Perugia (/pəˈruːdʒə/ pə-ROO-jə, US also /-dʒiə, peɪˈ-/ -jee-ə, pay-; Italian: [peˈruːdʒa] ; Latin: Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber. The city is located about 164 km (102 mi) north of Rome and 148 km (92 mi) southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area. It has 162,467 inhabitants as of 2025.
The history of Perugia goes back to the Etruscan period; Perugia was one of the main Etruscan cities.
The Tiber (/ˈtaɪbər/ TY-bər; Italian: Tevere [ˈteːvere]; Latin: Tiberis) is the third-longest river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing 406 km (252 mi) through Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, where it is joined by the River Aniene, to the Tyrrhenian Sea, between Ostia and Fiumicino. It drains a basin estimated at 17,375 km (6,709 sq mi). The river has achieved lasting fame as the main watercourse of the city of Rome, which was founded on its eastern banks.
The river rises at Mount Fumaiolo in Central Italy and flows in a generally southerly direction past Perugia and Rome to meet the sea at Ostia. The Tiber has advanced significantly at its mouth, by about 3 km (2 mi), since Roman times, leaving the ancient port of Ostia Antica 6 kilometres (4 miles) inland. However, it does not form a proportional delta, owing to a strong north-flowing sea current close to the shore, due to the steep shelving of the coast, and to slow tectonic subsidence.
Umbria (/ˈʌmbriə/ UM-bree-ə; Italian: [ˈumbrja]) is a region of central Italy. It includes Lake Trasimeno and Marmore Falls, and is crossed by the Tiber. It is the only landlocked region on the Apennine Peninsula. The capital is Perugia. The region has 851,954 inhabitants as of 2025.
The region is characterized by hills, mountains, thick forests, valleys and historical towns such as the university centre of Perugia, Assisi (a World Heritage Site associated with St. Francis of Assisi), Terni, Norcia, Città di Castello, Gubbio, Spoleto, Orvieto, Todi, Castiglione del Lago, Narni, Amelia, Spello and other small cities.
Regio VI Umbria (also named Regio VI Umbria et Ager Gallicus) is the name for one of the 11 administrative regions into which the emperor Augustus divided Italy. The main source for the regions is the Historia Naturalis of Pliny the Elder, who informs his readers he is basing the geography of Italy on the descriptio Italiae, "division of Italy", made by Augustus. The Regio Sexta ("6th Region") is called Umbria complexa agrumque Gallicam citra Ariminium ("Umbria including the Gallic country this side of Rimini").
Umbria is named after an Italic people, the Umbri, who were gradually subjugated by the Romans in the 4th through the 2nd centuries BC. Although it passed the name on to the modern region of Umbria, the two coincide only partially. Roman Umbria extended from Narni in the South, northeastward to the neighborhood of Ravenna on the Adriatic coast, thus including a large part of central Italy that now belongs to the Marche; at the same time, it excluded the Sabine country (generally speaking, the area around modern Norcia) and the right bank of the Tiber, which – being inhabited by Etruscans – formed part of Regio VII Etruria: for example Perusia (the modern Perugia) and Orvieto (its ancient name is unknown), two Etruscan cities – were not part of Roman Umbria; on the contrary Sarsina, Plautus birthplace, was considered to be "in Umbria", while today it is in the modern province of Forlì-Cesena, in Emilia-Romagna.
Uni is the ancient goddess of marriage, fertility, family, and women in Etruscan religion and myth, and was the patron goddess of Perugia. She is identified as the Etruscan equivalent of Juno in Roman mythology, and Hera in Greek mythology. As the supreme goddess of the Etruscan pantheon, she is part of the Etruscan trinity, an original precursor to the Capitoline Triad, made up of her husband Tinia, the god of the sky, and daughter Menrva, the goddess of wisdom.
She is often depicted with a goatskin cloak and sandals whilst holding a shield, similarly to Juno Sospita, wearing a bridal veil, or completely nude.
Terni (/ˈtɛərni/ TAIR-nee; Italian: [ˈtɛrni] ; Latin: Interamna (Nahars)) is a city in the southern portion of the region of Umbria, in Central Italy. It is near the border with Lazio. The city is the capital of the province of Terni, located in the plain of the River Nera. It is 104 kilometres (65 miles) northeast of Rome and 81 km south of the regional capital, Perugia.
The Latin name means "between-two-rivers", in reference to its location on the confluence of the Nera river (Ancient Umbrian Nahar, Latin: Nār, Nahar) and the Serra stream. When disambiguation was needed, it was referred to as Interamna Nahars. Its inhabitants were known in Latin as Interamnātēs Na(ha)rtēs.
Città di Castello (Italian pronunciation: [tʃitˈta ddi kasˈtɛllo], lit. 'Castle Town') is a city and comune (municipality) in the province of Perugia, in the northern part of Umbria. It is situated on a slope of the Apennines, on the flood plain along the upper part of the river Tiber. The city is 56 km (35 mi) north of Perugia and 104 km (65 mi) south of Cesena, Emilia-Romagna, on the highway SS 3 bis. It is connected by the SS 73 with Arezzo, Tuscany, and the A1 highway, situated 38 km (23 mi) west. The comune of Città di Castello has an exclave named Monte Ruperto within Marche.
42°45′23″N 12°41′08″E / 42.7564791°N 12.68547°ESpoleto (/spəˈleɪtoʊ/, also US: /spoʊˈleɪtoʊ, spoʊˈliːtoʊ/, UK: /spoʊˈlɛtoʊ/, Italian: [spoˈleːto]; Latin: Spoletium) is an ancient city in the Italian province of Perugia in east-central Umbria on a foothill of the Apennines. It is 20 km (12 mi) south of Trevi, 29 km (18 mi) north of Terni, 63 km (39 mi) southeast of Perugia; 212 km (132 mi) southeast of Florence; and 126 km (78 mi) north of Rome.