"Perugia" a Perugia Travel Page by Willettsworld

Perugia is an ancient Etruscan settlement (6th - 1st century BC) that surrendered under the Emperor Octavian in 40 BC. At the end of Roman domination, it suffered barbarian invasion, whose massacres and looting exhausted the population. Never resigned to occupation, after many bitter struggles, in the 12th century it became a free Commune under popular rule. During the 13th and 14th centuries it asserted itself as a much feared and mighty power, subduing nearby towns and villages and forming alliances with the church and neighbouring states. In the age of the Seignories the city was ravaged by particularly bloody cival strife which weakened the local governement until, after a heroically-resisted siege, it came under the sway of the Papal State in 1540, whose domination was to last more than three centuries. On September 14th 1860, the city and the whole of Umbria became part of the Kingdom of Italy.