The most remarkable church in Perugia is the church, at the end of the southern point of the city, attached to the convent of San Pietro; below it is the gate named after San Costanzo, said to have been the first Bishop of Perugia. On the opposite side of the way from the convent wall is a pleasant public resort, shaded by trees, called Passeggiata Pubblica. From this point, looking down the steep road, one gets a delightful view of the near valley and distant Apennines, framed in by the arch of Porta Costanzo. This view goes by the name of La Veduta. La Veduta and a lovely country walk beyond the gate are associated with the memory of that accomplished artist and delightful companion, Lord Leighton. He dearly loved the old hill-city; in its delightful quiet he used to write his lecture for the Royal Academy students. One of his favourite walks was to go out by the Porta Costanzo, and along the lovely lanes beyond it, grown over with honeysuckle, wild gourd, and an abundance of wild myrtle.

The ancient church of San Pietro, with its very picturesque exterior and campanile, serves as a conspicuous landmark in the country over which it gazes. It is said to be the oldest church in Perugia, and to be built on the site of an Etruscan temple; it was certainly in old days the first cathedral. Built by Pietro, a saintly abbot of the monastery in the tenth century, it seems to have remained for a long period almost untouched; in the fourteenth century the campanile was considered one of the wonders of Italy. A century later it was restored and decorated with rich Renaissance work, some of which is very fascinating and interesting. Then came a warlike abbot, resolved to convert the very salient tower of San Pietro into a fortress to overawe the surrounding country; and also to use it as a means of defence against the ever-turbulent people of Perugia, and the despots who were always quarrelling among themselves in order to attain supreme power in the city.

The campanile was still further injured by Pope Boniface the Ninth, who also wished to construct an ordinary fortress on the site of the beautiful tower. Finally, the monks rebuilt it at a great cost. It was then struck by lightning, and severely damaged. For a long period of time the injuries caused by lightning were so frequent that it was feared the entire building would suffer ruin; then at last the idea of a lightning conductor suggested itself. This saved the campanile, and it has since remained in its present condition.

We went up the steps in the convent wall, and entered the old church of San Pietro from the courtyard, by a doorway with a deeply carved heading in marble. The interior is at once rich and fascinating, and every subsequent visit we made to it revealed many treasures.

Some of the Perugino pictures in the sacristy are worth examination, but the large altar-piece he painted for this church was carried away to Paris by Napoleon Bonaparte. The choir books can be seen here, illuminated by the monks of San Miniato, near Florence. There are several pictures in the church; in one of the aisles is a painting by the early Umbrian master, Benedetto Bonfigli. The ancient, dark grey columns on either side of the nave are much older than the church, having been brought here from the curious old church at Porta San Angelo, near the most northern gate of Perugia. We had already seen sixteen of these columns in the ancient round church; they are supposed to date from a very early period. The altar tomb of the Baglioni, by Fieado, is in San Pietro; but the most remarkable feature of this church is its choir. The stalls and their seats are full of exquisitely carved wood-work, and the doors at the east end are marvellous specimens of intarsia work. The sacristan shows them with great pride, and then opens the doors which lead on to the balcony behind.

Below us we see a very lovely picture: the fertile valley and its surroundings of richly-tinted hills, while in front is Assisi, clinging to the side of rugged Monte Subasio. It is said that three citizens of Perugia escaped by means of this balcony from the Pope's Swiss guards, when, less than fifty years ago, the Swiss forcibly took possession of the convent. The delicate work of the eastern doors was executed by Fra Damiano of Bergamo; it is singularly beautiful; perhaps the finding of Moses in the bulrushes is one of the most curious subjects depicted.

The choir seats and stalls were done by Damiano's brother, Stefano da Bergamo. They are worth a very careful examination, for, besides the intarsia on the backs and seats, and the fine carving of the poppy-heads, notable both for subject and execution, there are, between each stall, wonderful and beautifully-modelled creatures. Now we see a beast like a crocodile, and next it a harpy; then an elephant, a dolphin, a sphinx, and so on; an infinite variety, almost every creature is different, and the carving of each is most artistic.

We saw many treasures in the church, before we went out into the cypress-bordered garden of the convent, and again enjoyed the lovely view from the top of its high wall,—the view which wearied Popes and other great and jaded personages have taken pleasure in gazing at when they came to Perugia for refreshment.

An intelligent-looking priest showed us the garden. He said it was kept in order by the boys belonging to the convent. This formerly sheltered a reformatory for lads sentenced to prison for their first offence. It is now, I believe, used as an Agricultural College. We had previously noticed the reformatory boys at work on the olive fields outside the town gates, and had admired the picturesque effect of their blue uniforms and straw hats against the silver grey of the leafy background.

They had then come trooping into the cloisters, and on close inspection they did not look so interesting as we had thought them; some of them, however, had simple, honest faces, and as they passed into the cloister they smiled and raised their hats to the Fra. Most of the bigger fellows had an ugly scowl, and went in with bent heads, without any greeting.

The Fra told us the lads behaved fairly well; his trouble was to find suitable employment for them when they were discharged from the reformatory. He said he greatly approved of English laws, especially in regard to the working class. "The English are so good to foreigners," he said.

He asked us what would be the cost in London of a working-man's board and lodging. We told him that we had in England already too many boys of this sort, for whom it was difficult to find employment; we, however, gave him an average of the expenses he inquired about. This seemed to alarm the good Padre; with lifted hands he said, "Such a plan would prove far too costly, it would teach the lads expensive habits of living." But he thanked us courteously for our information. When we left the convent garden we stood again enjoying the view over the lovely valley, under a glorious sunset which glowed on the distant hills. It seemed to us that splendid sunsets were another and special charm of Perugia.

We had meant this evening to visit the Etruscan sepulchres of the Volumnii, discovered only about sixty years ago, and within a walk of the San Costanzo gate; but San Pietro, even in this short visit, had proved such an interesting study, that we saw we must defer our walk to the ancient tomb.

We were, however, told that, without much adding to the length of our walk, we should considerably increase its charm, if, instead of passing out by the Porta Costanzo, we turned aside by the Porta San Pietro, or Romana, as it is called, and quitted the city by the little gate at the bottom of the descent. This is indeed a delightful walk under the old grey walls, and from it one has a perfect view over the lovely country and the purple hills.