Province: Perugia Area: Trasimeno Inhabitants name: Passignanesi Comune www.passignanosultrasimeno.org

Historical knowledge:

Ancient hamlet of Roman-Etruscan fishers. In the middle ages two towers with ogival gates were build to keep watch over the primitive village, on top of a costly rock and still today protected by the rests of ancient walls. Passignano had always been from great importance because it is situated on the compulsory passage between Umbria and Toscana, and for this strategic position, it underwent numerous plunderings. Assaults and destructions in the past epochs.In 217 b.C., the promontory on which the village arises was useful to Hannibal to bar the road to the troops of consul Caio Flammino, in retreat after the defeat in the battle of Trasimeno.
In 917, the emperor Berengario gave it in feud to marquis Uguccione del Monte. Subjected to Perugia it was many times ravaged in the fights between Perugia, Arezzo and Florenz. Fenced with walls, it was under the seigniory of the Baglioni until 1520 and therefore of the Oddi and the Della Corgna, who in 1643 ceded it to the Grand Duke from Toscana, for centuries, Passignano continued being a little hamlet of fishers. I n 1904, thanks to the engagement of doctor Grifi, native passignanese personage, the first partnership of navigation on the Trasimeno has been formed, which began to assure the connections with the other villages of the lake and the Maggiore and Polvese isles.From 1916 to 1922, Passignano gave hospitality to the first flying school for seaplanes of the Regio Italian army, which graduated the majority of pilots protagonists of the flight across the Atlantic in 1931.From great touring importance, the Trasimeno is for extension the fourth in Italy and the biggest of peninsular Italy, having a surface of about 124 square kilometers. Three little islands are comprised in it: Polvese isle (the largest), Maggiore isle and Minore isle which, together, don’t reach the surface of one square kilometer.

Places to visit:

The towers with the ogival gates
The San Feliciano fishery museum, The S. Rocco Oratory
The San Bernardino Church
The San Cristoforo Church (XIth century)
The churches of San Donato and San Vito
Castel Rigone with the rests of the castle (XIIIth century) and the Madonna dei Miracoli Church
Monte Ruffiano with the rests of the castle erected in the 1000’s
Montigeto with the Madonna dell’Uliveto Sanctuary (17the century)
Pisciello, picturesque hamlet for its clear water fountain which spring there, ancient residence of the Bourbon from Sorbello
The little localities of Bastia Corgna, San Donato, San Vito, Trecine and Torre di Fiume.

Folklore:

25th July: Patron Saint – San Cristoforo
July, last Sunday: The palio of the boats
September: fish’s feast
8th November: Feast of San Cristoforo at Castel Rigone