Technical Sheet
Starting and finishing point: Torgiano
Distance: 27.5 km.
Total ascent: 250 metres
Grade: easy
Road surface: asphalt, gravel
Recommended type of bike: hybrid or MTB
Places to visit in the area: Torgiano, Deruta, the Tiber and Chiascio Natural Park
Situated just a few kilometres from Perugia, Torgiano (see photo above) is a small medieval town lying at the point where the River Chiascio runs into the Tiber. It stands amidst winding hills covered in olive groves and vineyards which have made the area famous for its quality olive oil and wines.
This particular route starts from the 13th-century Baglioni Tower, situated just outside the town centre, at the foot of which you can leave your car if you wish.
Leaving Torgiano, you immediately descend in the direction of Bettona and Deruta, and at the end of this short descent you come to a traffic light, where you turn right.
Another one and a half kilometres further on, having crossed the bridge over the River Chiascio, turn right and continue along the road to Deruta, leaving Torgiano to your right. After around 7 kilometres, having gone past Pontenuovo, you come to Deruta, a famous ceramic-manufacturing town. If you take a short deviation from the described route and turn left, Deruta town centre is a mere kilometre away, and offers a fine view of the surrounding countryside, bisected by the River Tiber and still of a very rural character.
Leaving Deruta, follow the signs to Casalina, which you come to after a couple of short uphill sections, some 4 kilometres further on. Turn right here and follow the signs to Papiano.
At 13.5 km. turn right again towards Papiano railway station, and just before you get to the level crossing, rather than riding back onto the main road, take the minor road to your right which runs for a few kilometres between the railway line and the fields, and part of which consists of a well-beaten gravel road.
At the end of the gravel road you come to a junction: take the second right and continue to cycle down a road with fields on either side until you get to the junction with the SP377, where you turn left to ride into the village of Fanciullata. At the next junction, turn right towards Perugia, and keep to your right until your past the left-hand fork at km. 18.7.
At km. 20.5 you come to the SP375, and here you turn right towards Perugia, and continue straight on as far as San Martini in Campo. When you reach San Martino, having cycled a total of 23.5 km., you come to a roundabout: take the right in the direction of Torgiano. Go across the bridge over the E45 trunk road, and a little further on a second bridge, this time over the river Tiber, and then ride up the short hill back to the centre of Torgiano.
As you cycle up towards the town centre, you get a good view across the extensive vineyards below (see photo above) that have made this small town famous, and of the easily-recognisable outlines of Perugia and Monte Subasio in the distance. At the top of the climb, turn right and cycle back towards the starting point.
Things not to miss
There are various things of interest worth seeing in the centre of Torgiano, including the Baglioni Tower (see photo at top of page) - part of the fortified town walls surrounding the town in medieval times – and two fountains designed by the artist Nino Caruso: the Fonte di Giano and the Fonte dei Cocciari. There are also a number of ancient churches, including San Bartolomeo, Santa Maria del Castello, and the Church of the Madonna dell’Ulivello.
The town boasts its own Wine Museum, one of the most famous of its kind in Italy, designed and created by the famous wine-makers Georgio and Maria Grazia Lungarotti, and housed in the 17th century baroque Palazzo Graziani-Baglioni, together with an Olive and Olive Oil Museum, situated in a medieval complex in the town centre.
Deruta, on the other hand, is world-famous for its ceramics and its numerous traditional ceramic manufacturers: sites worth seeing include San Michele Arcangelo’s Gate, with remains of the ancient town walls to either side of it, Piazzetta Biordo Michelotti, a square featuring the church of San Michele Arcangelo, with its Romanesque-Gothic façade, and Piazza dei Consuli, the site of the town hall - the Palazzo Comunale.
The mainly rural landscape either side of the River Tiber is also interesting.
