Italy Fermata 04: Perugia

what ghosts listen to on the steps of Perugia

On the second day of staying in Perugia, I realised that I had heard of it long before I had come here. This was the town which had come to the centre of the “Western World” media circuit back in 2007 with the murder of an exchange student and the subsequent trial of her roommate. After that, everywhere in Perugia, I felt the presence of ghosts.

First alongside its many steps, both manual and automatic, that take you up and down this mysterious town that sits atop a hill.

Then while looking at all of the historic Umbria Jazz posters on display in the main pedestrian avenue of Corso Pietro Vannouci in lead up to the 2024 edition starting in a few days.

You feel like you are looking through their eyes when you visit the Umbrian National Gallery, and walk through room after room after room after room of Christian artwork from the 13th century to today. Realising that for many ghosts of this area, these were the only media images they ever saw.

You feel them trapped behind the numerous iterations of the city walls around the town - built, destroyed, extended, built on top off, preserved…

You are surrounded by them when you visit the underground Umbria. The Rocca Paolina, old fortress now both shopping and exhibition arcade, that running partly under the city centre, with an escalator that cuts right through it.

Then you finally hear it, when you step outside at 10pm on a summer night. While people are watching the Euro football semi-finals (not even Italy playing), there is a voice that rises above the crowd, and while in Italian, it still has that recognisable academic monotone swagger. You walk towards it, to small water fountain at the base of the imposing Church of Sant’Ercolano. You spot a small crowd facing a man, standing in front of a projected powerpoint slide. It’s a launch/talk tied to a new book on history of visual communication, hosted by @edicola_518. Like most academic talks, you are not sure when it will end. But the ghosts have time to listen and linger.