# Perugia buried a quarter, and you walk through it

> The Rocca Paolina swallowed a medieval quarter between 1540 and 1543. Today escalators run through it from 6:15 am to 2:00 am, and entry is free.

URL: https://myitalia.it/stories/perugia-buried-a-whole-quarter
Last updated: 2026-09-02

Between 1540 and 1543 the Rocca Paolina buried an entire medieval quarter of Perugia, and today you walk through those streets for free on the escalators that link the lower car parks to the old town.

## A fortress built on top of a neighborhood

Pope Paul III had the Rocca Paolina raised between 1540 and 1543 to a design by Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, and the construction did not clear the ground first: it enclosed the houses of the Baglioni family, the Santa Giuliana district and the church of Santa Maria dei Servi inside its own mass.

The result is a quarter with a roof over it. Streets, doorways, window openings and vaulted rooms are still there, underneath, in the dark, at the scale they were built.

Entry costs nothing. Nobody takes a ticket, because the space is a public thoroughfare as much as a monument.

## The escalators run from 6:15 am to 2:00 am

The escalators through the Rocca operate from 6:15 am until 2:00 am (06:15 to 02:00 on Italian signs), and Porta Marzia opens from 7:00 am to 8:00 pm in 2026.

That timetable is the point of the place. The connection between the Piazza Partigiani car park and the historic center runs straight through the fortress, so most people who cross the buried quarter are on their way to work or to dinner, not on a visit.

Porta Marzia itself is Etruscan, 3rd century BC, and Sangallo dismantled and remounted it into the front of his fortress. A gate from the Etruscan city is now a decorative panel on a papal fortress.

## The other way up: 3,020 meters of MiniMetro

The MiniMetro covers 3,020 meters from the Pian di Massiano car park to Pincetto in the old town, climbing 160.6 meters with a maximum gradient of 11.5% and 5 intermediate stops.

Cars carry 50 people and pass every 2 and a half minutes, up to 3,065 people an hour at 25 km/h. Weekday service runs from 7:00 am with a last departure at 9:05 pm; on Sundays and public holidays it runs from 9:00 am to a last departure at 8:45 pm (2026).

The single fare is not published on the operator's page, and the tariff page returns an error, so this page cannot quote you a price. Buy at the machine and expect a standard urban ticket.

## Perugia is a hill, and this is how the hill is solved

Perugia's old town sits 160.6 meters above the Pian di Massiano car park, which is why a city this size runs an automated metro line and a fortress full of escalators. Both are transport, and both happen to be monuments.

Plan your day around the vertical rather than the horizontal. The distance from Pian di Massiano to Pincetto is 3,020 meters on the MiniMetro and a serious climb on foot, and the same is true of every approach from below.

If you arrive by car, choose your car park by which mechanical route it feeds, because the two systems do not connect to each other and switching costs you the climb you were avoiding.

## The Etruscan Arch, and a Roman correction

The Arco Etrusco stands 11 meters high in travertine blocks, built in the 3rd century BC as a gate in the Etruscan walls, and it carries the inscription Augusta Perusia cut roughly two centuries later.

That inscription is a piece of political editing. Augustus restored the city after the Bellum Perusinum of 41 to 40 BC left it wrecked, and his name went on the Etruscan gate.

The Comune does not publish the total length of the Etruscan circuit or the number of its gates, so this page does not count them. For the well underneath the same city, see [two staircases that never meet](/stories/two-staircases-that-never-meet).

## FAQ

### What is the Rocca Paolina in Perugia?

A papal fortress built between 1540 and 1543 by Antonio da Sangallo the Younger for pope Paul III, which absorbed an entire medieval quarter instead of replacing it. The buried streets are open, free, and crossed by escalators running from 6:15 am to 2:00 am.

### Is the Rocca Paolina free to visit?

Yes, entry is free. The escalators through the buried quarter run from 6:15 am to 2:00 am, and Porta Marzia opens 7:00 am to 8:00 pm in 2026. It is the rare monument you cross on your way somewhere else.

### How do you get from the Perugia car parks to the old town?

Two ways, both mechanical. The escalators from Piazza Partigiani climb through the Rocca Paolina, and the MiniMetro runs 3,020 meters from Pian di Massiano to Pincetto, gaining 160.6 meters of height with cars every 2 and a half minutes.

### What are the MiniMetro opening hours in Perugia?

Last departure 9:05 pm on weekdays and 8:45 pm on Sundays and holidays, from a 7:00 am start on weekdays and 9:00 am on Sundays (2026). Cars hold 50 people, run every 2 and a half minutes and stop at 5 intermediate stations.

### How old is the Etruscan Arch in Perugia?

It was built in the 3rd century BC as a gate in the Etruscan walls, 11 meters high in travertine blocks. The inscription Augusta Perusia was added roughly two centuries later, after the Bellum Perusinum of 41 to 40 BC and Augustus' restoration of the city.

## Sources

| Fact | Source | Confidence | Valid until |
|---|---|---|---|
| La Rocca Paolina di Perugia fu costruita fra il 1540 e il 1543 da Antonio da Sangallo il Giovane per volere di papa Paolo III inglobando un intero quartiere medievale, comprese le case dei Baglioni e la chiesa di Santa Maria dei Servi: oggi il quartiere sepolto si attraversa gratuitamente con le scale mobili, attive dalle 6.15 alle 2.00 di notte, mentre Porta Marzia apre 7.00-20.00 (2026). | [Comune di Perugia](https://www.comune.perugia.it/luogo/rocca-paolina/) | medium | 2027-06-30 |
| Il MiniMetro di Perugia collega il parcheggio di Pian di Massiano alla stazione Pincetto nel centro storico con una linea di 3.020 metri che supera 160,6 metri di dislivello e pendenza massima dell'11,5%; le vetture da 50 posti passano ogni 2 minuti e mezzo e il servizio va dalle 7.00 alle 21.05 nei feriali e dalle 9.00 alle 20.45 nei festivi (2026). | [Minimetro S.p.A.](https://www.minimetrospa.it/) | medium | 2027-06-30 |
| L'Arco Etrusco di Perugia, alto 11 metri e costruito in blocchi di travertino nel III secolo a.C. come porta delle mura etrusche, porta l'iscrizione 'Augusta Perusia' aggiunta circa due secoli dopo, quando Augusto fece restaurare la citta' devastata dal Bellum Perusinum del 41-40 a.C. | [Comune di Perugia](https://www.comune.perugia.it/luogo/arco-etrusco/) | medium | 2099-12-31 |

## Image

https://media.myitalia.it/media/city.perugia.v2.1600.jpg
Author: Dawid Skalec. License: CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0).
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fontana_Maggiore_a_Perugia_4.JPG

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