According to a heraldic legend, written in the Vatican codex 4834, Corciano was founded by Coragino, one of Ulysses'companions. According to some Perugia historians, the town was founded by Ciano Razzeano, the son of Giano, and thus popular tradition has it that ''Corciano" means "heart of Grano".
According to others the name is the result of the corruption of a Roman personal name "Curtius or Coricius or Corisius" referring to some lands located in loco et vocabolo Corciano (in Corciano and its hamlet).
Certainly the charming and peaceful town was already an active centre in Etruscan-Roman times, as testified by the necropolis of Strozzacapponi (3rd-1st centuries BC), the two travertine funeral lions in the Piazza dei Caduti, and numerous other archaeological finds preserved in the municipal headquarters.
Its historical submission to Perugia, ancient queen of the Etruscan dodecapolis, which later became the Roman Augusta Perusia, continued even during the period of its establishment as a free commune in the 13th century: in fact, Corciano's independence, as a medieval village with a strategic role in Perugia's defensive belt, was limited to the financial and administrative management of its territory.
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Castello di Corciano |
Still surrounded today by sturdy walls, it rises (408 metres above sea level) over the numerous medieval castles and watchtowers arranged in the forni of an amphitheatre around Monte Malbe (652 m. above sea level) which now make up the seven small villages that comprise the municipal territory. |
| To symbolically commemorate Corciano's defensive role its patron saint is still Saint Michael Archangel, a warrior saint in Longobard tradition. Corciano was a flourishing centre for agricultural and handicraft activity in the 15th century, as evidenced by remaining architectural and pictorial works of that period. In 1506 it also hosted Pope Julius II and Nicolò Machiavelli. |
| The Castello di Pieve di San Giovanni, now del Vescovo, currently under restoration, also lodged illustrious personages in the past, from the mercenary leader Biordo Micheletti, to Cardinal Fulvio della Corgna, to bishops of Perugia duringtheirsummer vacations up to the end of j the 19th century |
Pieve del Vescovo |
Church of the "Pieve del Vescovo" |
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