Arco Etrusco or Arch of Augusto - Etruscan Arch

The Etruscan monumental arch (III B.C.), North-oriented, belongs to the first City walls. With its 11 m. height and because of its excellent state of preservation, it is considered as the most impressive of all the ancient Etruria.

Built in travertine blocks, it is composed of two trapezoidal towers and a monumental façade in the center, composed of two rounded, overlapping arches. The upper arch is originally presumed to be open for military functions.

On the lower arch is written Augusta Perusia, inscription which was made two centuries after its construction, following the Bellum Perusinum (41-40 BC), an important episode of the Civil Wars that blooded the period of the late Republic and the subsequent renovation commissioned by Augustus, hence the name Arco di Augusto (Augustus Arch). The inscription Colonia Vibia, above the arch, commemorates Vibio Treboniano Gallo, an Emperor from Perugia who granted the town the status of colony.

On the left buttress there is a XVII Century fountain and, on the coping, a renaissance loggia. On the right of the door, along via Cesare Battisti, there is one of the most beautiful stretches of Etruscan walls.