This medieval hamlet rose up at the end of the XI Century on a hill on the left bank of river Tevere. The name “Benazzone” probably comes from the name of an important personality of the area.
In 1186, it was entrusted by the Emperor Enrico VI to the City of Perugia- Between the XIV and XV Century, due to its strategic position on the Val Tiberina, the cities of Perugia, Florence and the Papal troops repeatedly competed for the ownership of Civitella Benazzone.
The hamlet, from which a magnificent panorama is visible, preserves the stone walls and arches. The parish Church of SS. Andrea e Biagio (XVI Century), hosts some paintings, among which a canvas by Domenico Alfani (1518), collaborator of Raffaello, in the high altar. On the right wall, the processional banner (1470-80), attributed to the circle by Bonfigli but with influences by Caporali. It illustrates the Virgin Mary that protects the observants from the arrows throw by the irate God-Zeus with her mantle (the iconography refers to the plague and the divine intervention to stop it). The painting has an historic-topographic importance for the ancient view of Civitella Benazzone where the citadel surmounted by a fortified palace-castle and encircled by castellated walls, today missing, is visible.
Under Civitella Benazzone, the Abbazia Celestina (1109), formerly called Benedictine Abbey with the name of San Paolo in Val di Ponte. The monastery, after the reform of Pope Celestine V, became independent by the Benedictine Abbey of Santa Maria in Valdiponte (Montelabbate) and changed its name in “Abbadia Celestina”. After 1963, subsequently to the state ownerships after the Italian Unification, it was sold and privately owned. Still today, the remains of the authentic Romanesque crypt.
Info: Parish of S.S. Andrea e Biagio Piazza G. Pascoli, 5 - Tel. +39 075 604600