Templar Complex of San Bevignate

The church of St. Bevignate is one of the most important and better preserved monumental testimony among the complexes of the Templar Knights, the Order created in Gerusalem around 1119 by the French knight Hugues de Payns, and after that rooting all over Europe. Outside the structure is sombre and mighty, while inside it is lighted by a game of   the  situated near the Monumental cemetery of Monterone and it is an important historical record of the Templar presence in Perugia, attested in the sources from the half of the XIII Century. It is simple and powerful in the exterior, but lightened inside in a game of slender ribs. The wall decorations, among the rare examples of XIII Century paintings in Perugia, show the History of the Order, together with characters and important events in the Umbrian Middle Ages (from San Bevignate to the flagellants). On the counter-façade a pictorial cycle on the mission in the Holy Land: a tale by images telling the actions of the Militia Templi, from the sea voyage to the Nablus battle (1242). In the apse, together with some biblical scenes destined to liturgy and the upbringing of the people, a spectacular depiction of the Last Judgment, in which locals elements intermingle with transnational ones, giving out the real essence of the Order that, for over a century, linked East and West.

The important consolidation and restoration works, following the earthquake of 1997, has revealed, together with remains of a settlement, a fullonica (a laundry-dyeing) of roman era, one of the few found in Italy.

The Templar Complex of San Bevignate has been re-opened to the public in 2009 and represent today one of the pivot element of the municipal museum circuit; it is moreover a public place of extreme fascination and  charm, hosting important cultural initiative and events.

In 2017 the Municipality joined, as founding partner, to Templar Route European Federation, European association with city partners as Troyes, French city of the Department de l’Aube en Champagne, the Portuguese Tomar and the Spanish Ponferrada. The main aim of TREF is that of uniting all territories with landmarks linkable to the Templars, in order to establish a specific cultural itinerary, recognized by the European Council.