Not far from the historic centre, walking towards the highest part of the city, you’ll enjoy a wonderful view of the valley below and be lucky enough to see the small church of S. Pietro. It stands next to the city walls and the ancient Porta del Castello and was built in the 13th century in honour of Sant’Antonio Abate and hosted the Confraternita dei Disciplinati di San Salvatore.
Inside the church there is an important fresco that was commissioned to the greatest exponent of Umbrian painting, Pietro Vannucci, also called Perugino, in 1508, probably by the Disciplinati di San Salvatore who were taking care of church renovations at the time. The work depicts “Sant’Antonio Abate tra i Santi Paolo Eremita e Marcello” (Saint Anthony the Abbot between the Saints Paul the Hermit and Marcello) and is positioned on the back wall, where the ancient altar was originally located.
The painting depicts the three Saints inside a doorway with side columns supporting an illusory lunette representing a painting within the painting. The fresco gives the faithful and visitors the sense of a warm welcome as well as intimacy within the sacred walls. Following an earthquake in 1861, the decision was made to remove the fresco from the wall and bring it back on canvas.
The church has a single nave and bays with cross vaults and barrel vaults.
In 1815 the building originally dedicated to Sant’Antonio Abate became the seat of the Chiesa dei Santi Pietro e Paolo and also of the Confraternità di S. Sebastiano e S. Rocco.