Trincia VII, pontifical vicar, receives Bevagna as a gift from Pope Gregory IX), which will last until 1439, when it is returned to the direct dominion of the Holy See.

• 1567: after having been under the governor of the Duchy of Spoleto and the government of Perugia, Bevagna returns to the Church and remains there until 1860, when the pontifical rule ends and Bevagna enters the Kingdom of Italy.




The Square of Sleeping Memories


Cut off from the industrial development in the region, Bevagna has preserved virtually intact its medieval urban structure, which for the most part follows the plan of the ancient Roman town.
This pure solitude has made it a tangible symbol of a city on a human scale. One need only go to Piazza Silvestri, sublime in its irregularity, to understand how harmony can be created from an apparent chaos of styles, histories, and periods mixed together.
This is one of the most magnificent piazzas in Italy. It is the square of sleeping memories, because the perennial changing of powers, which still confront each other here with their symbols, seems to subside in the supreme synthesis of beauty. The rule of the Commune is expressed in the Palazzo dei Consoli (1270), with its elegant travertine and sandstone façade, double rows of Gothic windows and the wide loggia (since 1886 it has been the home of the Teatro Torti, decorated by Bruschi and Piervittori). The three churches express the opposition of ecclesiastic power. The Church of San Michele (12th-13th cent.) has a travertine façade with horizontal coping, and inside there is a beautiful 15th-century crucifix. San Silvestro was built in the 12th century and has an unfinished façade of travertine blocks in the lower part and Mt. Subasio stone in the upper part. The strikingly simple interior is divided into a nave and two aisles by large columns with Corinthian capitals.
The beautiful late 14th-century portal of San Domenico (13th-14th cent.) adds grace to the asymmetrical square, which also takes in other styles such as the false Gothic of the 19th-century fountain and the Roman column with a Corinthian capital, which seems to have been left there just for show. Actually, Roman columns and friezes can be found all over the town, because the houses are built over the remains from the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, following the curve of the theater which rested against the slope of the rise and faced the Via Flaminia. Remaining from the Imperial age are the side and rear façade of the temple and the frigidarium of the baths, formed by niches decorated with white and black mosaics, with a fine mosaic from the 2nd century AD with scenes from the sea.
The city walls, with their many towers and bastions, are interrupted by medieval gates or more recent openings which allow access to the historic center. Inside, Bevagna shows its medieval character, where there is still a living craft tradition of workshops opening onto the charming narrow streets.
After admiring Palazzo Lepri, built in the 1700s, it is once again the churches that reveal the mystic side of this village: Santa Maria in Laurenzia, today deconsecrated, has a fine portal with a relief of the Madonna del Latte; Santa Maria della Consolazione is from the 1700s; the Church and Monastery of Santa Margherita holds interesting paintings, as does the Church of Sant’Agostino, established together with the original convent in 1336, with graceful and luminous frescoes from the 14th-16th centuries.
Also: the Church and Monastery of Santa Maria del Monte; the Church of San Vincenzo, with Roman elements in its unfinished façade; the Church of San Francesco, with paintings by Dono Doni and Ascensidonio Spacca; the Church of San Filippo decorated with elegant stucco work and frescoes attributed to Domenico Valeri.




Local Products

Of the many trades handed down from father to son, that which is historically most typical of the area is the working of hemp.
The poorer quality hemp was employed for rope making, while the best hemp was used for making the “Bevagna” cloths that were prized all throughout the Papal States.
The art of rope making, which has been preserved also in street names such as Largo dei Canapai and in the surnames of the residents, is also connected with the making of wicker baskets, but by now it is disappearing due to the lack of new apprentices.



Local dishes

Bevagna is known for its truffle-based dishes and the specialties of Umbrian cuisine, for its genuine olive oil, and for its wines, including Sagrantino DOCG, produced also in ancient Mevania, as mentioned by Juvenal and Pliny.