Rocca Paolina in Perugia

This place has been extolled from celebrated Italian poets, the Rocca Paolina (Paolina stronghold) was asked to be built by the Pope Paolo III and realized by Antonio da Sangallo the young. The intentions of the Pope, who was still impressed by the episode of the pillage of Rome, were those to make the city safe and to create an efficient refuge as Castel Sant’Angelo was. To build this fortified tower more than one hundred houses, monasteries and churches were destroyed, especially the ones which were properties of the Baglioni family. This family was very hated by Paolo III. The Rocca was symbol of pope authority up to 1860, in this year the tower was pulled down after the annexation of the region with the Italy reign. There are still visible a part of the walls of this tower and the bastion of Porta Marzia (Marzia door). But the most interesting part of this Rocca are the underground, in particular the escalator that from the parking, which is situated in Piazza Partigiani, run through the Rocca under the lateral door of the Palazzo del Governo (from 1870 it’s the seat of the Region government) and arrives in Piazza Italia. In this unique scenario there are shops, boutiques, bookshops and take place cultural manifestation.